OTTAWA — The Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Ottawa REDBLACKS get Week 18 underway from TD Place Stadium on Friday Night Football.
Hamilton lost its fifth straight game in Week 17, 37-35 in overtime, to the Edmonton Elks.
Ottawa is now 0-14 after a 45-31 loss to the Calgary Stampeders.
It’s the first meeting of the season between the two.
Here’s three keys to victory for both teams ahead of Friday’s 7:00 p.m. ET kickoff, which can be watched on TSN in Canada and on CFL+ in the U.S. and internationally.
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HAMILTON TIGER-CATS
1. PLAYING WITH PRIDE
The Ticats’ playoff hopes may have been dashed last week, but there’s still plenty to play for with three games remaining. It’s professional football, and jobs in 2027 could be on the line. Coming out with energy would be a good start to ensuring a strong finish, and it needs to begin under centre with quarterback Harrison Frost.
2. MAKING THEM MISS
Head coach Scott Milanovich would love to see more of the same out of running back Larry Rountree III. Rountree put up 91 yards on 13 carries against the Elks and has the ability to take considerable pressure off Frost and the pass game.
3. READY FOR THE PASS
Hamilton’s secondary has limited opposing quarterbacks to an average of 278.3 passing yards over its previous three games. Defensive backs Devodric Bynum, Stavros Katsantonis and Quavian White will see another pass-heavy offence this week featuring quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson.
Watch live. Hamilton Tiger-Cats @ Ottawa REDBLACKS, Oct. 3, 01:00 CET, (1 am, 7 pm Oct. 2 ET)
OTTAWA REDBLACKS
1. DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’
Belief is a powerful thing, and Bethel-Thompson and wide receiver Justin Hardy provide plenty of reasons to not lose all faith in the nation’s capital. Bethel-Thompson has averaged 398.5 passing yards in his two starts, and Hardy has already surpassed the 1,000 receiving yard mark for the fourth straight year.
2. DEFENCE
It looked as though the Ottawa defence was getting on track in Week 15 when it held the high-flying Toronto offence to 26 points. In the two games since, they’ve allowed 40 and 45 while surrendering 779 yards through the air. Defensive backs Alonzo Addae, King Ambers and Kahzir Brown have to find a way to stick to Ticats’ receivers Kurleigh Gittens Jr., Kenny Lawler and Kiondré Smith.
3. RUN GAME
Head coach Ryan Dinwiddie has to get production out of his run game to give the Ticats defence a different look. Hamilton’s secondary ranks third in yards allowed through the air with 280.6 per game, making the play of running backs Daniel Adeboboye and Mario Anderson Jr. all the more important.
NEED TO KNOW:
- Hamilton swept the season series in 2025.
- Bethel-Thompson is a career 6-6 against Hamilton.
- Frost will be making his first career start against Ottawa. He has thrown seven touchdown passes in his past three games.
- The Ticats have allowed a league-low 13 pass completions of 30+ yards.