CFL Week 17 – Game 1 Analysis – Saturday, Sept. 26 at Commonwealth
The Elks finally meet the Tiger-Cats in Week 17. Meeting a team this late in the season has some good, some bad and some ugly.
The Good: The coaching staff has all the tape they need. Time prepping during the season was minimal, as focus on the other seven teams was key.
The Bad: Playing this two-game series in the final five weeks of the season puts extra pressure on either making the playoffs or positioning in the playoffs.
The Ugly: It is late in the season and all those minor injuries start to compound. The Elks need to work through the late-season soreness as they get the bye week after this game. The Elks are 1-3 against the Scott Milanovich Tiger-Cats but are 7-8 overall vs. Milanovich-coached teams.
The last time these two teams started their two-game season series this late in the season was 2019, when Hamilton won both games and Edmonton met them in the Eastern Division Final.
CFL Week 19 – Game 2 Analysis – Friday, Oct. 9 in Hamilton
This is Game 16 for the Elks and Game 17 for the Tiger-Cats. In the Elks schedule, this series reads as a back-to-back, but the Elks have the bye week between the two games, while the Tiger-Cats played the RedBlacks a week earlier and may have an eye on their bye week following this game. On paper, this matchup lends itself to the team that is more physical on the line of scrimmage winning the game.
This part of the schedule sets up a sprint to the playoffs, as Hamilton, Winnipeg and Saskatchewan remain for the last three games of the season.
The History
When interleague play started in 1961, the Tiger-Cats won eight of the first 11 games in 11 years. Edmonton then dominated, going 35-8-1 from 1972-97. Currently, the Elks have only won three of the last 13 contests. Surprisingly, the two teams have only met in two Grey Cups. The Eskimos won their third consecutive Grey Cup in 1980 to match the 1950s Eskimo Grey Cup dynasty with a 48-10 win against the Tiger-Cats. A contributing factor to that 1980 Esks Grey Cup team was the trade they made with Hamilton before the season. Edmonton traded Bruce Lemmerman for Neil Lumsden.
Six years later, the Tiger-Cats defeated the Eskimos 39-15. After losing the 1984 and 1985 Grey Cups, the Ti-Cats finally won a Grey Cup in their third try.
The other noticeable point of history between the two clubs is the number of former Edmonton QBs who went on to play with the Ti-Cats: Bernie Faloney, Bruce Lemmerman, Charlie Weatherbie, Damon Allen, Matt Dunigan, Danny McManus and Jason Maas.
On a personal note, the two biggest memories I have in this rivalry are the Jason Tucker injury on Friday Night Football, July 25, 2008. It was the last play of the third quarter and a head-to-head collision resulted in a broken neck for Tucker. Watching and then waiting the next 24 hours was tough for all Edmonton fans. Seeing Jason move on to coaching, coach very well and have him on the current Elks staff tempers my awful feeling of that night.
The other memory was in 1979, when Hamilton QB Tom Clements was called for intentional grounding from his end zone in the last two minutes of the game, which put the Eskimos ahead for the 22-21 victory. Listening to Bryan Hall describe that sequence, plus the fan response at Ivor Wynne Stadium, was over the top. Even as a kid, I knew two truths: that Bryan Hall could “enhance” a good story, but on the other hand, the passionate fans of Hamilton could have a divisive reaction to the officials as they left the field.
The two cities have played in:
1 East Division semifinal: 2016 Edmonton 24 Hamilton 21
1 East Final: 2019 Hamilton 36 Edmonton 16
2 Grey Cups
1980 Edmonton 48 Hamilton 10
1986 Hamilton 39 Edmonton 15
Common Players/Staff between the two organizations
Current: Johnny Augustine, David Beard, Brendan Bordner, Malik Carney, Casey Creehan, Tre Ford, Ed Hervey, Brandon Isaac, Kenny Lawler, Justin McGriff, Tyson Middlemost, Scott Milanovich, Ante Milanovic-Litre, Brendan O’Leary-Orange, Taylor Powell, Brock Sunderland, Jakub Szott, James Tuck, Coulter Woodmansey
Historic: Damon Allen, Charles Assman, Tim Bakker, Agustin Barrenechea, Chris Bauman, Marcel Bellefeuille, Urban Bowman, Dieter Brock, Sergio Castillo, Jacques Chapdelaine, Tim Cheatwood, Scott Coe, Tommy Joe Coffey, Mark Coflin, Frank Cosentino, Dennis Creehan, Marco Cyncar, Jim Daley, Larry Dean, Steven Dunbar Jr., Matt Dunigan, Gary Durchik, Mike Eben, Greg Ellingson, Bernie Faloney, Tim Fleiszer, Darren Flutie, Rickey Foggie, Steve Goldman, York Hentschel, Rob Hitchcock, Ron Lancaster, Ron Lancaster Jr., Ted Laurent, Simoni Lawrence, Cody Ledbetter, Bruce Lemmerman, Kai Locksley, Jesse Lumsden, Neil Lumsden, Leon Lyszkiewicz, Greg Marshall, Jason Maas, Derek MacCready, Jeremiah Masoli, Nick Mazzoli, Danny McManus, Brad Miller, Joe Montford, John Payne, Tim Prinsen, Brock Ralph, Jeff Reinebold, Bud Riley, Justin Ring, Simeon Rottier, Jovan Santos-Knox, Val St. Germain, Don Sutherin, Eric Tillman, Charlie Turner, Charlie Weatherbie, Terry Vaughn
The Stats
Elks record when:
Elks record vs. Hamilton: 62-42-1 (0.595)
Elks record vs. Hamilton at home: 32-20-0 (0.615)
Elks record vs. Hamilton away: 30-22-1 (0.575)
Elks record on Sept. 26: 11-7-10-1 (0.611)
Elks record on Oct. 9: 6-6-0 (0.500)
The last 10
Elks record vs. last 10 Hamilton games: 3-7-0 (0.300)
Elks record vs. last 10 Hamilton games at home: 2-8-0 (0.200) ***Current six-game losing streak
Elks record vs. last 10 Hamilton games on the road: 6-4-0 (0.600)
Last time Edmonton swept season series: 2017
Last time Hamilton swept season series: 2025
| 2025 Head-to-Head Statistical Comparison | ||||||
| Edmonton Offensive Rankings | Hamilton Defensive Rankings | |||||
| Rank | Total | Avg | Rank | Tot | Avg | |
| 8 | 422 | 23.4 | POINTS FOR/ALLOWED | 6 | 496 | 27.6 |
| 6 | 40 | TDS | T6 | 44 | ||
| T8 | 35 | FGS | 8 | 53 | ||
| 9 | 5665 | 314.7 | NET OFFENCE | 8 | 6733 | 374.1 |
| 5 | 1766 | 98.1 | RUSHING YARDS | 9 | 1998 | 111 |
| 8 | 4392 | 244 | PASSING YARDS | 6 | 5067 | 281.5 |
| 6 | 6.2 | AVG YDS/PLAY | 7 | 6.82 | ||
| 4 | 5.2 | AVG GAIN RUSH | 9 | 5.7 | ||
| 8 | 6.1 | AVG GAIN 1st DOWN | T7 | 6.8 | ||
| 9 | 43.6 | 2nd DOWN CONV % | 7 | 49.2 | ||
| 5 | 118 | 1ST DOWN by RUSH | 7 | 132 | ||
| T8 | 185 | 1ST DOWN by PASS | 9 | 299 | ||
| T4 | 26 | 1ST DOWN by PEN | 1 | 17 | ||
| 1 | 71.9 | COMPLETION % | 4 | 68.9 | ||
| 9 | 19 | PASSING TD’S | T1 | 21 | ||
| 4 | 102.5 | PASS EFFICIENCY | 1 | 88.2 | ||
| 8 | 52 | SACKS ALLOWED/BY | 6 | 39 | ||
| 1 | 12.9 | PUNT RET AVG | 4 | 10.6 | ||
| 5 | 22.5 | K/O RET AVG | 8 | 24.9 | ||
| 2 | 3 | KICK RET TDS | T5 | 2 | ||
| Edmonton Defensive Rankings | Hamilton Offensive Rankings | |||||
| Rank | Total | Avg | Rank | Tot | Avg | |
| 5 | 490 | 27.2 | POINTS ALLOWED/FOR | 2 | 525 | 29.2 |
| T6 | 44 | TDS | 2 | 46 | ||
| 7 | 47 | FGS | 3 | 52 | ||
| 9 | 7013 | 389.6 | NET OFFENCE | 3 | 6775 | 376.4 |
| 5 | 1831 | 101.7 | RUSHING YARDS | 7 | 1662 | 92.3 |
| 9 | 5336 | 296.4 | PASSING YARDS | 3 | 5354 | 297.4 |
| 8 | 6.84 | AVG YDS/PLAY | 4 | 6.74 | ||
| T3 | 5 | AVG GAIN RUSH | 5 | 5.1 | ||
| T3 | 6.5 | AVG GAIN 1st DOWN | 3 | 6.7 | ||
| 9 | 51.2 | 2nd DOWN CONV % | 3 | 48.1 | ||
| 6 | 123 | 1ST DOWN by RUSH | 3 | 129 | ||
| T7 | 245 | 1ST DOWN by PASS | 6 | 231 | ||
| T3 | 24 | 1ST DOWN by PEN | 8 | 19 | ||
| 8 | 71.5 | COMPLETION % | 7 | 68.5 | ||
| T6 | 29 | PASSING TD’S | 1 | 36 | ||
| 8 | 104.3 | PASS EFFICIENCY | 1 | 106 | ||
| T7 | 24 | SACKS BY/ALLOWED | 27 | 26 | ||
| T6 | 11.9 | PUNT RET AVG | 2 | 12.6 | 10.6 | |
| 5 | 22.2 | K/O RET AVG | 2 | 24 | 20.9 | |
| 7 | 3 | KICK RET TDS | T2 | 3 | ||
