Another year, another Grey Cup appearance for Zach Collaros and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Winnipeg squares off next Sunday against the Toronto Argonauts at B.C. Place Stadium. The Bombers will play in their fifth consecutive CFL championship game after defeating the Saskatchewan Roughriders 38-22 in the West Division final Saturday.
Toronto advanced with a 30-28 road win over the defending-champion Montreal Alouettes in the East Division final Saturday afternoon.
Collaros, 36, will actually make his sixth Grey Cup start Sunday and chase his fourth ring. He earned his first with Toronto in 2012 then led Hamilton into the big game in 2014 versus Calgary, losing 20-16 at B.C. Place.
Winnipeg won in ’19 and ’21, defeating Hamilton both times, before losing 24-23 to Toronto in the ’22 Grey Cup. And last year, Montreal rallied to down the Bombers 28-24.
Winnipeg and Toronto will meet in the Grey Cup for an eighth time. The Bombers have won the title 12 times in their history while the Argos have hoisted the hallowed trophy on 18 occasions.
Toronto won the season series with Winnipeg 2-0 but both contests were close. The Argos earned a 16-14 overtime home victory July 27 before snapping the Bombers’ eight-game win streak with a 14-11 road decision Oct. 11.
Lirim Hajrullahu’s 34-yard field goal earned Toronto the overtime victory but it was the Argos defence that came up big. The unit scored the team’s lone touchdown while forcing five turnovers and recording five sacks.
Veteran Nick Arbuckle and Cameron Dukes handled quarterback duties for Toronto as incumbent Chad Kelly was serving his CFL suspension for violating its gender-based violence policy. Arbuckle and Dukes combined for 124 passing yards that game.
Kelly, who was reinstated in August, played in Winnipeg last month. He completed 16-of-23 passes for 203 yards and a touchdown while rushing nine times for 33 yards.
But again Toronto’s defence was stellar, recording seven sacks and an interception. Winnipeg’s defence did its part, stopping the Argos on a goal-line stand and forcing three turnovers.
Toronto will have to chase a 19th championship without Kelly. The CFL’s outstanding player last season suffered a broken ankle against Montreal so Arbuckle will make his first-ever Grey Cup start Sunday.
In the ’22 Grey Cup, Kelly was a key figure for Toronto. Replacing injured starter McLeod Bethel-Thompson (dislocated right thumb) in the fourth quarter, Kelly completed four-of-six passes for 43 yards.
But it was Kelly’s crucial 20-yard run on second-and-15 that set up A.J. Ouellette’s game-winning five-yard rushing TD.
Toronto’s defence has been a thorn in the side of CFL quarterbacks all season with a CFL-high 48 sacks. Tackles Jake Ceresna and Ralph Holley both registered eight sacks to finish in a five-way tie for the league lead.
Winnipeg counters with a defence that allowed just 19.9 offensive points and 328.6 net yards per game, both CFL-best marks.
The run is an important element of both offences. Toronto had the CFL’s second-ranked rushing attack (121.3 yards per game) and goes with Ka’Deem Carey, Deonta McMahon and Canadian Daniel Adeboboye in the backfield.
Carey was the CFL’s third-leading rusher this season with 1,060 yards.
Canadian Brady Oliveira ran for a league-best 1,353 yards for the Bombers. For the second straight year, the Winnipeg native is the West Division nominee for the CFL’s outstanding player and Canadian awards, having won the latter last season.
But then there’s Collaros, the ’21 Grey Cup MVP and twice the CFL’s outstanding player. He threw for 301 yards and four TDs versus Saskatchewan.
The one spot where Toronto has an advantage is in the return game with Janarion Grant. The former Bomber, who had a punt-return TD versus the Double Blue in the ’22 Grey Cup, was a dominant force this season with four return touchdowns and added a key punt-return score against Montreal.
Grant is a finalist for the CFL’s top special-teams player award.
The Argos will have history on their side, having won their last seven championship appearances dating back to 1991. Winnipeg is the fourth team to make five consecutive Grey Cup appearances but first since Edmonton competed in six straight (1977-82).
The two head coaches are both Grey Cup veterans.
Toronto’s Ryan Dinwiddie will appear in his second Grey Cup as a head coach. He made his first-career CFL start with Winnipeg in the ’07 Grey Cup versus Saskatchewan, which the Riders won 23-19, and was Calgary’s quarterback coach for its 2018 Grey Cup championship win.
Winnipeg’s Mike O’Shea heads to his fifth straight Grey Cup game as a head coach. He won three titles with Toronto as a player (1996-97, ’04) and another as its special-teams co-ordinator (2012).