Let’s get started, shall we.

The Good

Changes needed to happen in Hamilton and it seems they have started as early as this offseason, Hamilton fired head coach Marcel Bellefeiulle. The Ottawa native, got caught somewhere between laughing-stock, mediocrity, and champions. He says he did the best with what he had, which, some might consider a shot at GM Bob Obillivich and team President Scott Mitchell. But, both still have their jobs and don’t seem to be going anywhere, anytime soon.

Coach Bell. was right in one sense that the blame was not entirely on him, as it falls on his coaching staff as well. With Hamilton having it’s most inconsistent season since becoming relevant again almost 3 years ago, I believe there was a strong look (for lack of a better term) into the job security of both Offensive and Defensive Coordinators, Khari Jones and Corey Chamblain.

With Saskatchewan looking for a new head coach and GM Brendan Taman wanting Chamblain last year (ultimately it wasn’t his decision to make and instead, Gregg Marshall Hamilton DC at the time, was hired and then fired), he went out and got his man. The move wasn’t met much dismay from the Ticats (or their fans), who he was also rumoured to be in the mix for head coach.

With the need for upgrades at QB, Head Coach and DC, names like Henry Burris, Dave Dickenson, Mike O’Shea, Gregg Marshall are all being mentioned in rumor mills everywhere. But, we’ll get more into that later.

The Bad

While Hamilton lays back and GM Obie and management spend time with their respective families and stay home for the holidays rival Toronto may have made the biggest move of the offseason, and free agency isn’t for another 2 months, as they acquired Ricky Ray from Edmonton. This coming shortly after they had named former Montreal OC Scott Millanovich head coach. Of course they had that whole tampering thing with Calgary and their DC Chris Jones making a lateral move to Toronto without anyone being aware of the situation in Calgary.

Clearly, nobody was told about it in Calgary because I doubt they would have let any member of their coaching staff make a lateral move had they had prior knowledge. But, moving along, Toronto is now a serious threat to Hamilton next year, especially with a healthy Mo Mann and maybe another receiver. Which now seems to make Hamilton having a new QB next year inevitable.

The Needed

Hmm… this is almost like a puzzle that is missing a piece. Hamilton needs a new QB. They were rumoured to be looking at Ray both last year and this year, with Ray nearly dealt to them last year, but we know how that ended. There is also former all-star QB and now disgruntled back-up Henry Burris inevitably headed for free agency this February. With Hamilton still needing a QB, could we see Burris in Hamilton in 2012?

Everyone already talks about Burris being headed for Hamilton and with Ray now in Toronto, it seems Burris’ Stampeder teammates should already be saying their goodbyes and wishing him good luck. I’m not sure what happens with Glenn as he’s got another year left on his contract and Porter seeming to have that back-up role on lockdown. But, we’ll get into that another day… well, because Burris is currently still a Stampeder.

So, if Henry Burris and Hamilton are all but an inevitability. It leaves Hamilton looking for a Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator…

Let’s first start with potential suitors for that Head Coaching position.

Dave Dickenson – It’s widely believed he’s ready for a promotion and with a chance to re-unite with former teammate and Calgary QB Henry Burris. The Stampeder Offensive Coordinator would seem poised to get his first shot at head coaching with Hamilton.

Craig Dickenson - Brother to Dave and Calgary Special Teams Coordinator, is also a potential candidate and would seemingly become Hamilton’s new head coach for all the same reasons as his brother.

Mike O’Shea - It’s only a matter of time before he becomes a Head Coach in this league and what better place to start than in his own stomping grounds down the QEW at Ivor Wynne Stadium. The Toronto Special Teams Coordiantor would only fuel one of the best rivalries in the game.

Now onto Defensive Coordiantor

Greg Marshall – Well, I think he’ll get another shot at being a head coach in this league, but, I don’t think it’s coming this year and it’s not going to hurt his because he can to return to his old job, as DC somewhere. I imagine he’s also a dark horse to land Hamilton’s head coaching job, and may also be looked at in B.C. and Calgary as DC.

Mike O’Shea - He could be more likely to land in Hamilton as DC as he is second all-time in tackles and… well, his track record speaks for itself.

Otis Floyd – The recently retired Floyd was let go last off-season and requested to be signed by the Ticats so that he could retire and to hear that crowd roar one last time. Now, if he decides he wants to coach, he’d probably join on in a smaller role, such as the defensive line coach or something similar. But, you never know, he brings this type of energy to a club that just gets you pumped and he also seems like an intelligent person, so he may be considered for a larger role. He is also a natural leader, and I think, a guy you’d love to have on your staff.

Sandy Beveridge - Another fan favourite and probably an unlikely candidate, having retired in 2010 after accepting a job with Hamilton’s fire department. But, in the words of Kevin Garnett “Anything is Possible“.

Although, he wasn’t having the best of games throwing for only one touchdown on 187 yards passing to go with more than a few overthrows, two coming with Maurice Mann in the end zone, he still had plenty of time to lead his team down the field and get the go ahead and possibly game winning touchdown. But, he didn’t get that chance because, as mentioned, he was pulled. To get a wider view on the decision I’ve asked the guys for their opinion on it.

We’ll get to them shortly but firstly I’m not digging this down play of things by Marcel B. he seems to have done that every time he’s pulled Glenn since he’s been here and I’m not so sure he’s not just crippling under the pressure of trying to succeed and making irrational decisions, then he realizes he’s made mistakes and then downplays there’s any heat between him and Glenn and then his QB gets all pissy and then the next day goes “oh yeah… well… it was heat of the moment.” Somebody needs to man up here and take the blame and if Glenn wants to be the leader of the team, then it should be him. Even though I think Arland Bruce is the leader of the team he seems to be tight-lipped on the whole situation.

Coach B must see something in Quinton that we don’t or at least I don’t because he seems more than willing to put him in if Glenn is the least bit struggling. Now granted he did throw 3 interceptions that game, but, he went almost three times as long as Porter did without throwing a pick. The kid can’t stay in the pocket and if there is nowhere to run he either allows himself to get sacked or throws the football into no mans land.

Bottom line this guy was deemed your starting QB at the begining of the season you had him as your starter through training camp and the pre-season. He’s coming off the best year of his career in which he had a 97.6 passer rating and finished second with over 5100 yards throwing and you pull him in the first game! No wonder he said it felt like a slap in the face because it was and honestly if Marcel keeps on giving in to public pressure, he’s not going to be a good coach and won’t have a job for much longer in this league.

Now, to elaborate what I touched on a bit earlier, Arland Bruce has gone to having a comment on just about everything to not saying a damn thing about nothing since he came to the black and gold, not that that’s not a smart move, but, I kind of know that him and Glenn go way back to their days in Winnipeg and he couldn’t have been happy about him getting pulled as he might have shown in those two dropped passes late in the game. You’re the leader of this team and I’m not looking for a whole lot on what your opinions are, but, I am curious to hear what you have to say instead of just the two people involved.

Now, maybe you’re in no position to comment as you only had 2 receptions all game for a measly 22 yards, but, since when has that stopped you before. It doesn’t have to be you, It can be anyone on the team, I’m just interested in what the team thinks, nothing that is detrimental to the team just something to judge what the locker room is feeling.  Anyways, found this interesting video post game from Coach where he says “Our best players need to play better.”

Well, I hope those comments weren’t pointed towards Glenn as he wasn’t given any an opportunity to be the hero, and the D played pretty good. He can’t be talking about Cobourne as he had a good game and the receivers are only as good as their QB and he didn’t have a very good day. Now by no means am I suggesting Glenn is not at fault here because he is, but, his coaches decision was a stupid one and one that is detrimental to this team. Let me ask you. if your closer is out in the ninth inning, you have a one run lead, and he loads the bases with nobody out ,do you pull him? I know I don’t because the guy is your closer designated for just this type of thing, which means you feel there is nobody more capable in this situation than him.

Same type of thing here, this guy is your starting QB and there is no one more capable than him of leading your team down the field for the game winning score. Now, I’m going to shut up because I’m really eager to hear what everyone else thinks about this…

Dalen- I think it was underserved and premature. It was week one for crying out loud. Kevin Glenn is THE Man in Hamilton and just because he wasn’t playing well, you put Porter in??? I think it was a stupid move made by the Hamilton coaching staff, and also I think it was a move that cost them the game. If they stayed with Glenn I think they would have won.

Chris- I think benching your QB in the first game of the season sets a terrible precedent. He wasn’t playing a perfect game, but everyone makes mistakes. I understand that Coach B benched him to show that no one is above being benched, I just think it was the wrong time to prove that point.

Dorian- Regardless of the outcome Friday night, I thought it was a mistake to pull Kevin Glenn. This is the guy you entrusted as your starting quarterback, the man to lead your team towards the Grey Cup and he struggles in the first game of the season and you pull him? Bad move. This move however will have Kevin Glenn become the better man and prove the coach wrong in week two and beyond. If anything it will put a fire under Glenn to perform better.

In the words of Meatloaf; “2 outta 3 ain’t bad”. However, 4 outta 9 is…  

I leave you with this interesting fact. Although, the majority of people I’ve talked to and heard talk about it think it was a stupid move, a recent poll on TSN suggests that almost 55% of you agree with the decision to pull Glenn. Yet, if I had to bet that they put a poll up asking if Durant should have been pulled the majority of you would have said no, So, the guys who were the two best QB’s in the league last year and you’re telling me you would pull one of them and you would pull one and not the other. Not making a lot of sense to me.

Now that you’ve heard our opinions on it. Let us know how you feel and please leave a comment below or hit us up on twitter @ CFLDailyDose or me @ The_Tru_Blu .

Cobourne is expected to give Hamilton that little extra punch in the running game that Cobb wasn't able to deliver.

Lets start with a list of the changes in personnel and believe it or not it’s not a player that’s the biggest change as Greg Marshall is now gone as the DC to pursue his longtime dream of being a HC. Mike Gibson is also out as Offensive Coordinator after a less than stellar bow out of the playoffs last season managing to score only 13 points, coming from 2 field goals and a rushing touchdown from the backup QB. Replacing them are Corey Chamblain and Khari Jones (who was the QB coach up until this point and helped Kevin Glenn have a career year throwing for over 5000+ yards), respectively.

Moving along now let’s review the departing players and their counterparts.

Those are just some of the more notable changes of the many throughout the off-season. If I wasn’t writing this to you the day of the CFL opener and the day before the Ti-Cat opener I could probably name more and go more in-depth. But, I didn’t… cause I was busy… deal with it.

Sandro DeAngelis no doubt had to be replaced after an atrocious season for anyone, never mind the most accurate kicker in CFL history up to that point, nuff said. As well as Cobb after a slow start to the season he started to pick up late in the season en route to another 1000+ yard rushing season, but, that unfortunately didn’t carry over into the playoffs as backup Marcus Thigpen(13 yds) had more rushing yards than Cobb (8 yds) on a third (2) of the attempts of Cobb and backup QB Quinton Porter had 6 yds rushing appearing in barely a quarter of the game.

Although, it’s a shame to see guys like Floyd, the Ray Lewis of the team, leave. Something had to be done to try to get this team over the hump after posting back to back 9-9 seasons as well as back to back east semi-final losses. It included seeing some key guys sign somewhere else and take a chance on some young guys and trying guys out in new positions. But, I’m pretty sure GM Bob O’Billovich knows what he’s doing and it’s for the best or at least us fans hope…

He did try to replace Floyd, but, in the end food prevailed.

Justin Medlock was signed to replace a disappointing Sandro DeAngelis.

Avon Cobourne is a guy you don’t pass up the chance to sign when you are unsure of your backfield situation and Hamilton made the right choice in signing the two-time Grey Cup Champ and former Grey Cup MVP and Justin Medlock is a solid choice having been two years removed from a breakout season with Toronto where he nailed seven field goals in a game, one shy of Paul Osbaldiston’s record, who I’m sure Ticat and CFL fans around the globe remember fondly.

Many say Obie found Floyd’s on field replacement in former Roughrider LB Rey Williams, who many compare to Floyd and who is 5 years younger than Otis. Guys like  Thomas, Francis, and Stephenson will provide solid depth at DB and RB, respectively. Let’s not forget about the core guys returning on defence including reigning defensive player of the year Markeith Knowlton, Jamall Johnson, Stevie Baggs, Bo Smith, and Jason Shivers.

With key guys like Hage, Jimenez, Dyakowski, and Rottier along with newcomer and Etibocoke native Wayne Smith protecting Glenn up front. There is no doubt in my mind the most underrated QB in the league will continue his impressive numbers since joining the ti-cats on his way to a second consecutive and third of his career 5000+ yard throwing season and should surpass his mark of 5,102 last season and maybe even his 5,117 career mark. Ti-cats fans expect for a good season and if Glenn can stay healthy when it counts don’t be surprised if they make a trip to Vancouver late in the season.

The Battle of Ontario actually has some importance to it as the Argos are in a tie for first place in the East. Meanwhile, the Tiger-Cats will be aiming to win their third straight game, but they may want to add some diversity to their portfolio by beating someone other than the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

"(Hamilton) may want to add some diversity to their portfolio by beating someone other than the Winnipeg Blue Bombers"

Hamilton Tiger-Cats @ Toronto Argonauts
Saturday, August 21st – 7:35 PM ET
CFL odds: Argonauts -2.5 at Bodog.com

Catching up with the Tiger-Cats:

If you’re an optimist, then the Tiger-Cats modest two-game winning streak is a potential turning point. If you’re a realist, then you know that the Tiger-Cats need to start winning against someone other than the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

The Tiger-Cats and Blue Bombers have already played four times this season (in just seven weeks) and all three of their wins have come against the Blue Bombers. That means they are 0-4-0 against the rest of the league.

Marcus Thigpen has been one of the bright stars for the Tiger-Cats, as he has found a way to score a touchdown five different ways this year (kickoff return, punt return, missed field goal return, receiving and rushing), which is the first time that’s ever been done in CFL history.

Overall, the Tiger-Cats offence has been a bit suspect this season – more specifically, the running game – and that will likely hamper them once again in this game.

Catching up with the Argonauts:

Does anyone believe that the Argos are actually in a tie for first in the East? So much for their cute start being a flash in the pan.

The Argos have been the biggest surprise in the CFL this season and they emphatically stated that they are here to stay with a big 37-22 win over the Montreal Alouettes last week.

Cleo Lemon has been very efficient at quarterback for the Argos and he has guided the offence very smoothly. Combined with steady contributions from Cory Boyd, the Argos have had balance.

The one sour note from last week’s win is that wideout Jeremaine Copeland dislocated his elbow and will miss up to six weeks.

The matchup:

Is anyone else suspicious about this low line? On logic alone, the Argos are the play here. The Tiger-Cats have the Blue Bombers number, but they haven’t beaten anyone else in the league.

Meanwhile, the Argos will be confident after topping the Alouettes last week and that will carry over into this week. The Argos have yet to lose at home this season, so lay the short number as they handle the Tiger-Cats in this one.

CFL betting odds: Argos -2.5

Courtesy of SBRForum.com.

Steve Thompson is a CFL featured columnist on Bleacher Report.com. On the site, he focuses mainly on CFL expansion.

If there is one thing the CFL doesn’t need, it’s the pathetic and unnecessary standoff between Hamilton Tiger-Cats owner, Bob Young and the Hamilton City Council about the location of a new stadium.

When one starts to probe this case, two things bubble to the surface. First: Bob Young has few cards to play. Second: There is the inconsistent double standard of the CFL.

First Young. He appeared on the TSN half time show on Friday night during the Hamilton Tiger-Cats/Winnipeg Blue Bombers game to explain his position. When asked about his reasons for withdrawing from stadium talks with the city and his opposition to their choice of location for a new stadium, he was clear and direct. When asked about where he would move the Tiger Cats, if he had to, his language became bureaucratic.

The truth is that unless he selects an American city, Young has nowhere to move the Tiger-Cats.

In fact, the most realistic thing for Young to do, if he really is serious about moving the team, would be to shift it to Baltimore. The CFL still has fans there. They probably could still make a go of it, despite the NFL competition from the Ravens.

In Canada, he’s got nowhere to move the team except Moncton.

Two bizarre places were named: Burlington and Milton. But, how is battling QEW-403 traffic to Burlington any better than downtown, west harbour Hamilton? What is in small town Milton to support a CFL team? Besides, neither place has anything even close to a CFL-size stadium.

Population-wise, the most realistic places to move the Tiger-Cats are Quebec City, London, or Kitchener. But, though university football is popular in all three cities, there is nothing close to a CFL size stadium in any of them. If there really was a serious effort to have CFL football, all three cities, which are big enough to support CFL franchises right now, would already have teams. With proper stadiums and investors, all three cities could apply for expansion franchises. Why do they need an established team from Hamilton? Neither an investor, nor any attempt to build a CFL size stadium, has ever surfaced.

There are only two places in Canada with possible CFL stadiums for Young to move his team. Put a team in the vacant Montreal Olympic stadium to compete against the Alouettes, or expand the newly opened Moncton stadium, the site of the upcoming Touchdown Atlantic game featuring the Edmonton Eskimos and Toronto Argonauts, in September.

So, Young’s only real hope is Moncton. By rights, Moncton shouldn’t even be in the picture. It is only the 29th largest city in Canada. But, small Moncton has elbowed its way to the head of the line for a CFL franchise, ahead of at least ten other larger, logical places for a new team. Moncton is the most ambitious city in the Maritimes, anxious to show that it is THE Maritime city, ahead of other eastern cities, like Halifax. Once that is established, Moncton will probably want to show that it is the up and coming city in all of Canada. First selling out the Touchdown Atlantic game quickly, and then landing a permanent CFL franchise, would be a great status booster in that direction for the city. And, as small Saskatchewan proved, quality of fan can make up in a big way for lack of population. Unless Moncton comes through, Young is backed into a corner with time running out.

This situation is the complete opposite of the NFL.

When franchises like Oakland, Houston, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Baltimore, and St. Louis wanted to move, they had places already lined up, ready to give favourable deals to lure a team.

As for the CFL, there is a double standard that has emerged.

If you go to the CFL’s website, or Internet CFL forums, or even in this column, probably the hottest topic that gets the most questions and responses is expansion. People want to see the underdog league grow across Canada with more teams to make the league more interesting. But, the league only takes baby steps.

Visionary CFL commissioners like Tom Wright and Larry Smith had their plans blow up in their faces. So, the league has reverted to taking baby steps.

Right now, the league is congratulating itself on the Grey Cup selling out in record time in Edmonton, on the expansion of Montreal’s stadium, on Touchdown Atlantic and finally getting Ottawa back in the league in 2013.

Now the irony.

It is the city’s west harbour location of a 25,000 seat stadium that is the baby step. It is Bob Young’s choice of an east mountain location, fully backed by Commissioner Mark Cohon and the CFL that is the visionary choice. That stadium is alleged to hold more fans, have easier access, and be expandable for Grey Cups.

Commissioner Cohon has gone as far as to write the city a letter which threatens to vacate Hamilton forever if Young’s choice is not accepted. Why the hard line stance against Hamilton?

The CFL claims that any new expansion team must play in a stadium of 25,000 seats. But Montreal played in a stadium seating 20,000 for a decade and a half. It is playing the Touchdown Atlantic game in a stadium that only seats 20,000, of which half of the seats are temporary. It accepted a new Ottawa stadium that only seats 24,000 in a much larger city than Hamilton. Why is a 20,000 seat stadium acceptable in Moncton, a 24,000 seat stadium acceptable in Ottawa, but a 25,000 seat stadium not acceptable in Hamilton?

Even if Young does move the team to Moncton, he would have to convert half the seats and then expand the stadium by 5,000 to reach 25,000 – the same size as the west harbour stadium he finds so unacceptable.

So what will happen?

Unless Moncton comes through, or some new miracle offer makes a grand appearance, the issue will continue like an unnecessary soap opera until one side caves in, just before the Tiger Cats lease with Ivor Wynne Stadium expires in 2011.

Then the usual speeches will come from one side, congratulating the other for making concessions that the other found acceptable so that people’s faces are saved.

No one will mention that the concessions could have been made months earlier. The project could have started and completed by the time they finished talking.

Until then the Tiger-Cats will remain in limbo, a boring non-issue that most fans should best ignore.

For more from Steve Thompson, visit his Bleacher Report.com profile page at http://bleacherreport.com/users/75533-steve-thompson.

It isn’t often that two teams end up playing each other four times in the span of two months, but that’s what is happening for the Tiger-Cats and the Blue Bombers as they are to meet at Canad Inns Stadium on Friday the 13th.

This is already the fourth time Hamilton and Winnipeg have met.

The good news for both of these teams is that they would both be in the playoffs if they started today. The bad news is that they only have a combined four wins, just one of which has come against another team in the CFL.

So far in 2010, the home teams have ruled the day. The Bombers opened up the season with a shocking 49-29 upset of the Tabbies at home. Since then, Hamilton has won 28-7 and 29-22 at home.

The winning team will move a game ahead of the other. Should the Tiger-Cats spring the mild upset, they will have won the season series and the tiebreaker, effectively giving them a game and a half lead on Winnipeg for the last playoff spot in the East Division. The loser will drop back into the gutter in the division and be fighting for a crossover postseason spot.

Hamilton is still having major problems with its ground attack, which is putting all sorts of pressure on quarterback Kevin Glenn and the passing game. Glenn has thrown the second most passes in the CFL with 218, and he is second in the league in yardage with 1,886. Throwing 11 touchdowns against four picks is good for a 101.2 quarterback rating, the second highest amongst starters in the CFL.

Glenn would be nowhere without the play of receiver Arland Bruce III, though. Bruce is simply on fire right now. He leads the CFL by a country mile in receptions (43) and yards (680) and his four touchdown grabs puts him just one off of the league lead. Last week, Bruce had 11 catches for 197 yards and a touchdown. Two weeks ago, he went for 272 yards and two touchdowns on 16 catches. Three of his six games have resulted in at least seven catches and at least 100 receiving yards.

As for that woeful running game, changes may need to be made. DeAndra’ Cobb has only rushed for 249 yards this year, putting him at dead last in the league for starting running backs and just barely in front of some of the quarterbacks. Cobb’s 4.0 yard per carrry average remains the worst in the CFL.

On the other side of the ball, the Bombers are going to be facing a defence which has allowed the second most points in the East Division. This could be the week that quarterback Buck Pierce comes back to the lineup after a brief absence. Statistically speaking, both Pierce and reserve quarterback Steven Jyles have comparable numbers, which could make for some controversy should the incumbent come back into the lineup and struggle.

Regardless of who is under center, running back Fred Reid is going to be a focal point for the offence. Reid is averaging 6.6 YPC this year, the second best in the CFL amongst running backs, and even though he has just two TD runs, his 451 yards on the ground is fourth in the league.

The Bombers have only picked off five passes all season long, which could provide a bit of a challenge against a solid Hamilton aerial assault.

The victory both SU and ATS for Hamilton moved it to 3-1-0 in both categories over the last four games with the Blue Bombers.

However, the trend to take note of might just be the ‘under.’ Bettors taking the low side of the CFL betting total are 11-4-0 in Winnipeg’s last 15 games played in the month of August and is 24-8-0 in its last 32 games played on Friday nights.

For Hamilton, the ‘under’ has also been golden, as it is 39-15-1 in its last 55 Friday games. Since the opening game of the year between these teams, both duels have stayed ‘under’ the number.

Courtesy of SBRForum.com.

On July 2, the Bombers took care of the Tiger-Cats to open up the 2010 CFL betting season with a 49-29 win at Canad Inns Stadium. Just two weeks later, the Tabbies got their revenge at Ivor Wynne Stadium, pushing aside Winnipeg 28-7. Even though this is only the sixth week of the season, the two squads are already renewing ties for a third time on Saturday night in Steeltown. Just six days later, they will meet again at Canad Inns.

"Things look relatively grim for both teams at this point in the season, especially considering that each has one win against the other"

Things look relatively grim for both teams at this point in the season, especially considering that each has one win against the other. Hamilton is winless against the rest of the CFL and is tied for the worst record in the league. However, if the playoffs were to start today, the Tiger-Cats would be in a position where they were tied for the crossover playoff spot.

Winnipeg is 2-3-0 and is a game clear of the Tabbies for the last post-season spot in the East Division.

The winner of this grudge match will take third place in the East Division into Week 7, while the loser will be sitting in the gutter.

One would figure that the problems for the Bombers would be stemming from their offence. However, with 157 points scored, only Montreal and Saskatchewan have better tallies in the league through five games and that also accounts for the woeful seven-point showing against Hamilton back in Week 3.

Fifteen offensive scores this year ranks second in the CFL behind just Saskatchewan. The Riders are also the only team in the CFL to average more yards per game than the Bombers, who currently sit at a lofty 8.5 yards per play.

Though quarterback Buck Pierce hasn’t played in two weeks, reserve Steven Jyles has stepped in admirably, completing 61.5 percent of his passes for 580 yards and two touchdowns to go with four rushing scores. Pierce, who has been injury prone in his career, has been sitting out due to a knee problem. He is listed as questionable to return for the third installment against the Tiger-Cats.

The play of wide receiver Terrence Edwards has been phenomenal this year. He leads the CFL in receiving at 545 yards and is the only man in the league with at least three receptions to average over 20 yards per catch (21.5). Edwards has four receiving touchdowns on the season as well, putting him in a three-way tie for the league lead.

Wide receiver Arland Bruce III tried his best last week to break all of Edwards’ marks in just one game. The CFL veteran had the best game of his career, hauling in 16 receptions for 272 yards and two touchdowns. Unfortunately for him, his Tiger-Cats needed all those passing yards because they were constantly trailing the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Hamilton was defeated 37-24.

Quarterback Kevin Glenn has had an up and down season, but lately, he has been more high than low. He has thrown for at least 330 yards in three of his last four starts and has three touchdown passes in two of his last three. The two interceptions Glenn threw last week against the Riders were the first blunders he has made since the opening week of the season.

As a result, only Pierce and Montreal’s Anthony Calvillo have higher quarterback ratings this season than Glenn, who currently sits at a lofty 100.8.

Still, thanks to a poor running game which ranks dead last in the league at just 70.6 yards per game, the Tabbies are sixth in the CFL in total offence at 347.4 YPG.

Running back DeAndra’ Cobb has to be losing confidence in a hurry. He rushed for 1,217 yards last season, but is only on a pace for 727 this year. Cobb is averaging the worst YPC amongst starting running backs in the league at 4.0 and his 202 yards on the ground is easily the lowest amongst starting backs.

Dating back to last season, Hamilton is only 1-5 ATS in its last six overall. The team has only had two games in that stretch in which it held its opponents under 34 points.

The Bombers enter this game having covered the CFL spreads in back-to-back games as underdogs.

They’re pups once again on Saturday night, as the Bombers are 2.5-point underdogs. The ‘total’ has been set at 53.5.

Courtesy of SBRForum.com.

The defence

Has been amazing The pass defence has been amazing, as the Tiger-Cats have shut down two of the best quarterbacks in the CFL this season in Anthony Calvillo and Darian Durant. However, Hamilton is getting destroyed in the running game and it’s almost as if they are so focused on getting at the quarterback that they forget the running back is there.

Observe,

Last game: Wes Cates ran for 66 yards and two touchdowns for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Week 4: Avon Cobourne ran for 55 yards for the Montreal Alouettes.

Week 3: Fred Reid ran for 84 yds for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Hamilton managed to keep him out of the end zone and they won.

Week 2: Joffrey Reynolds ran for 98 yards and quarterback Henry Burris added 38 yards.

Week 1: Reid and quarterback Buck pierce ran for 187 yards combined with Pierce scoring a touchdown.

"Hamilton is getting destroyed in the running game"

Now, as seen above, in many of these games there were no rushing touchdowns scored, or in Winnipeg’s case, only one. But, big runs give the other team momentum and having to chase down the running back will only tire out the defence. Thus, opening up receiving opportunities later in the game. This would explain why Hamilton has looked weak down the stretch in games.

But, say the defence doesn’t start to tire out until the fourth quarter. This still gives the offence a chance to put some points up on the board, something that they need to start capitalizing on and they also need to give the ball to running back DeAndra’ Cobb more. They’ve started to get a bit wary of this, because Cobb is making his move before the line of scrimmage. So, with a quarterback like Kevin Glenn, who isn’t the tallest or speediest guy and doesn’t have a rocket for an arm, he has to rely on Cobb opening up routes for his receivers.

Glenn has to rely on football IQ in order for his team to have a chance to win. Hmm… add it up: Cobb not producing means the defence can guard their man tighter, leaving no where for Glenn to throw, except maybe for short yardage where he has to rely on his receiver to make a play. Glenn isn’t that fast, so he likely won’t be able to run for the first down. You can only get so far and then you have to rely on your kicker to boot it through the uprights. Luckily, Hamilton has the most accurate kicker in CFL history, right? Well, technically that would be right, but he seems to be in a slump, so, wrong!

Which basically leaves you scoring points off of safety’s, Marcus Thigpen, missed field goals that go through the end zone and defence (which considering they’re called defence they usually don’t score).

This is a formula for being crushed. But, like I said, Hamilton has arguably the best defence in the league, so the opposing team has some trouble scoring touchdowns. That’s OK, though, because they’re kicker is scoring 22 points. Wait a minute, what? I mean I’ve heard of a kicker scoring the game winning points, that’s what they’re there for, but I mean your kicker scoring the majority of your points usually means you’re going to have a pretty low score.

Except the last two weeks, the kicker has single handedly won the game for their team, with both Damon Duvall and Luca Congi scoring 23 points and 22 points, respectively. Now, okay, ya, sure, they’ve scored off field goals. So, Hamilton has to have the momentum and be scoring touchdowns at the other end and even if they aren’t they should have the same opportunities at field goals as the other team.

Except, Hamilton’s kicker is missing and the opposing kicker is racking up points and giving his team momentum. Hamilton gets nothing going, and even if they eventually do, the momentum has swayed too far to the other team and they get stumped or DeAngelis misses another field goal.

This brings us to Saturday’s game against Saskatchewan, where Hamilton went out hungry for a win. Hamilton finished their drives, making sure they didn’t have to rely on DeAngelis to score anything more than a few extra points, a good way to help him gain his confidence back, while he did boot in a chip shot. They gave the ball to DeAndra’ Cobb more and he  made his move after getting a few yards past the line of scrimmage. They get their number one receiver going in a big way as he had 16 receptions (tying the CFL record), 272 yards and two touchdowns.

Sandro DeAngelis, who has only hit 58.3% of his field goals this season, has been a major dissapointment for Hamilton.

So, they fixed all their previous problems and the defence continued to do a solid, the formula for a win. Except, they still get owned on the run and Glenn threw two interceptions. The two interceptions were arguably not his fault as both deflected off the receivers hands and nicely into the hands of the opposition. But,  around 40% of the time Glenn’s throws are either a bit behind the receivers and in some cases higher, causing the receiver to have to go up and get it or to quickly lean to the side to snatch that ball.

When receivers are tightly covered and that ball goes in and out of their hands you can look for the defence to have that ball go right into their hands. That’s what happened against the Riders and it was a real momentum killer. There isn’t much you can do about that, but to just try to get into better position to absorb that ball or for Glenn to have a softer release. Usually, it’s not that big a problem, but, every once in a while, it bites you in the ass.

Even though Glenn has done a nice job, I’d start Porter next game because he’s got a softer release when he throws and he’s fast, which always keeps defences weary. Things are looking like they’ll turn around as Hamilton’s next four games are versus the Toronto Argonauts and the Bombers. However, don’t be surprised if you see some changes starting next game and I can almost guarantee they’ll be some changes if Hamilton loses any of these next four games.

We may be looking at some potential swaps between Edmonton and Hamilton in the future. That’s just my feeling, but, one thing is for sure: Hamilton needs to turn things around and fast.

The Tiger-Cats are in a bad spot this week. They are coming off a tough loss, their running game is the worst in the CFL and now they have to head out on the road to face a team that is also stinging after suffering their first loss of the season.

"The math seems pretty simple in this one: the Tiger-Cats are 0-2-0 on the road while the Riders are 2-0-0 at home"

Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Saskatchewan Roughriders
Saturday, July 31 – 6:35 PM ET
CFL Odds: Roughriders -7.5

Catching up with the Tiger-Cats

The Tiger-Cats are coming off a listless performance against Montreal and they are inching closer and closer to the panic button. At 1-3-0 with a cozy spot all by themselves in last place in the East Division, the panic button is within arm’s reach.

The issue right now for the Tiger-Cats is the offence. More specifically, running back DeAndra’ Cobb and the running game that can’t get anything going on the ground. They are averaging more than a yard worse per carry than the next best team and the pressure is mounting on quarterback Kevin Glenn to do it all.

On one hand, it can be spun that the defence played well against Montreal last week, allowing just two touchdowns, but they still gave up 37 point and plenty of yards in the loss. They aren’t getting help and are being force to spend more time on the field than they would like to.

Catching up with the Riders

The Riders are no longer undefeated. They scored points at a torrid pace through the first three weeks of the season, but hit a wall against Calgary last week.

They scored a season low 20 points and quarterback Darian Durant was baited into three interceptions. But, to put it into perspective, Calgary is a quality team and they have a stellar defence. It wasn’t the performance that the Roughriders wanted, but it was an early season wakeup call that they aren’t going to roll through the West as easily as they may have thought.

Not to worry, though, as the explosive offence is still intact. It just took a week off. The Riders have played well at home this year and they should be able to bounce back.

The matchup

The math seems pretty simple in this one: the Tiger-Cats are 0-2-0 on the road while the Riders are 2-0-0 at home. Sure, Durant and company struggled last week in Calgary, but that was against the best defence in the CFL and the Tiger-Cats simply aren’t as good as that.

Throw in the fact that Hamilton has the worst rushing attack in the league and is heading into a hostile environment against a team that took their first loss last week and the CFL betting choice should be clear.

Football Betting Pick: Roughriders -7.5

Courtesy of SBRForum.com.

Last season, all of the cards seemed to be falling into place for the Tiger-Cats and Alouettes to meet in the East Division final for the right to go to the Grey Cup. The British Columbia Lions spoiled the dreams of Hamilton though. Once again in 2010, the Alouettes and Tiger-Cats were expected to be the top two teams in this division.

"As (Hamilton and Montreal) get ready to engage in CFL betting warfare at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium, their records don't necessarily indicate those of champions"

However, as these two teams get ready to engage in CFL betting warfare at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium, their records don’t necessarily indicate those of champions.

The Alouettes started off the season with three straight road games against West Division foes. Surviving with a 2-1 record is nice, but many CFL pundits were expecting a 3-0 beginning. Hamilton slumped to losses in their first two games of the year against Winnipeg and Calgary, but they finally got the bagel out of their win column with their best defensive showing of the year, a 28-7 win over the Bombers at home last week.

For the Tiger-Cats, duplicating last week’s intensity on defence is going to be the only path to victory against a high-flying Montreal team. The Tiger-Cats have allowed 79 points in three games this season, ranking them first in the East Division and third in the CFL. Not only could the Bombers not figure out how to score on the Hamilton defence last week, but they couldn’t move the pigskin either. Winnipeg mustered just 282 yards of offense and if not for a few big gainers by running back Fred Reid, it would have probably been shutout.

Offensively, the play of quarterback Kevin Glenn is improving from his opening week dud against those same Bombers. Hamilton’s signal caller threw for 336 yards and three TDs last week against the team he led to the Grey Cup just three seasons ago. Glenn is the second highest rated passer in the CFL at 110.0 and he has the best completion percentage in the league at 70.0 percent. Throwing for 889 yards is good for third in the league.

The rushing game has been a huge problem, though. Expectations were high this season for DeAndra’ Cobb, but they just haven’t panned out at all. Cobb only has 112 rushing yards and one score on the season, making him one of the few backs in this league that has failed to rush for at least 60 yards in a game on the season.

In comparison to the rest of the teams in the East, Montreal should be in a league of its own, particularly on offence. Though the 100 points scored on the season is the second best mark in the league behind Saskatchewan, scoring just 49 points over the last two weeks isn’t all that impressive for an offence that is used to dropping 30+ points on virtually all of its foes.

Quarterback Anthony Calvillo is up to his old tricks once again. He has 902 passing yards on the season and is well on his way to another 5,000+ yard year. He is second in the league in touchdown passes with six and has only committed two blunders all season long. No one has more pass attempts (119) or completions (77) this year in the CFL than the veteran Calvillo.

Though you won’t find a Montreal receiver in the Top 10 in the league in receptions, there is a remarkable consistency amongst the top six receivers for this team. All six, one of which is running back Avon Cobourne, have between 11 and 13 receptions and all six have somewhere between 109 and 192 receiving yards on the season.

Last season, it was the road team that got the best of the CFL betting festivities between these two teams. Montreal did win all three games outright, but Hamilton covered CFL lines of plus 13 and plus 14.5 in two games at Molson Stadium in 41-38 and 21-8 defeats respectively. Two of the three clashes stayed ‘under’ the ‘total’.

In the first meeting of the season between these two teams, the Alouettes opened up as nine-point favorites. However, in their home opener, they have dropped as low as minus seven. The ‘total’ currently posted is 53.

Courtesy of SBRForum.com.