When you have 9 teams in the CFL, sometimes 8 teams, you think every team has played each other in the Grey Cup. Welcome to 2023 where the Montréal Alouettes and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers play for the CFL title for the very first time.
The teams will meet Sunday at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton to determine the winner of the 110th Grey Cup.
The Alouettes upset the heavily favourited Toronto Argonauts (16-2) 38-17 at BMO Field on Saturday. The Blue Bombers outlasted the BC Lions 24-13 at IG Field in Winnipeg.
The teams haven't played each other in the CFL playoffs since 2007. They met in the East Division semifinal with Winnipeg edging Montréal 24-22 at Canad Inns Stadium in Winnipeg. That was the year when Toronto coach Ryan Dinwiddie was the surprise starting quarterback for the Blue Bombers.
Winnipeg dominated the season series in 2023 over Montréal. The teams met on Canada Day in La Belle Province where the Blue Bombers won 17-3. Winnipeg blew out the Alouettes 47-17 in Winnipeg on August 24.
The Alouettes won the other playoff game between the teams, 35-24 over the Blue Bombers in the 2000 East final at Molson Stadium.
Zach Collaros will be the first CFL quarterback to start 4 straight Grey Cup games. Montréal has the second-longest streak without a Grey Cup win, going back to 2010, the team's last Grey Cup visit. The Hamilton streak goes back to 1999.
Offensive coordinator Anthony Calvillo was the Montréal quarterback when the team was in the Grey Cup in 2010.
Jason Maas and Cody Fajardo was key components for Saskatchewan in the 2022 season but both went to Montréal in the off-season. Fajardo and Collaros are former Saskatchewan quarterbacks.
Mike O'Shea won't take the Alouettes for granted given that Toronto cost them a third straight Grey Cup in 2022. Until the Blue Bombers won in 2019, the team hadn't won the CFL title since 1990.
TSN
Sunday
Montréal vs. Winnipeg @ Hamilton, 6:30p
MARC-ANTOINE DEQUOY PICKS OFF CHAD KELLY FOR THE TD ‼️‼️#GCPlayoffs on TSN, RDS
— CFL (@CFL) November 11, 2023
📲 Stream on CFL+ pic.twitter.com/s56X5wROlV
The turning point of a playoff game often isn't within the first 4 minutes of the game. Marc-Antoine Dequoy is known if you've been paying attention to the Alouettes defence. Dequoy's Pick 6 instincts have been sharp of late. The 101-yard return was the first of Toronto's 9 turnovers. This wasn't even the only Chad Kelly pass returned for a Pick 6 as Kabion Ento recorded a Pick 6.
The Alouettes added a couple of offensive touchdowns to showcase the total team effort.
How statistics can deceive: Toronto sacked Fajardo 7 times for 40 yards in losses while the Alouettes didn't record a single sack. The Montréal defence line did record some magic as Shawn Lemon knocked the ball out of Chad Kelly’s hands and Darnell Sankey recovered the ball. Later, Sankey had his own interception.
Leom and Sankey didn't start the season with the Alouettes. They have made a difference on the defence in talent and leadership.
Sankey made that quote (above) on September 21. Montréal hasn't lost since. The team won the final 5 games of the season and 2 playoff games, the longest streak for any CFL team in 2023. The win over Toronto was the first time the team beat a team with a winning record yet they are in the 2023 Grey Cup.
🚨 NICK HALLETT HERO MODE 🚨
— CFL (@CFL) November 12, 2023
Punt Block TD + All-Time Crowd Pop 💥
WATCH ON TSN, RDS
📲 Stream on CFL+ #GCPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/WARQ38lpI5
Both Grey Cup finalists had a special teams touchdown: Winnipeg on a blocked punt and recovery by Nick Hallett and Montréal on a James Letcher Jr. 105-yard kickoff return.
Montréal has a good defence as does the BC Lions. You still have to stop Brady Oliveira. Winnipeg ran plays where Oliveira carried the ball 8 times for 59 yards and had a reception for 11 yards. 70 yards of offence: all Oliveira.
William Stanback needs to be that solid back for the Alouettes. Passing may get teams to the Grey Cup; the ability to run can win a Grey Cup.
Saskatchewan would have made the playoffs the last 2 seasons if they remembered to run the ball on occasion. Winnipeg knows this, especially during the playoffs.
2023 CFL division finals preview
The Toronto crowd for the 2023 East final at BMO Field was 26,620, a regular season record for the Argonauts at that stadium. That number likely outdrew most of the Calgary and Edmonton games in 2023, much less all the other teams in the East. Their fans deserved a better fate in that regard.
We get that the Toronto Argonauts situation isn't what it was a decade or 2 ago. Argos crowds at Exhibition Stadium and SkyDome were significant in number and intensity. Despite falling short of the Grey Cup, hope MLSE and the Argos can figure out how to draw larger regular season crowds.
This year, the #GreyCup turns green.
— CFL (@CFL) October 1, 2023
GREEN DAY. 11. 19. 2023.
The @TwistedTea #GreyCup Halftime Show is set! @GreenDay pic.twitter.com/6JiNYh1KXm
Green Day is the halftime band for the 110th Grey Cup in Hamilton. This would be more significant to the U.S. audience if the game were on television.
Singer/songwriter Jamie Fine, who has 4 Juno nominations, handles the pregame concert duties. Simone Soman (Waterdown, ON) sings O Canada.
The Built in the Hammer Grey Cup Music Festival features country modern legend Carrie Underwood and reggae star Shaggy. Though Underwood is American, she married Canadian NHL player Mike Fisher, who played for Ottawa and Nashville.
2023 CFL playoffs preview
The joy of having the CFL playoffs on U.S. television was having the transition between the 2 games also on TV, like Canadians have with TSN. CFL+ isn't about such luxuries. That will be particularly concerning heading into the Grey Cup.
The U.S. audience, even with ESPN+, never had full CFL pregame coverage. The U.S. audience would get the 30 minutes or so leading into the Grey Cup and extensive post-game coverage.
Watching the Grey Cup with a crowd at a bar is no longer a thing outside Canada thanks to CFL+. I know a guy who organised a Grey Cup watching party and had no clue about the whole CFL+ scenario.
Fans would pay for a chance to rewind or pause a CFL playoff game. Your humble narrator was watching live and fell asleep, missing some of the action. That was sad.
TSN will have the game in Canada. The pregame starts at 1 pm Eastern and runs on TSN1, TSN3, and TSN5. TSN4 will have the game following Toronto Raptors coverage. The NHL has smartly taken Canadian teams off the schedule on Grey Cup Sunday with the obvious exception of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are in Sweden at 8 am EST.
Love the jersey Joey B😍
— Alouettes de Montréal (@MTLAlouettes) November 12, 2023
Go Als Go!🏈pic.twitter.com/93FwK90NlE
CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage
Rod Smith and Duane Forde stuck together with Matthew Scianitti in Toronto for the East final. Dustin Nielson and Glen Suitor matched up with Claire Hanna for the West final in Winnipeg. Hanna normally works out of Ottawa but the Senators were on Hockey Night in Canada. Hanna is one of the better CFL reporters on the TSN roster.
The CFL on TSN panel with Paul LaPolice stayed inside in Toronto instead of hanging outside at BMO Field. James Duthie, Jim Barker, and Bo Levi Mitchell were outside in Winnipeg. We know Mitchell is still an active player but TSN will find room for Mitchell if he is interested.
photo credits: CFL; @CFL; TSN/CFL
logo credit: CFL
Twitter captures: @CFL (x3); @MTLAlouettes
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