Elks meet Ticats in battle of struggling teams

EDMONTON — In this tale of two cities, it was the worst of times … and the worst of times.

The Edmonton Elks visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Canada Day, and, the way these teams are going, offensive fireworks might not be on the menu. Both are 0-3, and both are struggling to move the football.

You can watch the game at 7:30pm ET/4:30pm PT on TSN 1/3/4 and streaming on TSN Direct and the TSN App. 

With the Elks, we expected there to be pains under new general manager and coach Chris Jones. He inherited a team that finished 3-11 last season and wasn’t expected to be a contender in 2022. But the Ticats reached the Grey Cup final in 2021, and big things were expected for them.

“Nobody would have expected them to be 0-3,” Jones said of the Ticats before the Elks left for the Steel City. “They have an awfully good football team, they have a lot of experienced players, they have a tremendous coaching staff and personnel department. They haven’t been to as many Grey Cups and won as many games as they have without being a great program. We’ve got our hands full, we’ve got to get on the airplane with the right mindset.”

“You don’t expect to start your season off 0-3, but you get to see the resilience that your teammates have, right away,” said Ticats receiver Tim White, who has caught 19 passes for 216 yards so far this season. “I think the mood right now is a willingness to get better. I think a lot of guys are open to learning and just sitting back and seeing what the coaches have to say, and just looking to get on the field and improve upon that.”

Despite the different expectations going into the season, there are so many ways these teams mirror each other. The two teams lead the league in interceptions thrown, Edmonton with