Johany Jutras/CFL
CFL.ca Staff
With files from Steve Daniel, League Statistician
HAMILTON — The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are 6-2 and tied atop the CFL standings with division rival Toronto and last year’s Grey Cup Champion Calgary. Yet a closer look at the standings shows they’re well ahead of the rest of the league as far as point differential.
The Ticats have scored 292 points this season, the most in the CFL by far, and allowed 156 points for a whopping differential of 136 points. They finish in the red zone, they convert second downs and they force a lot of turnovers, which are all good reasons the Ticats have been successful this season.
But while Hamilton only ranks fourth overall defensively in total defence, that unit has been the real key to the Ticats’ success this season — particularly in the way it’s managed to score points.
Hamilton leads the league with eight defensive touchdowns this season and 11 overall, leaving the Ticats within reach of two single-season all-time records:
1) Defensive touchdowns in a season, which the Ticats can break with four more touchdowns. They sit three behind the Lions’ 11 defensive touchdowns in 1987.
And, 2) Non-offensive touchdowns, which combines defensive and special teams touchdowns. With a high-scoring defence combined with the talent of Brandon Banks, the Ticats have 12 non-offensive touchdowns through eight games. The record for that in a season is 15 by the very same Lions back in 1987, another record well within the Ticats’ reach.
Here’s a closer look at the Ticats’ ability to score on defence through eight games this season:
With a touchdown a game on defence, the Ticats are on pace to score 18 this season. That’s highly unlikely, of course, but what does appear imminent is the Ticats breaking the record. Four more defensive touchdowns to break the record won’t be easy, even though that number pales in comparison to the eight the Ticats have already recorded.
But while every CFL team has at least one defensive touchdown through eight games, some teams may go through an entire season scoring only a couple of times. The Ticats have a clear propensity for finding the end zone on defence, but can they continue to produce at the current rate?
That will be the story to watch over the second half of the season and starting this week, as the Ticats take on the Montreal Alouettes in a rematch at Tim Hortons Field — one in which points will be difficult to come by to begin with.
