111th Grey Cup: Blue Bombers (11-7) vs. Argonauts (10-8)

Kickoff: Sunday, November 17th, 5 p.m. CST; B.C. Place, Vancouver, B.C.
TV/Streaming: TSN1, TSN3, TSN4, TSN5, CTV, RDS; ​U.S. broadcast: CBS Sports Network; ​International broadcast: CFL+
Halftime show: The Jonas Brothers
Streaks: Wpg.: 2W; Tor: 1W.
Head-to-head in ’24: The Blue Bombers dropped both decisions to the Argos this year — falling 16-14 in overtime in Toronto back on July 27th and then 14-11 on October 11th in Winnipeg.
Notable: Cover your eyes for this one, Bomber Nation: the Argos are a perfect 7-0 in Grey Cup games against the Blue Bombers, winning in 2022, 1950, 1947, 1946, 1945, 1938 and 1937.
Referee: Ben Major, 19th season, 335 games; 8th Grey Cup.

Scene Setter

VANCOUVER — It’s a question already being posed, with the answer still to be determined.

And until late Sunday night, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers would just as soon not be blabbing about legacies and dynasties and a place in Canadian Football League folklore.

Instead, it’s about right here and right now. And absolutely nothing else.

A chance at three Grey Cups in five years? Don’t go there.

Nic Demski during Blue Bombers practice earlier this week

“I don’t think about that at all, to be honest,” said veteran receiver Nic Demski. “Maybe I should, but to me that’s something I can maybe talk about after Sunday.

“So, for me it’s been just about focussing this week on what I need to do and what I need to do to be better for this team and we take it from there.

“All that legacy talk doesn’t mean anything if you don’t accomplish the goal you set out to get.”

Still, while the Blue Bombers stiff-arm the discussion to the ground let’s be frank here: a win puts this bunch into rarified air and establishes a legacy that will be talked about for decades — much the same way the four championships in five years over a span from 1958-62 is referred to as the ‘Glory Days’ in franchise history.

What this crew has focussed on this week — all year, essentially — is that each team has its own journey. And as we pointed out earlier in the week this team is vastly different than the one that took the field in the Grey Cup less than a year ago. In fact, with injuries and free agent departures and the like, the roster that faced the Saskatchewan Roughriders in last weekend’s Western Final featured 23 players who suited up against the Als, but a whopping 22 new faces.

And this team’s journey included that 0-4 start that morphed into 2-6 before the train started chugging.

Resiliency? Hell, yeah.

“That’s the perfect word to describe this season,” said Demski. “Look at the games we won and even some of the ones we lost. The difference between the first half of the season and the second half is we started to find a way to win and get over that hump. It all comes down to resiliency. How much more can we give, and much can we give through all four quarters? This is a resilient team. We just want to be resilient once again on Sunday.

“Each year has its own story, and this year has been crazier than ever. A lot of people probably didn’t expect us to get to where we are, especially when you look at the first half of the season. This was our story. We know what we are destined to be, and it was up to us to get here and find our own way here.

“This is the 2024 Blue Bombers. This is the 2024 Grey Cup. And we intend to go 1-0 this week and bring that thing home.”

THE DEPTH CHART

The Blue Bombers have made three changes to the depth chart this week from their roster against the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Western Final.

On are LBs Fabian Weitz and Max Charbonneau, DT Kyle Samson and off are DBs Jake Kelly and Noah Hallett (both injured) and FB Michael Chris-Ike. Samson, a 2024 draft pick, will be playing in his first game of the season.

3 THINGS TO WATCH

1. TRENCH WARFARE

The Blue Bombers OL during Grey Cup practice at B.C. Place

The most glaring number from the two matchups this season between the clubs — both Argos wins — was 12. The Blue Bombers surrendered a dozen sacks in the two games, five in the first and a whopping seven in the second.

So, yup, that’s a talking point heading into Sunday.

“They don’t stop. They’re a very physical and tenacious D-line,” said Blue Bombers centre Chris Kolankowski of Argos defensive front. “Jake Ceresna, (Ralph) Holley’s having a great season, Robbie (Smith) and Flo (Orimolade) are having great seasons. They just have a great D-line and they’re playing tenacious. They play until the whistle every play. The moment you think you’re good and you can settle is the moment they get an edge and keep working. It’s setting the intensity up front, playing to the whistle, never stop moving your feet, never settle.”

And as much as that was a focal point in the two meetings, there’s also this: in last week’s Western Final win over Saskatchewan the Blue Bombers did not surrender a single sack as Zach Collaros threw for 301 yards and four TDs and the ground game cranked out 194 yards.

“That’s why we’re playing this game,” said Kolankowski of the matchup. “If I didn’t like the challenge I wouldn’t be playing pro football; I would have stopped after college. These are the games you wanted to play in and I get excited going into games where we’re playing a D-line with a reputation because you challenge yourself against the benchmark of the league and how you pit against them.

“That’s the reality. We know what it was, we know what it was like and now it’s just time to step up and make sure we make it right this week.”

2. KELLY DOWN/ARBUCKLE GETS THE CALL FROM THE BULLPEN

Nick Arbuckle — photo by Thomas Skrlj/CFL.ca

The Blue Bombers will be lining up against a new/old face Sunday as veteran Nick Arbuckle steps in for Chad Kelly at QB for the Argos. He’s been around this league — he did lead the Argos to a win over the Blue Bombers in 2021 — and isn’t the green, raw rookie that his head coach was when he started for Winnipeg in 2007.

“He’s a veteran guy who makes good throws,” said defensive back Evan Holm, who was sensational in last week’s Western Final win. “He’s going to come out here and sling it because he doesn’t have to be Chad Kelly, he just has to be himself. You saw how he came in (in the Eastern Final) after Chad was hurt and he helped seal the game. He’s a good player. Everybody is saying all these things, but he’ll obviously give it his best shot.

“He’s very calculated in how he’s going to make throws. He’s good for their offence because he gets the ball out quick and keep it away from defenders by making smart decisions.”

Holm is one of the key pieces in Jordan Younger’s defence that relies heavily on disguising looks by moving people around and showing different looks before settling into something unique.

“It’s trying to take away concepts and tendencies that we do have on them and take away the space, take away that first read for him so that he might get a little bit nervous and maybe make an errant throw,” said Holm. “We’re just trying to get him off his game rather than have him able to make those quick throws and hand the ball off to Ka’Deem (Carey) — that would make it a little bit hard for us.

3. ‘X’ FACTORS

Kenny Lawler pulls in a pass at practice this week