Defence stepping up for Hamilton Tiger-Cats

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are 3-1 with Zach Collaros back at the helm, but his return isn’t the only reason for the club’s resurgence.

A tough, physical defence has also contributed to Hamilton (4-7) grabbing a share of first in the East Division standings. The unit has been especially impressive the last two weeks, registering a combined 10 sacks in home wins over the Saskatchewan Roughriders (28-3) and Edmonton Eskimos (25-23), in the Ticats’ first victories this season over West Division rivals.

Hamilton is 3-0 at Tim Hortons Field, opening the facility with a 13-12 Labour Day victory over arch-rival Toronto. The Ticats’ defence held quarterback Ricky Ray to 142 yards passing and the Argos offence to just nine first downs and 146 net yards while registering four sacks and three turnovers.

A rugged, hard-hitting defence has been a longstanding tradition in Hamilton and a cornerstone of the franchise’s 15 Grey Cup championships. This year’s unit showed flashes of brilliance early this season but cornerback Delvin Breaux says consistency has come with players buying into defensive co-ordinator Orlondo Steinauer’s system.

“We’re starting to bond together as brothers on the defensive side,” Breaux said. “The first four weeks or so, nobody was attuned to what coach O wanted us to do.

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“(When) we started buying in, that’s when you started seeing the results of how we’re playing.”

Steinauer is in his second season as defensive co-ordinator but fully understands Hamilton’s defensive tradition. He was a defensive back on the Ticats’ last Grey Cup winner in ’99.

“We are in an environment where our fans show support whether we’re winning or losing and as defensive players, we take that personal,” said Breaux, who survived a near-fatal neck injury during a high school game in ’06 in New Orleans. “We took it upon ourselves and said, ‘We’ve got to play physical, play fast, play smart, play disciplined — which is the big factor — and let’s start shutting people down.’

“We know we have the right guys in the room to make those plays . . . We got together and said, ‘Let’s make this stand and start winning these games.’”

Collaros has certainly been a factor for Hamilton with three 300-yard passing games and twice as many TDs (six) as interceptions (three). He’s also made things happen with his legs, rushing for 134 yards and a TD on 27 carries (4.96-yard average). That’s important with running back C.J Gable (shoulder) going on the six-game injured list.

But Breaux said the Ticats’ defence is working in tandem with Collaros and the offence.

“We need our quarterback,” he said. “He’s the guy who can keep us in games and keep us winning games.

“If we keep giving him the ball back then that’s giving (the offence) more confidence to keep playing. It’s great having Zach back.”

The loss of defensive tackle Brian Bulcke — Hamilton’s ’13 top defensive player nominee — to a season-ending bicep injury against Saskatchewan could’ve been a debilitating blow to the Ticats’ defence. But it allowed six-foot-four, 305-pound rookie tackle Linden Gaydosh, the first player selected in last year’s CFL draft, to make his first career start against Edmonton in just his second regular-season game.

“It felt great but I forgot what it was like to wake up the next day,” said the native of Peace River, Alta., who spent all of last season on injured reserve with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers before being released in August. “I had kind of got used to a regular person’s life where you just feel good every day but I got bored with that real quick to be honest with you.

“I just feel normal again. It had been so long since I’d been able to play that I kind of felt like I had lost who I was. Now that I’m back at it . . . I feel comfortable and happy about it all.”

However, the former Calgary Dino understands the importance of a staunch defence.

“With defence comes the ability to win games,” he said. “Having a consistent defence means being able to keep the opponent’s point total low and giving your offence more room to work.

“The longer you can keep the defence off the field and your offence on it, you have a much better chance of winning.”

Hamilton would have another solid pass rusher if defensive end Justin Hickman make his ’14 debut Saturday against Winnipeg. Hickman had a CFL-high 13 sacks with the Ticats in 2011 before spending the next two years with the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts. He didn’t play against Edmonton.

“To be honest, it’s better to have too many (pass rushers) than not enough,” Gaydosh said. “It gives us more weapons and we’re able to be a lot more versatile.

“It’s another guy we can put on the field that no one has yet seen film on this season and would be kind of an unpredictable card that we can play, a little bit of a wildcard for this week.”

Winnipeg (6-6) comes off a bye week having dropped three straight. But the Bombers beat Hamilton 27-26 on July 31 on Drew Willy’s two-yard TD pass to Nic Grigsby on the final play.

Willy, the CFL’s second-leading passer with 2,977 yards, suffered a right shoulder sprain in a 26-9 loss to B.C. on Sept. 13 but practised Tuesday. Winnipeg has the league’s second-worst run game — 76.2 yards per game — but Grigsby is second overall in rushing with 647 yards and has a league-high nine TDs (eight rushing, one passing).