Hamilton 35, Saskatchewan 34

What a game. Coming back on the road in a hostile Mosaic Stadium after being down 19 in the fourth quarter is something the Tiger-Cats of the past have just not done. This does feel like a new team and one that might be (and I stress the word "might") the best team in the league right now.

Positives

It was another amazing performance by Henry Burris. He finished the game going 28 of 38 for 355 yards and four touchdowns. Burris now sits third in the league in passing yards, leads the league in touchdown passes and QB rating, and sits second in completion percentage. Burris has been on fire and it looks like Burris has found his groove in the offense. If he can keep this up over the whole season, or even something close to it, the sky is the limit.

Onrea Jones had a nice little breakout game by scoring two touchdowns, including the game winner. He had one bad drop in the first half and mistimed a throw from Burris, but bounced back to have his best game of his young career.

Though early, I think it is time we start talking about Rey Williams and defensive player of the year in the same sentence. Williams was his regular stellar self against Saskatchewan, with the big play being his recovery of a Darian Durant fumble that really turned momentum Hamilton's way. Williams has been steady to spectacular all season and that continued on Saturday night.

I also have to give some credit to the defensive line, especially defensive end Brandon Boudreaux. Boudreaux had two sacks and was the man that stripped Durant of the football that Rey Williams recovered. The line as a whole was able to get pressure and looks to be improving each week.

Negatives

The third quarter is still the dead quarter for the Ti-Cats. They finally scored an offensive touchdown in the third frame, but Saskatchewan scored 19 points in the third quarter. In their five games so far, the Ti-Cats have been outscored 64-17 in the third quarter. If the Ti-Cats were only able to shake of their third-quarter woes, they would be nearly unstoppable.

I will start by saying I like Chevon Walker and think he has done a pretty good job so far this season, but last night's game was not his best. His lackadaisical attitude on the kickoff that opened the fourth quarter was not something you want to see from any player, let alone a rookie. And once again, he allowed himself to be pushed out of bounds when the team was trying to milk the clock at the end of the game. Luckily, neither mistake cost the team, but those are mental errors than cannot be allowed to happen.

Final Thoughts

The comeback showed that this is not the same Tiger-Cat team of the past few years. When the call from Obie was to make the team "more better" I imagine this is what he had in mind. The team is one a major roll and the only thing that can stop the winning ways is the one thing they can't control: their bye week. The Ti-Cats will not play again until August 9th when they host the Calgary Stampeders.

But the Ti-Cats head into their bye on a three-game winning streak and atop the East Division standings for the second week in a row. When the season go underway one month ago today, I doubt anyone thought the Cats would have a share of first when the month ended. But a share of first they have and as long as the team doesn't get complacent, this could be a place they sit for quite some time.