# 2021 Hamilton Tiger-Cats season

The 2021 Hamilton Tiger-Cats season was the 63rd season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 71st overall. The Tiger-Cats qualified for the playoffs for the third consecutive year following their week 14 win over the BC Lions on November 5, 2021. The team defeated the Montreal Alouettes and Toronto Argonauts in the playoffs to qualify for their 22nd Grey Cup game appearance. In a rematch of the previous season's game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the Tiger-Cats lost to the Blue Bombers 33–25 in overtime in the 108th Grey Cup game.
The 2021 season was the second season under co-general managers Drew Allemang and Shawn Burke and the second season under head coach Orlondo Steinauer.
An 18-game season schedule was originally released on November 20, 2020, but it was announced on April 21, 2021 that the start of the season would likely be delayed until August and feature a 14-game schedule. On June 15, 2021, the league released the revised 14-game schedule with regular season play beginning on August 5, 2021.

## Offseason
### CFL Global Draft

The 2021 CFL Global Draft took place on April 15, 2021. With the format being a snake draft, the Tiger-Cats selected eighth in the odd-numbered rounds and second in the even-numbered rounds.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | University/Club Team | Nationality |
| 1 | 8 | Joel Whitford | P | Washington | Australia |
| 2 | 11 | Chris Mulumba | DL | Colorado | Finland |
| 3 | 26 | David Izinyon | LB | Rostock Griffins | Great Britain |
| 4 | 29 | Dominik Eberle | K | Utah State | Germany |

### CFL National Draft

The 2021 CFL Draft took place on May 4, 2021. The Tiger-Cats had the most selections in the six-round draft with seven picks after acquiring another first-round pick (ninth overall) from the Montreal Alouettes as part of the Johnny Manziel trade. The team had the first pick in odd rounds and the ninth pick in even rounds.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | University Team | Hometown |
| 1 | 1 | Jake Burt | TE | Boston College | Lynnfield, MA |
| 1 | 9 | Nick Cross | LB | British Columbia | Regina, SK |
| 2 | 18 | Deane Leonard | DB | Mississippi | Calgary, AB |
| 3 | 19 | Mohamed Diallo | DL | Central Michigan | Toronto, ON |
| 4 | 36 | Jarek Richards | LB | Saint Mary's | Montreal, QC |
| 5 | 37 | Felix Garand-Gauthier | FB | Laval | Mirabel, QC |
| 6 | 54 | Myles Manalo | LB | Western | Burlington, ON |

## Preseason

Due to the shortening of the season, the CFL confirmed that pre-season games would not be played in 2021.

### Planned schedule

| Week | Game | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | TV | Venue |
| A | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| B | 1 | Thu, May 27 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | at Toronto Argonauts | NA | BMO Field |
| C | 2 | Thu, June 3 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | vs. Toronto Argonauts | NA | Tim Hortons Field |

## Regular season
### Season standings

East Divisionviewtalkedit :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts | PF | PA | Div | Stk | |
| Toronto Argonauts | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 18 | 309 | 318 | 6–2 | L1 | Details |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 14 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 312 | 244 | 4–4 | W1 | Details |
| Montreal Alouettes | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 356 | 295 | 5–3 | L1 | Details |
| Ottawa Redblacks | 14 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 6 | 224 | 384 | 1–7 | W1 | Details |

### Season schedule

The Tiger-Cats initially had a schedule that featured 18 regular season games beginning on June 10 and ending on October 29. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the Canadian Football League delayed the start of the regular season to August 5, 2021 and the Tiger-Cats began their 14-game season on August 5, 2021.
| 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, Aug 5 | 8:30 p.m. EDT | @ Winnipeg Blue Bombers | L 6–19 | 0–1 | TSN/ESPN2 | IG Field | 29,376 | Recap |
| 2 | 2 | Sat, Aug 14 | 10:00 p.m. EDT | @ Saskatchewan Roughriders | L 8–30 | 0–2 | TSN/ESPNews | Mosaic Stadium | 27,076 | Recap |
| 3 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 4 | 3 | Fri, Aug 27 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | @ Montreal Alouettes | W 27–10 | 1–2 | TSN/RDS/ESPNews | Molson Stadium | 14,753 | Recap |
| 5 | 4 | Mon, Sept 6 | 1:00 p.m. EDT | Toronto Argonauts | W 32–19 | 2–2 | TSN/RDS2 | Tim Hortons Field | 15,000 | Recap |
| 6 | 5 | Fri, Sept 10 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | @ Toronto Argonauts | L 16–17 | 2–3 | TSN/RDS2 | BMO Field | 9,702 | Recap |
| 7 | 6 | Fri, Sept 17 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | Calgary Stampeders | W 23–17 | 3–3 | TSN/RDS | Tim Hortons Field | 15,000 | Recap |
| 8 | 7 | Wed, Sept 22 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | @ Ottawa Redblacks | W 24–7 | 4–3 | TSN/RDS2 | TD Place Stadium | 12,041 | Recap |
| 9 | 8 | Sat, Oct 2 | 4:00 p.m. EDT | Montreal Alouettes | L 23–20 (OT) | 4–4 | TSN/RDS | Tim Hortons Field | 18,000 | Recap |
| 10 | 9 | Mon, Oct 11 | 4:00 p.m. EDT | Toronto Argonauts | L 23–24 | 4–5 | TSN | Tim Hortons Field | 21,378 | Recap |
| 11 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 12 | 10 | Sat, Oct 23 | 4:00 p.m. EDT | Ottawa Redblacks | W 32–3 | 5–5 | TSN/RDS2 | Tim Hortons Field | 20,112 | Recap |
| 13 | 11 | Fri, Oct 29 | 9:45 p.m. EDT | @ Edmonton Elks | W 39–23 | 6–5 | TSN | Commonwealth Stadium | 22,857 | Recap |
| 14 | 12 | Fri, Nov 5 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | BC Lions | W 26–18 | 7–5 | TSN/RDS | Tim Hortons Field | 21,618 | Recap |
| 15 | 13 | Fri, Nov 12 | 7:30 p.m. EST | @ Toronto Argonauts | L 12–31 | 7–6 | TSN/ESPNews | BMO Field | 10,851 | Recap |
| 16 | 14 | Sat, Nov 20 | 4:00 p.m. EST | Saskatchewan Roughriders | W 24–3 | 8–6 | TSN/RDS | Tim Hortons Field | 22,344 | 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 | Sun, Nov 28 | 1:00 p.m. EST | Montreal Alouettes | W 23–12 | 1–0 | TSN/RDS/ESPN2 | Tim Hortons Field | 21,892 | Recap |
| East Final | Sun, Dec 5 | 12:30 p.m. EST | @ Toronto Argonauts | W 27–19 | 2–0 | TSN/RDS/ESPN2 | BMO Field | 21,492 | Recap |
| 108th Grey Cup | Sun, Dec 12 | 6:00 p.m. EST | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | L 25–33 (OT) | 2–1 | TSN/RDS/ESPN2 | Tim Hortons Field | 26,324 | Recap |