Put your dancing shoes on; it’s time for the ball.
After rookie camps, training camps, pre-season, 81 regular-season games, and four playoff games over the last 193 days, the 113th Grey Cup is all that remains between the Montreal Alouettes and Edmonton Elks on TSN this Sunday.
Watch the Elks battle the Alouettes LIVE at 6 p.m. ET across the TSN Network, streaming on TSN.ca and the TSN App.
This year’s edition takes place at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, giving Edmonton a bit of a home-field advantage as the franchise returns to the big game for the first time in a long time.
After playing in their first playoff game in more than 2,500 days and their first home playoff game in more than 4,000 days last weekend, the Elks have made the Grey Cup for the first time in more than a decade and for only the second time in 20 years.
It hasn’t been that long since the Alouettes ' last Grey Cup appearance, as Montreal is one of the last teams standing for the second year in a row and for the third time in four years.
It’s a game between the two best teams record-wise north of the border, a battle between the No.1 offence versus the No.1 defence. What more could you need?
Here’s everything you need to know for the 113th Grey Cup on TSN.
Alouettes’ offence vs. Elks’ defence
On this side of the ball, the league’s best individual units will be going head-to-head in Anthony Calvillo’s Montreal offence against J.C. Sherritt’s Edmonton defence.
Let’s just get the insane counting stats from both of these units out of the way before diving in.
The Alouettes finished the regular season top two in points per game (34.7), net offence (420.9), and passing yards per game (320.6), while also boasting the most big plays (59), the fewest number of turnovers (23), the highest touchdown drive percentage (28.0 per cent), and the highest second down conversion rate (56.7).
The Elks boast top two marks in turnovers forced (53), points allowed per game (24.3), net offence allowed per game (338.6), passing yards allowed per game (272.7), rushing yards allowed per game (81.4), opponent completion percentage (64.8 per cent), and opponent yards per play (6.34).
Calvillo likes to roll out three main personnel groupings – that are split almost evenly – as 10 personnel (one back and five receivers), 20 personnel (two backs and four receivers), and a jumbo 21 look (two backs, three receivers, and a sixth offensive lineman), account for 81.2 per cent of what package the Alouettes are in.
Montreal loves to have bigger bodies on the field. Overall, the team has two or more backs in the backfield 61.1 per cent of the time and a sixth offensive lineman on the gridiron 34.7 per cent of the time, both first in the league by far.
As you would expect, the Als like to run the ball and utilize the run-pass-option game when the bigger bodies are on the field. When the unit is in 20 and jumbo 21 personnel, the team runs it 42.6 per cent of the time while calling RPO at a 51.8 per cent rate. Compared to when the team is in 10 personnel and the team passes the ball 90.7 per cent of the time, with an RPO rate way down at 11.0 per cent.
When they are running in those bigger looks, however, the Als love to pound the ball between the tackles with their physical, mauling offensive line and collection of strong downhill runners. They boast the highest inside zone run rate (51.0 per cent), while also running man concepts – which are typically between the tackles – at the second-highest rate (18.0 per cent).
Sherritt and the Elks will have to counter these big personnel groupings, as they got gashed up in the Alouettes’ 48-30 Week 10 through the air and along the ground.
While it seems silly to be starting with the connection between Most Outstanding Player Davis Alexander and Most Outstanding Canadian Tyson Philpot in the pass game, this is where the chess match starts, as the Elks are going to have to match these jumbo looks. It’s somewhat simple: when the Alouettes bring extra men into the box, the Elks should follow suit. It’s all about math and numbers in the box. Edmonton will likely achieve this with a combination of weak-side half Kordell Jackson and/or nickel Kenneth Logan Jr., as either or even both could slide down when the bigger bodies are on the field.
Luckily for the Elks, Sherritt already loads the box at one of the highest rates, with these two defenders being the ones typically joining the box and flying off either side. They will support backer duo Nick Anderson and Joel Dublanko – who were both stellar in the Western Final – in the run game.
Speaking of that linebacker duo, that pair finds themselves in the top 10 in run stops and tackles for loss or no gain against the run among inside linebackers in the CFL. Edmonton will need them against the downhill force that is Stevie Scott III.
Now to the pass game, with the must-see TV that is Alexander and Philpot.
It’s not that the Alouettes are only running out these big personnel groupings; in fact, they are passing out of them more often than not at 57.4 per cent, mostly via the RPO game. While Sherritt rotates defenders into the box as extra run-fit defenders, it puts a lot of trust and pressure onto the cornerbacks, as Edmonton will have to be in single-high (Cover 1 or Cover 3) or even Cover 0 looks.
The Elks are already running these looks at one of the highest rates in the CFL, as they have the personnel on the outside in arguably the best corner duo in the league, Tyrell Ford and J.J. Ross, to pull it off. Among players with 300 coverage snaps, the pair are both in the top 10 in lowest completion percentage allowed and top five in passes broken up.
The key matchup will be the Canadian duel on the field side between Ford and Philpot.
The Most Outstanding Canadian in Philpot and the Divisional All-CFLer in Ford have seen plenty of each other throughout their careers, as well as in 2026 in the pair of matchups throughout the regular season.
The duo has clashed on 31 snaps this season and 60 times since 2022 – the second-most matchups Philpot has seen of any corner and the fourth-most Ford has seen of any receiver – and it’s been a fairly even matchup.
Throughout their careers, Philpot has gotten open on 31 routes (55.4 per cent), earning 16 targets and making 13 catches for 187 yards. Six of Philpot’s grabs have been for first downs, and two have been for touchdowns, while the CFL’s interceptions leader has not been credited with a pass breakup.
Two of Ford’s highest-targeted games in 2026 have come against Montreal, which is no surprise given Philpot is the most targeted player north of the border. It’s also worth noting that nearly half of Philpot’s yards have been from after the catch, largely thanks to the wideout’s high screen rate.
The Elks should be prepared for a lot of screens no matter what personnel group is out there. Among players with at least 100 routes run, Montreal has six players in the top 10 in percentage of total routes run as screens, with Philpot leading by far. The CFL’s triple-crown winner’s 14.5 per cent screen rate is by far the highest, as he ran almost 50 more than the next-closest receiver (watch for tunnel screens to Philpot when six offensive linemen are on the field).
It will be interesting to see if Edmonton decides to press Montreal. The Elks are typically a moderately pressing team, but some of their highest press games came against the Alouettes, with their highest rate coming in the team’s Week 3 overtime win over the Als.
The last point to touch on is Montreal’s pass protection, which has been phenomenal. The Alouettes have allowed the fewest sacks (19) this year, while the tackle duo of Nick Callender and Tiger Shanks have dominated. Neither Callender nor the Canadian Shanks has been credited with allowing a sack this season, while the pair are also top five in pressure percentage allowed among tackles, with Callender boasting the lowest pressure percentage allowed among all offensive linemen (1.9 per cent).
They have also done extremely well against the remarkable Edmonton edge duo of Malik Carney and Noah Taylor. The duo is No.2 and No.3 in sacks north of the border, while both appear in the top 10 in pressure percentage and pass rush win percentage. They helped lead an Edmonton defence that was tops in pressure percentage (34.6), was third in sacks (40), and had the most tackles for loss (37). Against the Alouettes, however, the pair only registered one pressure and six tackles combined in the pair of matchups during the regular season.
Expect Sherritt to call stunts up front to help and try to get pressure on Alexander, as Edmonton stunts at the highest rate north of the border (26.6 per cent). While Alexander has been one of the better pivots in the CFL against pressure generally, three of his four interceptions this season have been when he was pressured; this will be key.
Elks’ offence vs. Alouettes’ defence
Now to the other side of the ball, where it’s potentially Fajardo’s final game of his decade-long career.
He and No.1 wideout Austin Mack will be taking on their former team – in which they won a championship with back in 2023 – on the grandest stage.
There are a lot of similarities between Jordan Maksymic’s Elks offence and Calvillo’s Alouettes. For starters, Edmonton runs the same main three personnel groupings that Montreal does: 10 personnel (61.2 per cent), 20 personnel (18.8 per cent), and jumbo 21 (13.5 per cent). The main difference in terms of personnel groupings is that Edmonton heavily favours 10 personnel among their main three, almost 30 per cent more than how often Montreal is in 10 personnel (32.1). The Elks are in one of these three groupings a whopping 93.5 per cent of the time, so Noel Thorpe’s Alouettes defence can expect one of these three groupings at any given time.
Maksymic and Fajardo will have their hands full dealing with this heavy-blitz and chaos-inducing defence that Thorpe produces. The Alouettes blitz at a 44.7 per cent rate (the most by a country mile), send simulated pressure 13.3 per cent of the time (also first), load the box at the highest rate, and have defensive linemen stunt at the second-highest rate (24.7 per cent).
However, the Elks’ offence is virtually built to deal with an ultra-aggressive defence that Montreal presents. The run game is designed around pulling linemen and bringing extra bodies into the box. Concepts that they run, like pull lead, pull and pin, etc., all work well against a blitz-heavy, box-loading front by creating leverage to the outside.
Edmonton leads the league in these concepts, and with a talented pair of backs like Justin Rankin – who gashed Montreal for 179 yards (9.9 yards per carry) and two touchdowns in the team’s 32-29 Week 3 overtime win – as well as ShunDerrick Powell, who has ascended and is top two in the CFL in touch rate and missed tackle forced percentage, there is opportunity for Edmonton to run the ball effectively.
To wrap up the ground game, Edmonton averaged the most rushing yards per game (127.6), while Maksymic called the second-highest percentage of runs on first down (42.8) and the third-highest percentage of runs overall (34.6). This is what they want to do, and while the team is in 10 personnel the majority of the time, as you can imagine, Edmonton is more than likely to run it when there are fewer than five wideouts on the field, calling plays along the ground 60.8 per cent of the time in those groupings.
Now to the pass game, which is also built to mitigate blitzes and pressure. It features mostly slants, speed outs, and hitches, plus a running back in Rankin who can catch out of the backfield with screens and checkdowns. These are perfect counters for the pressure that Montreal brings.
Fajardo posted the lowest percentage of total passing yards before the catch (55.5) and the lowest percentage of pass attempts past the first-down marker (40.4), among qualified quarterbacks in 2026. The 34-year-old pivot also posted some of the best completion percentages and the lowest number of interceptions against the pressure and the blitz in 2026, largely thanks to these built-in short routes that serve as hot reads.
A key matchup will be Edmonton’s No.1 wideout in Mack vs. Montreal’s No.1 corner in Lorenzo Burns.
Like Philpot and Ford, Mack and Burns have squared off quite a bit in 2026, lining up against each other 33 times (the third most against any defender for Mack and the second most against any receiver for Burns).
In this matchup of divisional All-CFLers, Mack has gotten open on 18 routes (56.3 per cent) while getting targeted 11 times and making five catches for 46 yards. Burns has made three pass breakups and one interception, while only one of Mack’s five grabs has been for a first down.
While Philpot and Ford out on the field side will be more a battle of speed, Mack and Burns’ battle will be more about physicality on the boundary.
The quick game that Edmonton relies on can work against them, however. Maksymic and Fajardo want to stay on schedule, ahead of the sticks, and use the play-action game in unison with a strong run game. But if the Alouettes can stop the run, potentially adding a lead while doing so, it would force Fajardo and the Elks to be more aggressive downfield in the passing game, which is where Edmonton does not want to be. We’ve laid out how the Elks running game can be effective, but will they get the opportunity to run the ball as much as they would like is the question.
Thanks to the Alouettes’ explosive offence, teams have been forced to pass to keep up and abandon the run game, which then allows Thorpe’s defenders to pin their ears back even more.
Montreal has faced the most pass attempts in the league and the second-fewest rushing attempts. In the Eastern Final, Winnipeg found success along the ground in six offensive linemen groupings with a tight end on the field as well. Maksymic and Edmonton boasted the fourth-highest rate of six linemen and the third-highest rate of two backs. They also called this six-linemen plus a fullback package quite a bit against Montreal in the regular season; expect to see that personnel.
Alhough Edmonton has produced some of the lowest number of explosive passing plays north of the border, Fajardo should have some time to hit some shots if needed. Two of the Elks’ lowest pressure percentage allowed games were against Montreal; the Elks also allowed the third-fewest sacks overall (34), and starting right tackle Jordan Murray made his return to the lineup in the Western Final after missing two months with injury. If shots are needed downfield, Mack is the go-to guy in that regard.
The Elks are a high time-of-possession and efficient team that likes to run the ball and dink and dunk, but that can only work if you can stop the explosive offence on the other side. If Alexander, Philpot, and Tyler Snead are able to chunk up the Elks’ defence, it will be hard for Edmonton’s offence to play the game they want.
Stats provided are courtesy of Pro Football Focus and the CFL.