Le ROUGE et NOIR tentent d’obtenir leur billet pour les séries éliminatoires à Hamilton
In their first visit to an East Division opponent since Week 3, the Ottawa REDBLACKS are looking to clinch their first CFL postseason berth since 2018.
The REDBLACKS face off with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats today at 3:00pm, with a chance to become the second team to secure their spot in the 2024 chase for the Grey Cup, should they earn a victory at Tim Hortons Field, live on CTV.
A week after their lengthy unbeaten streak came to an end in Victoria, Ottawa ran roughshod over the Toronto Argonauts on home field in Week 14, picking up a 41-27 win at TD Place. Damon Webb enjoyed a career-best performance with a pair of pick sixes, while Khalan Laborn, and Andre Miller each scored the first touchdowns of their respective CFL careers. Dru Brown threw for 349 yards and a touchdown, while Brandin Dandridge, and Alijah McGhee also notched picks off of Chad Kelly. The REDBLACKS defence feasted, racking up six sacks as part of a statement win.
Despite the rash of injuries continuing, Ottawa will get a boost to their receiving core this afternoon, in the return of Jaelon Acklin. The former All-Star is back in the lineup for the first time since suffering a frightening concussion in the REDBLACKS’ win over the BC Lions on August 31.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
The Ti-Cats enjoyed a bye last week, that no doubt tasted even sweeter on the heels of a 31-28 win over Toronto in the annual Labour Day Classic. It was a vintage performance from Bo Levi Mitchell leading the way, with 347 passing yards, and a pair of touchdowns to Tim White, who racked up 180 yards through the air.
On the ground, quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa scored his first career touchdown, and the Ti-Cats defence also got the better of Kelly with a Richard Leonard interception.
It’s the first meeting between the REDBLACKS and Ti-Cats since Canada Day weekend, when Lewis Ward hit a walk-off field goal to deliver Ottawa a thrilling 24-22 win at TD Place.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
Bob Dyce, Head Coach, on the chance to punch a ticket to the playoffs: “When you have opportunities, you want to seize your opportunities. That’s what we talk about at the end of the day, but that’s not what you necessarily focus on. Every week, we focus on the team and the details throughout the course of the week. That has allowed us to be successful. You know, clinching the playoff spot is much like getting two points for a win. The focus is making sure we’re doing the right things correctly throughout the course of the week, so that we can have the result at the end.”
Dru Brown, quarterback, on keeping the focus on the big picture: “Obviously the goal is to make the playoffs, but at the same time you know there’s more depth to it than just that, and that ultimately comes down to winning the rest of our games. Like everyone probably tells you, I think we look at it one week at a time, one day at a time, and just focus on improvement, and then prepare our tails off. Then we’ll compete at the end of the week, and then we handle our business, then everything else will kind of fall into place.”
Kene Onyeka, defensive lineman, on aiming to continuously improve: “We’ve done a good job so far, and we’ve got to keep going. The most important thing is to not get complacent, because in this league, at this level, on any given Sunday, any given Saturday, whatever, any team can win. So we don’t want to let our foot off the pedal. We want to just keep going and just keep progressing. The most important thing is that you want to hit your peak right around the Grey Cup.”
BROADCAST INFORMATION
3:00 PM ET | TV (ENG): CTV / RDS2 | CFL+ | Radio: EN: TSN 1200, SiriusXM (ch. 167) | FR: 104,7 FM Outaouais
