The 108th Grey Cup is going to be a rematch of the 107th edition of the game. That game, back in 2019, saw the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33-12 to claim the Canadian Football League championship, and now those teams will be facing off again in Hamilton this coming Sunday. (The 2020 CFL season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.) The Tiger-Cats beat the Toronto Argonauts 27-19 on the road in the CFL Eastern Final early Sunday, and then the Blue Bombers (seen celebrating a first-quarter touchdown from receiver Rasheed Bailey) beat the Saskatchewan Roughriders 21-17 at home in the Western Final later Sunday to punch their own ticket to a Grey Cup rematch.
Interestingly enough, Saskatchewan led that Western Final after the second (10-7) and third (17-14) quarters, taking advantage of some Winnipeg turnovers. But the Blue Bombers rallied in the fourth, putting together a 72-yard touchdown drive capped with a quarterback sneak from backup pivot Sean McGuire, then shutting the Riders down the rest of the way. In particular, with Saskatchewan facing a critical third and three (following a controversial catch ruling on a prior play), Winnipeg defensive back Nick Taylor (who had been burned on a couple of earlier plays in this game) made the play of the Bombers’ season, jumping a route and knocking the ball away from the Roughriders’ Noah Picton. Here’s that play:
Nick Taylor's crucial third-and-three knockdown: pic.twitter.com/UgaEzNkxFk
— Andrew Bucholtz (@AndrewBucholtz) December 6, 2021
And a replay:
And the replay: pic.twitter.com/9jFxv6myxT
— Andrew Bucholtz (@AndrewBucholtz) December 6, 2021
That gave Winnipeg the ball back with a minute left and Saskatchewan out of timeouts (the Roughriders had burned their last one earlier on that drive when they weren’t properly set up for a third-down conversion). Nic Demski then ran for 15 yards on first down, giving the Bombers another first down and the ability to run the clock out. And now, they’ll be heading off to face the Ticats again.
[CFL.ca; photo from Bruce Fedyck/USA Today Sports]
