{"id":747002,"date":"2026-06-19T09:42:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T09:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/747002\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T09:42:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T09:42:14","slug":"3-keys-to-victory-for-bc-hamilton-in-week-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/747002\/","title":{"rendered":"3 keys to victory for BC, Hamilton in Week 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

HAMILTON \u2014 Week 3 kicks off on Friday Night Football when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats host the BC Lions at Hamilton Stadium.<\/p>\n

The Ticats are coming off their first victory of the season over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.<\/p>\n

BC dropped its season opener, 31-27, to the defending Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders in Week 2.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s three keys to victory for both teams ahead of Friday\u2019s 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff, which can be watched on TSN in Canada, and on CFL+ in the U.S. and internationally.<\/p>\n

RELATED
\u00bb Depth Charts:\u00a0BC<\/a> | HAM<\/a>
\u00bb Game Notes: Lions at Tiger-Cats<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Tickets: BC at Hamilton<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Injury Reports: Stay up to date<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Who\u2019s gonna win? Play CFL Pick \u2018Em presented by Old Dutch now!<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Sign up and watch CFL games on CFL+ in the U.S. and Internationally<\/a><\/p>\n

BC LIONS<\/p>\n

1. PASS DEFENCE<\/p>\n

The BC secondary was torched for 417 yards and three touchdowns by Riders quarterback Trevor Harris<\/a> a week ago. Defensive backs C.J. Coldon<\/a>, T.J. Lee<\/a> and Jackson Findlay<\/a> led the Lions with 22 combined defensive tackles, but need to tighten up coverage downfield to prevent completions in the first place. It doesn\u2019t get any easier this week against Ticats\u2019 pivot Bo Levi Mitchell<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2. STEPPING UP AT WIDEOUT<\/p>\n

The Lions receiving corps has taken significant hits as Stanley Berryhill III<\/a>, Jevon Cottoy<\/a> and Seven McGee<\/a> will all miss Friday\u2019s game with injuries. Keon Hatcher Sr.<\/a> is also listed as a game-time decision, so that leaves much of the heavy lifting up to Justin McInnis<\/a>. Fortunately for head coach Buck Pierce, it\u2019s a role he can handle.<\/p>\n

3. JAMES BUTLER<\/p>\n

James Butler<\/a> found the end zone twice in his team\u2019s first game despite averaging just 3.9 yards over nine carries. He\u2019ll try to carry more of the load to take pressure off the pass game.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

HAMILTON TIGER-CATS<\/p>\n

1. KIONDR\u00c9 SMITH COMING UP BIG<\/p>\n

Receiver Kiondr\u00e9 Smith<\/a> is proving he can be the main guy in the Ticats receiving corps, having averaged 83.5 yards through two games. With Kenny Lawler<\/a> and Keric Wheatfall<\/a> also at Mitchell\u2019s disposal, nothing is going to come easy for the Lions secondary.<\/p>\n

2. RUN RUN LARRY ROUNTREE III<\/p>\n

Running back Larry Rountree III<\/a> delivered 124 yards on 23 carries against Winnipeg after putting up 23 against Montreal in Week 1. If Rountree can take some of the focus away from the pass game, it should benefit the entire offence.<\/p>\n

3. WIN THE POSSESSION GAME<\/p>\n

The best way to keep Nathan Rourke<\/a> and the Lions offence at bay is to limit their time with the football. Through two weeks, Hamilton ranks second in time of possession at 32:45 compared to BC\u2019s 27:30. It\u2019s up to the entire offence to extend drives and stay on the field for as long as possible.<\/p>\n

NEED TO KNOW:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hamilton is averaging 32 points over the first two games of the season.
\nThe Ticats and Lions split the season series in 2025, scoring a combined 149 points.
\nKickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET, and can be watched on TSN in Canada, and on CFL+ in the U.S. and internationally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HAMILTON \u2014 Week 3 kicks off on Friday Night Football when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats host the BC Lions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":747003,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-747002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=747002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/747003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=747002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=747002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=747002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}