# 2019 Hamilton Tiger-Cats season

The 2019 Hamilton Tiger-Cats season was the 62nd season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 70th overall. It was the 150th year overall in the combined history of the Tiger-Cats and its predecessors the Wildcats and Tigers; the team held sesquicentennial celebrations throughout the season.
The Tiger-Cats improved upon their 8–10 record from 2018 and finished the 2019 regular season with a franchise best 15–3 record. They finished in first place for the first time since 2014 and attempted unsuccessfully to win their ninth Grey Cup championship. This is the first season under co-general managers Drew Allemang and Shawn Burke, and the first full season under head coach Orlondo Steinauer. It was announced on December 3, 2018 that Steinauer would take the reins as the Tiger-Cats' head coach, replacing June Jones in that capacity. The plan was for Jones to remain with the team as an associate head coach and offensive coordinator, but he resigned with the club and joined the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL as head coach.
On October 19, 2019, the Tiger-Cats defeated the Ottawa Redblacks and recorded a franchise-record 13th win in a season. The team finished the season with 15 wins and with a perfect home record for the first time since the CFL went to an 18-game schedule, winning all nine home games. Despite their success during the regular season, they lost to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, a team that had a dominant performance during the 107th Grey Cup game. With the Blue Bombers ending a 29-year Grey Cup drought, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats now hold the longest active Grey Cup drought dating back to the 1999 season, having won the 87th Grey Cup that season.

## Offseason
### Foreign drafts

For the first time in its history, the CFL held drafts for foreign players from Mexico and Europe. Like all other CFL teams, the Tiger-Cats held three non-tradeable selections in the 2019 CFL–LFA Draft, which took place on January 14, 2019. The 2019 European CFL Draft took place on April 11, 2019 where all teams held one non-tradeable pick.
| Draft | Round | Pick | Player | Position | School/Club Team |
| LFA | 1 | 5 | José Noriega | WR | Artilleros de Puebla |
| LFA | 2 | 14 | Omar Cojolum | RB | Mayas CDMX |
| LFA | 3 | 23 | Luis López | RB | Condors CDMX |
| Euro | 1 | 1 | Valentin Gnahoua | DL | Berlin Rebels |

### CFL draft

The 2019 CFL Draft took place on May 2, 2019. The Tiger-Cats held eight selections in the eight-round draft, including three picks within the first 11 overall selections after trading Ryan Bomben and Jamal Robinson to the Montreal Alouettes.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School | Hometown |
| 1 | 2 | Jesse Gibbon | OL | Waterloo | Hamilton, ON |
| 2 | 10 | Nikola Kalinic | WR | York | Toronto, ON |
| 2 | 11 | David Ungerer | WR | Idaho | Pullman, WA |
| 3 | 22 | Maleek Irons | RB | Ohio | Calgary, AB |
| 3 | 24 | Sheridan Lawley | DL | British Columbia | Abbotsford, BC |
| 7 | 58 | Derek Dufault | DL | Manitoba | Winnipeg, MB |
| 8 | 65 | Malcolm Campbell | DL | Toronto | Mississauga, ON |
| 8 | 67 | Gordon Whyte | LB | St. Francis Xavier | Toronto, ON |

## Preseason
### Schedule

| Week | Game | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Results | Results | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary |
| Week | Game | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Score | Record | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary |
| A | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| B | 1 | Sat, June 1 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | @ Ottawa Redblacks | W 25–21 | 1–0 | TSN | TD Place Stadium | 22,318 | Recap |
| C | 2 | Thu, June 6 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | Toronto Argonauts | L 30–23 | 1–1 | Ticats.ca | Tim Hortons Field | NA | Recap |

## Regular season
### Season standings

East Divisionviewtalkedit :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts | PF | PA | Div | Stk | |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 18 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 30 | 551 | 344 | 7–1 | W6 | Details |
| Montreal Alouettes | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 20 | 479 | 485 | 5–3 | W1 | Details |
| Toronto Argonauts | 18 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 373 | 562 | 3–5 | L1 | Details |
| Ottawa Redblacks | 18 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 6 | 312 | 564 | 1–7 | L11 | Details |

### Season schedule

To accommodate for the viewership of the Toronto Raptors' 9pm EDT NBA Finals Game 6 start time on June 13, the CFL moved up the start time of the league opener that same day from 7:30pm to 7:00pm.
| Week | Game | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Results | Results | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary |
| Week | Game | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Score | Record | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary |
| 1 | 1 | Thu, June 13 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | Saskatchewan Roughriders | W 23–17 | 1–0 | TSN/RDS | Tim Hortons Field | 22,287 | Recap |
| 2 | 2 | Sat, June 22 | 4:00 p.m. EDT | @ Toronto Argonauts | W 64–14 | 2–0 | TSN/RDS | BMO Field | 16,374 | Recap |
| 3 | 3 | Fri, June 28 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | Montreal Alouettes | W 41–10 | 3–0 | TSN/RDS/ESPN2 | Tim Hortons Field | 22,407 | Recap |
| 4 | 4 | Thu, July 4 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | @ Montreal Alouettes | L 29–36 | 3–1 | TSN/RDS | Molson Stadium | 18,673 | Recap |
| 5 | 5 | Sat, July 13 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | Calgary Stampeders | W 30–23 | 4–1 | TSN/ESPN2 | Tim Hortons Field | 22,921 | Recap |
| 6 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 7 | 6 | Fri, July 26 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 23–15 | 5–1 | TSN/RDS | Tim Hortons Field | 23,512 | Recap |
| 8 | 7 | Thu, Aug 1 | 9:30 p.m. EDT | @ Saskatchewan Roughriders | L 19–24 | 5–2 | TSN | Mosaic Stadium | 29,516 | Recap |
| 9 | 8 | Sat, Aug 10 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | BC Lions | W 35–34 | 6–2 | TSN/RDS | Tim Hortons Field | 23,308 | Recap |
| 10 | 9 | Sat, Aug 17 | 4:00 p.m. EDT | @ Ottawa Redblacks | W 21–7 | 7–2 | TSN/RDS2 | TD Place Stadium | 23,214 | Recap |
| 11 | 10 | Sat, Aug 24 | 10:00 p.m. EDT | @ BC Lions | W 13–10 | 8–2 | TSN | BC Place | 16,751 | Recap |
| 12 | 11 | Mon, Sept 2 | 1:00 p.m. EDT | Toronto Argonauts | W 38–27 | 9–2 | TSN | Tim Hortons Field | 25,093 | Recap |
| 13 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 14 | 12 | Sat, Sept 14 | 4:00 p.m. EDT | @ Calgary Stampeders | L 18–19 | 9–3 | TSN | McMahon Stadium | 27,962 | Recap |
| 15 | 13 | Fri, Sept 20 | 9:30 p.m. EDT | @ Edmonton Eskimos | W 30–27 | 10–3 | TSN | Commonwealth Stadium | 25,694 | Recap |
| 16 | 14 | Fri, Sept 27 | 8:30 p.m. EDT | @ Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 33–13 | 11–3 | TSN/RDS2 | IG Field | 25,086 | Recap |
| 17 | 15 | Fri, Oct 4 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | Edmonton Eskimos | W 42–12 | 12–3 | TSN/ESPN2 | Tim Hortons Field | 23,411 | Recap |
| 18 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 19 | 16 | Sat, Oct 19 | 4:00 p.m. EDT | Ottawa Redblacks | W 33–12 | 13–3 | TSN/RDS2 | Tim Hortons Field | 23,692 | Recap |
| 20 | 17 | Sat, Oct 26 | 1:00 p.m. EDT | @ Montreal Alouettes | W 38–26 | 14–3 | TSN/RDS | Molson Stadium | 17,264 | Recap |
| 21 | 18 | Sat, Nov 2 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | Toronto Argonauts | W 21–18 | 15–3 | TSN | Tim Hortons Field | 22,804 | Recap |

## Post-season
### Schedule

| Game | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Results | Results | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary |
| Game | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Score | Record | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary |
| East Semi-Final | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| East Final | Sun, Nov 17 | 1:00 p.m. EST | Edmonton Eskimos | W 36–16 | 1–0 | TSN/RDS/ESPNews | Tim Hortons Field | 25,177 | Recap |
| 107th Grey Cup | Sun, Nov 24 | 6:00 p.m. EST | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | L 12–33 | 1–1 | TSN/RDS/ESPN2 | McMahon Stadium | 35,439 | Recap |