The Winnipeg Blue Bombers went wire to wire as the best team in football this season. The defending Grey Cup champions won a 33-25 overtime thriller over the host Ticats Sunday in front of a capacity crowd at Tim Hortons Field.
After COVID cancelled the entire 2020 CFL season, teams around the league faced massive roster turnover heading into 2021. However Winnipeg returned many familiar faces, and became a free agent hotspot setting them up as favourites to return to the Grey Cup finals. While some teams crumble under those kinds of “championship or bust” expectations, Winnipeg embraced the target on their backs and rolled through the regular season.
The Grey Cup win wasn’t without a healthy dose of adversity however, as the champs found themselves down two scores heading into the 4th quarter. The weather played a major factor all game long as a howling wind gave a distinct advantage to the team with the gusts at their back. Following a pair of interceptions from Zach Collaros, the Bombers rallied to take a 25-22 lead going with the wind in the final frame.
Yet the Ticats gave them another scare late, driving the length of the field to set up first and goal from the 5 yard line with under 30 seconds to play. But the Winnipeg defense, as it did all year long, dug in and proved why they were the league’s best unit by holding Hamilton to a field goal and setting up OT.
With the victory, Winnipeg becomes the first team to win back to back Grey Cups since the 2009/2010 Montreal Alouettes. They’re also now entering “dynasty” territory when it comes to some of the best CFL teams in league history. On the flip side of the coin, Hamilton has now lost back to back Grey Cups and is 0-4 in the big game since they last won in 1999.
The Ticats face an offseason full of uncertainty as both their quarterbacks, Masoli and Evans, are impending free agents, and their head coach is rumoured to be a leading candidate for the University of Washington Defensive Coordinator position. It also remains to be seen whether the league will return to a full season in 2022 or whether teams could face a similarly condensed schedule next summer.
The CFL has announced that it will be forming a committee to look over a variety of potential changes to the league ahead of next year. Included amongst the proposed changes are a move to 4 down football which has proved to be a polarizing topic amongst the CFL faithful.
The 109th Grey Cup is scheduled to be hosted in Regina, though a date has yet to be announced.