Photo: Bob Butrym/RFB Sport Photography / 3DownNation. All rights reserved.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats dropped this year’s Labour Day Classic to the Toronto Argonauts by a score of 37-22.

The defeat has put the Ticats five games below the .500 mark. They are still looking for a way to find a rhythm with a rotating cast of quarterbacks.

More of the same mistakes persisted with the Tabbies, who now find themselves with a much-needed off week. Hamilton has not had a week off since Week 4. The past 10 games have not been kind with the team losing eight of those games.

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So, with a bye week looming and still lots to figure out, what will the Tiger-Cats take away from this loss?

Constant rotation

In case you are new to these pieces, it’s worth mentioning again the difficulty Hamilton has had since Bo Levi Mitchell went down with an injury in Week 5.

From Jake Dolegala to Tre Ford, to Harrison Frost, then back to Tre Ford, a Hail Mary from Jake Dolegala, Hamilton is back to Harrison Frost behind centre.

Ford got the start on Monday and had a mundane opening half. The lone bright spot came on a touchdown drive that followed Hamilton’s only defensive takeaway of the game. Jamal Peters intercepted Chad Kelly and the Ticats took over at their own 38-yard line.

On the first play of the possession, Ford stepped up in the pocket and fired down the field to Kenny Lawler for a 49-yard gain. Two plays later, the Niagara Falls, Ont. native stepped up in the pocket again, and used his legs to find the end zone for the team’s first major score of the day.

On the play, Ford was hit entering the end zone and it looked like his head struck the turf. He was seen on the sidelines in the medical tent, then finished out the rest of the first half. Ford then left the game, as he did not return to the sidelines for the second half. Harrison Frost finished the game at quarterback in his place.

Frost’s first throw was nearly intercepted, then the Argonauts got one back a few plays later with DeShaun Amos picked off an errant throw. Already facing a 20-7 deficit, the Tiger-Cats were put in a large hole to start the third quarter.

Things evened out for Frost, as he eventually went 16-for-28 with 218 passing yards, two touchdowns, and the interception. While he had moments that were good, he had moments equally as bad. His advantage is being a better pure passer than Ford, though he struggles to make correct reads at times. There are times he does make the right decision but struggles with the accuracy.

On Frost’s second drive, he started to figure it out after an early mistake, when he misread an RPO and threw the ball into the dirt. Toronto had two defenders coming off the edge and Nahree Biggins had an open gap between the centre and right guard. Had the ball been handed off, Biggins would have gone four yards before being touched.

The positive was that Frost was able to compose himself and bounce back immediately for Hamilton and get the ball into Toronto territory. That was before Kenny Lawler fumbled on the Argonauts nine-yard line, giving Toronto another second-half turnover.

While I believe Frost can be serviceable, the same issues for Hamilton persist. Inconsistent quarterback play, drops from receivers, and no one stepping up for the loss of Bo Levi Mitchell. Whether it is Frost or Ford suiting up in two weeks against the Montreal Alouettes, Hamilton needs to give more help to their quarterbacks.

Miscues

While Hamilton’s defence still struggled to get off the field (especially in the fourth quarter), the team’s biggest issues came from special teams blunders.

In the fourth quarter, with the Argonauts set to punt the ball to Hamilton, Ante Milanovic-Litre attempted to block the punt. Instead, he missed the block and ran directly into the legs of James Burnip. A 51-yard return by Isaiah Wooden Sr. was taken off the board and the Argonauts were able to retain possession. Moments later, Lirim Hajrullahu hit a field goal to put the Argonauts up 30-14.

The most notable special teams mistake occurred early in the game. Hamilton punted the ball into Toronto territory near the goal line. The ball bounced into the air and Tyler Ternowski attempted to swat the ball back into the field of play.

Ternowski contacted the ball in the end zone, so it was deemed a touchback and put Toronto on their own 40-yard line. Then, adding in the 15-yard no yards penalty, Toronto was pushed up to the midfield stripe on their opening possession.

Had Ternowski allowed Janarion Grant to field the ball in the end zone, Hamilton could have been credited with a rouge. If Grant was limited to a short return, Toronto may have started inside their own 15-yard line.

I can understand a line of thinking that Hamilton was already in the five-yard halo and were taking a 15-yard penalty regardless of whether or not Ternowski touched the ball. If the ball is downed on the one-yard line, Toronto starts at their own 16, and Hamilton is still better off than a touchback, putting it at the 40.

Whether you agree with the thought process or not, the result was disastrous for Hamilton following their opening drive of the game. Hamilton needs to take risks and push to win games as much as possible, but this choice was reckless and put them chasing the game from behind.

Improved line play

There were wrinkles in the Ticats offence against the Argonauts that I have been asking for the past few weeks.

Hamilton tried a jet sweep to Isaiah Wooden Sr. and played a bit more with the screen game. The jet sweep to Wooden was broken up by Jonathan Kongbo, who blew Kenny Lawler back at the line of scrimmage. While Lawler is a terrific receiver, if a play depends on him holding down a 260-pound defensive end, the play is not designed for success.

Toronto believed it was a fumble, with Ralph Holley recovering. Luckily for the Tiger-Cats, they designed the play being a forward pop from Ford to Wooden. When the ball hit the ground, it was an incomplete pass.

There were multiple instances in this game, including that play, where I felt as though the line play was improved. While Lawler lost the battle at the line of scrimmage, the offensive line held up decently. Toronto still got home for three sacks in the game, but the offensive line operated more in sync than in recent weeks.

I did have a gripe with the Kurleigh Gittens Jr. screen pass for a touchdown in the third quarter.

Liam Dobson and Brandon Revenberg both released from the line of scrimmage and moved downfield. As we have been accustomed to, the two did not make usable contact with an Argonaut defender, and really just changed pursuit angles. When the Ticats offensive line gets in the open field, I would like to see them contact a defender.

Overall, while it was not a great performance from the big boys on offence, they were better than they have been through the last several weeks. They need to continue to get better to change the results of the games down the stretch of the season.

Fourth quarter flaws

While Toronto carried a 27-14 lead into the fourth quarter, Hamilton still struggled when the game was on the line.

The Argonauts held the ball for 4:52 to begin the fourth quarter. Toronto then extended its lead to 16, and Hamilton’s offence found a way to move the ball down the field for a score.

Hamilton got the game within a two-point converted touchdown, then needed their defence to step up and make a stand. The Tiger-Cats stuffed Toronto on a first down run. They had the Argos to second-and-10 from their own 34-yard line.

In man coverage, Destin Talbert slipped to the turf, allowing Tyler Kahmann to break free in the middle of the field. The 28-yard completion put the Argonauts in plus territory and on the edge of field goal range. Three plays later, following a Talbert pass interference penalty on Kahmann, Toronto found the end zone.

While the Ticats defence kept the game in check, they were unable to make a play when it mattered most on Monday afternoon. With Toronto controlling the ball for the majority of the fourth quarter, Hamilton needed more from its defence.

When you’re trying to win football games, you need the entire team to lift each other up. Instead, the three units struggled to play complimentary football. On Labour Day, everyone can take their share of the blame.

Up next

Hamilton is on a bye in Week 15, which could help heading into the final five games of the season.

If the Ticats want a chance at the playoffs this season, they will need to be flawless in those games. Hamilton is now 2-14 heading into a bye week since 2021. On the flip side of the coin, the the team is 11-3 coming out of a bye week in that same period.

After the bye, Hamilton will host Montreal on Friday September 18 at 7:30 p.m. EDT. It’ll be a tough task with the East Division-leading Alouettes at Hamilton Stadium.

The Tiger-Cats will look for their first win on their third attempt against Montreal this season.

Jack Moore is the play-by-play broadcaster of the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks in the OUA and has been the colour commentator on the Yates Cup broadcast since 2024. He is a former Laurier football player and has previously coached minor football with the Durham Dolphins.