108th Grey Cup primer: Roles reversed in Ticats-Blue Bombers rematch

After a 749-day wait, a Canadian tradition will make its triumphant return on Sunday when the Grey Cup is handed out for the 108th time.

This year's "Grand National Drunk" has a different feel to it. The CFL season was shortened to 14 games due to the pandemic, and many of the raucous parties that make Grey Cup week so special have been either scaled back or canceled outright. But things look rather familiar on the field, where the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats will soon add a 10th chapter to their storied Grey Cup rivalry. It's also a rematch of 2019, when Winnipeg ended its 29-year championship drought in blowout fashion.

The Ticats - who are trying for their first championship since 1999 - have a significant home-field advantage this time, as they'll play in front of their home crowd at Tim Hortons Field. But in order to finally bring Lord Grey's mug back to the Hammer, they'll have to solve a dominant Blue Bombers team that toyed with the league all year.

Here's everything you need to know about the 108th Grey Cup ahead of Sunday's showdown.

108th Grey Cup: The basics

When: Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021, at 6 p.m. ET
Where: Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario (10th Grey Cup hosted by Hamilton; first at this stadium)
Who: Winnipeg Blue Bombers (26th Grey Cup appearance) vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (22nd)
TV: TSN; RDS (French); ESPN2 (United States)
Line: Winnipeg -3.5
Over/Under: 43.5 points
Weather: 3 degrees Celsius (feels like minus-2), 25 km/h winds with 41 km/h gusts

Tale of the tape

* indicates CFL-leading stat during regular season

**indicates tie for CFL-leading stat

How they got here

Ticats: Hamilton was expected to run away with the East Division once again, but it wasn't that simple this year. The Tabbies had to weather early injuries to quarterback Jeremiah Masoli and 2019 Most Outstanding Player Brandon Banks, among others, but eventually finished second in the East. After beating Montreal in the semifinal, Masoli struggled early in the East final at Toronto and was benched for Dane Evans, who led the Ticats' comeback to secure their second straight Grey Cup appearance.

Blue Bombers: Even without Andrew Harris for half the year, the Blue Bombers dominated the CFL. They were the only team with more than 10 wins and less than 200 points allowed, clinching their first division title since 2011 - and first West crown in 49 years - with four weeks remaining. Despite an uncharacteristic six turnovers against Saskatchewan in the West final, the Blue Bombers got back to the Grey Cup by grinding out a 21-17 win.

Previous meetings

The Ticats and Blue Bombers met just once this year - in the first game of the 2021 CFL season. Winnipeg won 19-6, with Zach Collaros throwing for 217 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Harris didn't play for the Bombers, while Hamilton started Masoli, who was intercepted twice.

5 storylines to follow

Role reversal

When these teams met in the Grey Cup in 2019, the Blue Bombers were the underdogs. Winnipeg stumbled to a third-place finish after starting quarterback Matt Nichols was injured, only righting itself once Collaros jumped in as a late-season free-agent pickup. The Bombers had to win twice on the road to reach the Grey Cup before upsetting the 15-3 Ticats in dominating fashion.

Two years later, everything's flipped around. Winnipeg's all-around dominance has made them a favorite to repeat, with Collaros being the easy choice for the West's Most Outstanding Player. The Ticats looked to be on the verge of something special before hitting a wall in the 107th Grey Cup; now, it's Winnipeg who could spur thoughts of a dynasty with a win.

Evans gets the ball

The Ticats were Masoli's team for most of 2021, but his struggles early in the East final led to him being benched in favor of Evans, who'd only attempted a pass in just two games since September. However, Evans completed all 16 of his pass attempts to lead Hamilton's comeback win over the Argos and secured the Grey Cup start.

Evans is no stranger to this stage. He led Hamilton to the 107th Grey Cup two years ago after Masoli's season-ending knee injury and won two of his three starts earlier this year while filling in under center. It's clear head coach Orlondo Steinauer has tremendous faith in the Tulsa product.

The choice makes a lot of sense, both because Evans is the hot hand right now and the Blue Bombers had no trouble keeping Masoli in check when the teams last met. Evans didn't take a snap in short-yardage spots during the season opener in Winnipeg, so Steinauer may be banking on the (somewhat of a) surprise factor against the Bombers' dominant defense.

Evans did have an awful performance in the Grey Cup two years ago, but he's a different quarterback in a different situation now. The Bombers will still make his life extraordinarily difficult, but there's no reason to expect the 2019 version of Evans to show up. He gives the Ticats the best chance to win on Sunday - and it makes you wonder how good they might have been if he'd started all year.

Can Harris do it again?

The Blue Bombers got a massive boost for the playoffs when Andrew Harris finally returned to action in the West final. Harris only played in seven regular-season games because of injuries. His status and abilities - he's a 34-year-old running back, after all - were huge question marks hanging over the Blue Bombers heading into last Sunday.

In his first game in nearly two months he ran roughshod over the Roughriders for 136 yards and a touchdown. It was reminiscent of his historic performance in the 107th Grey Cup - something Ticat fans would rather forget - and reminded everyone he's still a game-changer.

Now comes a daunting challenge for Harris. Hamilton owned the league's best rush defense this year, holding opponents to under 80 rushing yards per game and just 4.2 yards per carry. They've taken it to another level in the playoffs, limiting East MOP nominee William Stanback to 29 yards in the East semifinal, and holding the Argos to a mere 50 yards on the ground last week.

The Blue Bombers love to run to victory; Winnipeg was last in pass attempts, and only Montreal rushed more often than Mike O'Shea's team. Harris probably isn't going to repeat what he did two years ago, but he's got to have another productive day. In many ways, the Bombers' hopes of a repeat rest on his legs.

Home sweet home

For the first time since 2013, a home team is playing in the Grey Cup. The Ticats haven't had home-field advantage in the championship game since 1972, when they beat Saskatchewan at old Ivor Wynne Stadium.

Ticats fans get very loud and rowdy defending their home turf, and the players will surely get a huge boost from the atmosphere. But will playing at home yield any other advantages for Hamilton? History tells us it might not matter as much as we think. Host teams have played a Grey Cup game just 12 times in modern CFL history (since 1958), and they're only 6-6 in those appearances. However, three of the six home team wins have come in the last decade.

The Blue Bombers' only losses this season came on the road, and they haven't won in Hamilton since 2017. However, Winnipeg absolutely has the ability to nullify the 13th man. Collaros in particular might not be rattled; he spent four years quarterbacking the Ticats and surely knows just how crazy Tim Hortons Field can get. A quick start for the Bombers would go a long way toward quieting this black hole.

Defense rules the day

This isn't the old high-flying CFL of years past. The three-down game is now won with defense, and no two teams are more emblematic of this change than our Grey Cup finalists.

This isn't to say the Blue Bombers and Ticats are boring offensively - heck, Winnipeg led the league in scoring and Hamilton boasts some dynamic receivers - but they're the poster children for today's smash-mouth defense. Winnipeg and Hamilton ranked in the top three of most defensive categories, and the clubs were first and second, respectively, in offensive points allowed. Their defensive captains - Adam Bighill and Simoni Lawrence - are competing for Defensive Player of the Year. So defense is probably going to rule in this Grey Cup, and while that might be a little odd in the CFL, it's also part of what makes this matchup so intriguing.

Lawrence, Jovan Santos-Knox, and Ja'Gared Davis are a fearsome trio for the Tabbies who have the potential to make Collaros' life miserable. But the Bombers' offensive line is their biggest test yet, having allowed just 16 sacks during the regular season.

By contrast, the Ticats' offensive line was an issue all year, allowing 40 sacks in the regular season and five in the East final. Now they have to figure out how to corral Bighill and Willie Jefferson, who must be licking their chops.

Prediction

This rematch is going to be closer than two years ago. Hamilton always plays well at home, and should get that boost from the crowd even against a dominant Blue Bombers squad. Ultimately, the result will be the same - it just won't be as easy this time. Blue Bombers 24, Tiger-Cats 20