Cauz: Why the Ticats, Lions matchup is must-see TV

Matthew Cauz

CFL.ca

@mcauz56

I have no idea who the schedule makers are for the CFL, but I want to thank them for helping us all out on the lightest sports week of the year.

Now that all the other professional North American leagues are once again operating on their normal respective schedules, sports fans must face a very light week of content, especially mid-week, where you have one day with no baseball games, a smattering of WNBA games and the often-unwatchable ESPYS. Then on Thursday you have baseball just starting to crank up again.

That is where the CFL comes swooping in like a modern-day hero to the rescue! My Wednesday is spent wondering about coaching hot seats in the Montreal/Ottawa game and the joy of Eugene Lewis and can Hamilton continue to fight for the honour of the East? Give me three desperate teams and one contender in the making doing battle over six hours than a self-important awards show filled with thin skinned individuals who can’t take a joke. Of those games on Thursday night, I think we can all agree it is the night cap between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the BC Lions that brings the most drama.

It’s been a week since we got to talk about and watch Nathan Rourke and I gotta tell you that is seven days too long without taking part in reckless speculation, way to early MOP crowning and general gushing of his talent so it’s good to have him back in our lives.

We are entering a fascinating time in the very early stages of Rourke’s development as a CFL quarterback. We had the explosive start to the year with back-to-back blowout wins, the nip and tuck affair against Ottawa that saw Rourke show no fear after throwing his first two interceptions of the seasons, uncorking a 71-yarder to Keon Hatcher to put the Lions back up for good.

Then in Week 5 we got see a wee bit of “mortality” from Rourke in the Lions 43-22 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Of course, the bar has already been set pretty high for Rourke when a “down” game is 278 yards and three touchdowns against the best team I’ve seen since the 2013-18 Calgary Stampeders.

We get to see how Rourke does now that teams have started to accumulate some game tape on the burgeoning star quarterback. Against the REDBLACKS, Monshadrik Hunter’s second interception of the night was a classic case of the defender reading the quarterbacks eyes and jumping the route at the right time. You could same the thing on the Jackson Jeffcoat pick from two weeks ago where Jeffcoat dropped back, zoned in on where Rourke was looking to pass, and pounced on the throw.

I need to stop for a moment and acknowledge the fact that I have notes about all four of Rourke’s interceptions. That should tell you how good he has performed so early in the season that I made sure to record each and every one of them. I can tell you I have NOT done that with any other passer.

Every quarterback is going to go through growing pains, the path to greatness at that position is not linear, it will at times scatter shot from “truly elite” to “what the hell was he thinking on that pass?” As a football nerd, I love this part of any young player’s development. What happens when the league starts catching up with you? How will, not only Nathan, but the entire Lions coaching staff adjust? Who doesn’t love a good game of chess played with 24 men on the field? This is a great test for the BC Lions offence after a week to lick their wounds.

Now we go from a team looking to bounce back after their first loss of the season to a team coming off of their first victory of 2022. If you think Rourke is looking for a better performance, how must Dane Evans be feeling going into this one? Before we get on all of Dane’s turnovers, it should be noted that several of his CFL-high eight interceptions are the result of balls not being properly secured by his intended target. I think back to his overtime interception against Calgary, that was a catch that Sean Thomas Erlington needed to make, instead it goes off of his hands and right to Jameer Thurman.

But for Hamilton to look like the team that has been to back-to-back Grey Cups they are going to need their quarterback to not turn the ball over in critical moments and look like the passer who helped lead the Tiger-Cats to a league-best 15-3 record in 2019. If Rourke’s football journey is in the growth stage, then for Evans it is all about job security if he can’t figure out his issues with ball security.

Statistically Dane had a marvellous game against Ottawa (342 yards and two touchdowns) but it was his awful fourth quarter fumble that gave Ottawa a 23-18 lead one play later and saw Evans on the bench for two possessions as Matthew Shiltz briefly took over. But then when all looked lost for Dane, he did what great players do; push aside recent mistakes and help his team win.

It would be hyperbolic to say Evans saved his starting job by leading his team on a game-winning touchdown drive behind his 44 yards passing and short touchdown pass to Tim White. However, ask yourself this question: what if that drive had stalled and Ottawa had held on to win 23-18? The Tiger-Cats would be winless and the heat on the team’s starting quarterback would naturally be going up a level. I still believe he is the best option, but an 0-5 start can lead to doubt within any organization. Instead, Evans got his first win of the year, and the team has something to build on as they get set to play the Lions.

One last note about this game, we may not see much change with the Tiger-Cats offence this week, but I know I am not the only one wondering just how different it may look in the coming weeks now that Khari Jones has been added to the coaching staff as a football operations consultant. I’m curious to see what impact he can have for a team that has the double whammy of committing the most turnovers while also leading the league in two-and-outs.

Also, who isn’t excited to see Khari go up against his recently former team the Montreal Alouettes next week? But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, we have a compelling game this week on a night where we all need as much sports entertainment as we can find.

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