Marred by another slow start, Tiger-Cats take on Redblacks

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are experiencing a third straight poor start and will look to get into the victory column when they visit the Ottawa Redblacks on Sunday night.

Hamilton (0-3) lost its first four games in 2022 and its initial three contests last season. The Tiger-Cats are again in a hole after allowing more than 30 points in each game and giving up a CFL-worst average of 33.7 points.

Hamilton lost its opener to the Calgary Stampeders before losing back-to-back outings against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

"I think everyone's very disappointed," Tiger-Cats coach Scott Milanovich said after Sunday's 36-20 setback against Saskatchewan. "I know I am and I can only speak for myself. I'm disappointed with the way we played and with the way we coached. The buck stops with me, and I've got to do a better job for these guys."

Veteran quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell reached 200 career passing touchdowns by throwing for two touchdowns last week. But he also was intercepted three times and he has a league-high five picks to go with his six touchdown passes.

"We're trying to get rid of the losses and get rid of the mistakes, and we had a lot of mistakes early on," Mitchell said. "... Personally, I need to take care of the football, trust the read and move on."

Ottawa (1-1) is coming off a 47-21 road loss to the Montreal Alouettes on June 20. The Redblacks trailed 30-1 at halftime.

Ottawa allowed 486 yards and also committed three turnovers.

"That's on me, to get us to come out and start faster," Redblacks coach Bob Dyce said. "It's tough to win any game when you have three turnovers in the first half."

Ottawa's Dru Brown passed for 292 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

"We will bounce back," Brown said. "We'll look at it, and we'll demand more from one another, and ourselves."

Redblacks defensive back Monshadrik Hunter (shoulder) was injured against Montreal and will miss the contest. Fellow defensive back Ty Cranston (ankle) also was ruled out.

Meanwhile, Hamilton running back James Butler will sit out due to a head injury. He's fifth in the CFL with 156 rushing yards after rushing for a career-high 1,116 yards last season.

--Field Level Media