Hamilton has a problem. On Saturday night, the Tiger-Cats suffered a blowout loss against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, raising questions about what the team will do moving forward.
The Tiger-Cats offense, which was supposed to be one of the best in the CFL, has only produced two touchdowns through the first two games of the season. Starting quarterback Jeremiah Masoli has accounted for both of those scores (one passing and one rushing), but has also thrown four interceptions.
After throwing his second interception in Saturday night’s game, which ended up in the hands of defensive back Blace Brown, Masoli was benched in favor of Dane Evans. Unfortunately, Evans was ineffective as well, only completing 3 of his 10 pass attempts for 21 yards.
While Evans wasn’t too exciting to watch, there’s still a chance he could take the starting quarterback job from Masoli if the turnover issues continue. In 2019, after Masoli tore his ACL, Evans led the Tiger-Cats to 9 wins in his 11 starts and a berth in the 107th Grey Cup. He’s proven that he can make an impact, and with Hamilton now sitting at 0-2, Evans may soon have an opportunity to save the season.
As was the case in week 1, it wasn’t just the offense that struggled. The Tiger-Cats defense only recorded a single sack on Roughriders’ quarterback Cody Fajardo, and they were unable to intercept any of his passes. Linebacker Simoni Lawrence led the team with eight tackles, and was probably the best player on either side of the ball.
The Tiger-Cats get next week off, but will return in week 4 to play the Montreal Alouettes. It will be their third straight game on the road, which could be the reason why they’ve failed to live up to expectations so far. Regardless, the team needs to get things together and stay focused on their goal of returning to the Grey Cup.
