Blue Bombers open as Grey Cup favourite over Alouettes
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The Montreal Alouettes pulled off the biggest upset of the 2023 CFL season, but head into the 110th Grey Cup as heavy underdogs against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
The Bombers are coming off a 24-13 victory over the BC Lions in the West Final, and open as 7.5-point favourites over the Als, according to FanDuel.
The Alouettes are no stranger to facing a big favourite, having opened as 9.5-point underdogs against the Argos in the East Final. Montreal heads into its first Grey Cup appearance since 2010 on a seven-game win streak, riding high off a dominant defensive performance in a 38-17 win against Toronto.
"Offence wins games. Defence wins championships," said quarterback Cody Fajardo after Saturday’s win. "That was evident tonight. And our defence is a championship-winning defence."
"I've been saying it all year. [The defence] plays at an extremely high level, each and every week,” said Alouettes head coach Jason Maas. "The guys believe in each other and play for one another. "They play team defence and they're aggressive and tenacious. They just get after you."
The Alouettes went 0-2 against the Blue Bombers this season, getting outscored 54-20 over the two contests. While the Als struggled against winning teams all season (0-7 against teams who finished with a winning record) Maas says his players’ confidence and belief in their own ability never wavered.
"I don't think there's anybody in our locker room before today that didn't think we we're capable [of beating winning teams]," Maas said. "I think we played some really good football against those teams. We just haven't won those games.
"There's a lot of confidence brewing in that locker room. They didn't need this as vindication to know they can play with the top teams."
The Blue Bombers are no stranger to the big game and will be making a franchise-record fourth straight Grey Cup appearance. Winnipeg’s defence stifled the CFL’s leading passer, Vernon Adams Jr., in the West Final, sacking him nine times and coming up with three interceptions in the win.
CFL Most Outstanding Player finalist Brady Oliveira told reporters that this was the matchup he predicted from the start of the playoffs.
“It wasn’t really a surprise to me,” the Bombers running back said of Montreal’s victory. “I kind of had my picks how I thought the whole playoff scenario was going to go, and I had Montreal winning it and going to the Grey Cup.”
The Blue Bombers are looking to win their third Grey Cup in four appearances, having won in 2019 and 2021 before their 2022 loss to the Argonauts.
It is shaping up to be a defensive battle in Hamilton on Sunday, as no defences gave up fewer points than Winnipeg (377) or Montreal (392) this season.
“[Montreal has] a great group. Their defence has been playing lights out,” said Oliveira. “That’s who’s gotten them this far and gotten them to the Grey Cup, so it’s going to be a great, great, great test for us.”