MMQB: Top teams set for an epic 113th Grey Cup showdown

We don’t always see the regular season’s two best teams meet in the Grey Cup.

That’s the nature of an incredibly close league like the CFL has been over the last decade or so. Teams like the 2023 and 2025 Alouettes, for instance, found their groove later in the season en route to a couple Grey Cup appearances. Or there’s the 2019 Blue Bombers, who figured it out in the final game of the season before capturing the 107th Grey Cup.

But the final game of 2026 between the Montreal Alouettes and Edmonton Elks undoubtedly features the league’s two best teams wire-to-wire.

On their march to a 14-4 finish, Montreal didn’t lose consecutive games as they return to the Grey Cup for a second straight season. The Als won their first playoff game, the Eastern Final presented by Wegovy®, 33-23 over Winnipeg in front of a sold-out crowd at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium.

And Montreal won Saturday in very familiar fashion. George Reed Most Outstanding Player Davis Alexander was nearly flawless, throwing for 373 yards and two touchdowns in the process. Most Outstanding Canadian Tyson Philpot led the way with nine catches and 129 receiving yards. Tyler Snead caught a key touchdown. The run game was effective when called upon. And the defence forced turnovers while allowing less than their season average of 26.4 points per game.

Much was the same for Edmonton. The Elks finished first in the West Division at 13-5 and returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2019. They did so by controlling the run game on both sides, finishing first in rushing yards and second in rushing yards against.

In Saturday’s 28-16 win over the Lions in the Western Final presented by Wegovy®, Edmonton stuck to the script. Cody Fajardo, who paced all quarterbacks with 517 rushing yards during the regular season, led the way with 84 of the team’s 122 yards on the ground. On the other side of the ball, the Elks held BC to just 72 rushing yards.

The Als have been hanging around at the top of the CFL mountain for the last number of years. Edmonton, on the other hand, is returning to the Grey Cup for the first time since winning in 2015.

The paths for each team to Sunday’s 113th Grey Cup in Calgary have been different. But one thing they have in common…these were the league’s two elite teams from start to finish.

And now we get to see them go head-to-head on the biggest stage.

WILL ZACH BE BACK?

Winnipeg’s offseason will likely be dominated by questions surrounding the future of their core players. At the very top of that list is quarterback Zach Collaros, who returned to action in the Western Final presented by Wegovy® after missing his team’s first playoff game with a rib injury.

“I haven’t made a decision yet,” said Collaros at Sunday’s season ending media availability when asked about his future.

Set for free agency in a few months, injuries limited 38-year-old Collaros to just 12 regular season appearances this year. When he was able to suit up, Collaros threw for 2,989 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.

“I’ve thought about my future more and more as I’ve gotten older,” Collaros admitted.

“I’ve always kind of had it in the back of my head…when’s the gig going to be up kind of thing. As you get older you certainly think about it more…we’ll see how that all plays out.”

When healthy this season, Collaros showed he can still get the job done. He went 7-5 as a starter while completing more than 70 per cent of his passes. With 14 seasons under his belt to go along with three championship rings and two Most Outstanding Player nods, Collaros has more than earned the right to call his shot this winter.

For the first time, however, his final call feels very much up in the air.

CAN THEY GET OVER THE HUMP?

After their 28-16 loss to Edmonton over the weekend, that’s four trips to the Western Final presented by Wegovy® in the last five years for the Lions. All four of those appearances have ended in losses for BC, however, which should make for a very interesting offseason ahead.

One thing I’ll say, though, is I’m expecting as motivated a Nathan Rourke as we’ve ever seen in 2027. Falling one game short of a Grey Cup appearance for the third time as a starter, Rourke was noticeably emotional when he met the media following Saturday’s loss.

“Knowing what we’ve put in and not seeing it to fruition is a frustrating feeling like you let people down,” Rourke admitted.

I saw plenty of questions over the weekend surrounding Rourke’s ability to get over the hump, which is fair enough. Personally, though, it’s not something I’m worried about. You could tell Saturday evening how much Rourke cares and, turning 29 in May, he’s entering some of his most prime years as a CFL starter.

There’s still one more game to play this season and 2027 kickoff is a long way off. But I already can’t wait to see what Rourke has in store with that much more motivation.