{"id":909959,"date":"2026-09-26T04:57:01","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T04:57:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/909959\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T04:57:01","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T04:57:01","slug":"scott-milanovich-pretty-surprised-hamilton-tiger-cats-on-the-brink-of-cfl-playoff-elimination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/909959\/","title":{"rendered":"Scott Milanovich ‘pretty surprised’ Hamilton Tiger-Cats on the brink of CFL playoff elimination"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Bob Butrym\/RFB Sport Photography \/ 3DownNation. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

Scott Milanovich never saw this coming.<\/p>\n

Only somebody with a functioning crystal ball could have predicted the devastating ankle injury to Bo Levi Mitchell<\/a>, which derailed the Hamilton Tiger-Cats\u2019 2026 season. However, even after his franchise quarterback had been carted off the field, the team\u2019s head coach felt his group would remain on track to compete for a Grey Cup.<\/p>\n

Now on the brink of formal playoff elimination, he\u2019s willing to admit that he didn\u2019t anticipate this outcome.<\/p>\n

3DownNation Newsletter<\/p>\n

\t\tToday\u2019s CFL news in your inbox every day at 3 p.m.<\/p>\n

\t\tBy signing up you agree to receive daily emails from 3DownNation, as well as our
\n\t\tterms of service<\/a> and
\n\t\tprivacy policy<\/a>. Unsubscribe anytime.
\n\t\t1900 Rose St, Regina SK S4P 0A9.<\/p>\n

\u201cPretty surprised,\u201d Milanovich told the media this week<\/a>. \u201cEven after Bo went down, I thought we\u2019d win some of those close games that we haven\u2019t, and we\u2019d still be in a better place relative to the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ticats entered this season as arguably the favourites to win the East Division and showed flashes of dominance in the early weeks. The squad from Steeltown was 2-1 when they hosted Winnipeg in Week 5, then Mitchell got his left foot caught under defensive lineman Jake Ceresna during a sack and had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance. He underwent surgery soon after, which the organization recently confirmed was season-ending<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Including that game, Hamilton has gone 2-9 without Mitchell leading them. Three different starting quarterbacks have contributed in his absence, but none of Jake Dolegala, Tre Ford, or Harrison Frost have generated consistent results.<\/p>\n

Should the Ticats fall against the Edmonton Elks on Saturday, they will need outside help to remain in playoff contention. If the Calgary Stampeders win earlier in the day, they will be mathematically eliminated<\/a>. The same is true if both the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and B.C. Lions prevail on Friday.<\/p>\n

Still, Milanovich doesn\u2019t believe his team\u2019s performances have matched their record until recently.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you take the last two games out, even after Bo got hurt, we\u2019ve been in every single game. We\u2019ve played reasonably well at times, not well at other times,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last two games, I didn\u2019t think we put our best foot forward. Last week, I told you that I thought the score flattered us, so I would like us to come out early, play well, and be in a game. Play with a lead \u2014 we haven\u2019t done that in a little while \u2014 and then close it out. It\u2019s all those things. Let\u2019s not get behind the eight ball early like we did last week. We\u2019ve got to stop trying to come from behind. Let\u2019s play with the lead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just three of the Ticats\u2019 losses without Mitchell have come by less than a touchdown, including the game in which he got hurt. Their past two defeats have come by 12 and 15 points respectively, part of an active four-game losing streak, though a Week 16 drubbing at the hands of the Montreal Alouettes was softened by garbage-time scoring.<\/p>\n

However, Milanovich insists that while the situation is difficult, his team has not fallen into despair.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t know by the atmosphere or the intensity level of the players (at practice) that we only have four wins at this point, so I want to say I\u2019m proud of them for that,\u201d he said. \u201cBut as I said after the game, that should be the expectation. I\u2019m just pleased that they\u2019re at least continuing to do everything they can do and fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI really think it comes down to the character of the people you have in your locker room and in your building, and if you have bad guys or selfish guys, guys that are only concerned about their stats. If we have receivers that are only concerned about their yards \u2014 that\u2019s the one thing I appreciate so much about Kenny (Lawler). I\u2019m sure he wants to have 2,000 yards and 20 touchdowns, but more than that, he wants to win. I hear him on the sideline, and I hear him in the locker room, and we\u2019ve got a lot of guys that way. That makes it easier. If you\u2019ve got bad guys, then yeah, at this point, you\u2019re getting rid of guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless of Saturday\u2019s result, it doesn\u2019t appear that any such changes will be on the horizon. The 53-year-old offensive guru still likes his group and knows they\u2019ll continue to battle against long odds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all paid to do a job, and we\u2019re getting to do something that very few people have the opportunity to do,\u201d Milanovich said. \u201cMost guys that get to this level, whether it be a coach or a player or a GM or whatever, they get here because they\u2019re so competitive that they just hate the bad taste in their mouth. I think that kind of takes over.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats (4-10) will visit the Edmonton Elks (10-4) on Saturday, September 26, with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EDT. The Tabbies lost to the Montreal Alouettes last week, while the Elks narrowly lost to the Toronto Argonauts.<\/p>\n

The game will be broadcast on TSN in Canada and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune in on the Ticats Audio Network in Hamilton or 880 CHED in Edmonton.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

J.C. Abbott is a University of British Columbia graduate and high school football coach. He covers the CFL, B.C. Lions, CFL Draft and the three-down league’s Global initiative.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo: Bob Butrym\/RFB Sport Photography \/ 3DownNation. All rights reserved. Scott Milanovich never saw this coming. Only somebody…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":909960,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[166835,166836,49,48,7028,521,522,520,527,3801,2002,186503,82,43334,167300],"class_list":["post-909959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-3down","tag-3downnation","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-football","tag-hamilton","tag-league","tag-scott-milanovich","tag-sports","tag-ticats","tag-tiger-cats"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/909959","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=909959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/909959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/909960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=909959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=909959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=909959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}