Fajardo cements legacy by leading Als to stunning Grey Cup upset

HAMILTON, Ontario - The clock read 1:55 when Cody Fajardo stepped under center to begin the Montreal Alouettes' final offensive drive in the 110th Grey Cup. But he wasn't sweating one bit.

Fajardo confidently went to work, engineering a remarkable seven-play, 83-yard drive to complete the Alouettes' jaw-dropping 28-24 comeback and upset win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Tim Hortons Field on Sunday. The final strike was a 19-yard touchdown pass to Tyson Philpot with seconds left to play:

The fact Fajardo's redemptive win came against the Blue Bombers, his longtime white whale from his Saskatchewan days, made the champagne taste even sweeter. Winnipeg eliminated Fajardo's Roughriders in the West final in both 2019 and 2021, with the '19 loss standing out as a tremendous upset.

"When I took the field, I thought the third time (against Winnipeg) has to be the charm," the Grey Cup MVP told theScore inside Montreal's jubilant locker room. "And in the Grey Cup, those defeats mean a lot more (after) winning this one. I will gladly exchange those defeats for this triumphant win.

"Everyone wanted to talk about my record against Winnipeg going into this game. Nobody expected our offense to do anything. We went out there and proved that we could play some football, too."

The Blue Bombers were heavily favored, and it appeared for a while that Sunday's game would go according to script. Montreal didn't beat Winnipeg during the regular season (or BC or Toronto, for that matter) and was under .500 before winning its final five regular-season games. In the first quarter, West Division MOP Brady Oliveira, who rushed for 119 yards in the loss, scampered into the end zone with an early major after a Montreal penalty to put the Bombers up 10-0.

After trading touchdowns, Winnipeg went into halftime with a 10-point lead, and completely stifled Montreal in the second quarter. Hope looked to be lost when the Alouettes' offense was stuffed twice at the goal line to end the first half, but Fajardo actually felt those moments worked to Montreal's benefit.

"I think the best thing about that was we went right into halftime after that," Fajardo said during his postgame press conference. "So Winnipeg didn't have momentum. That's what coach (Jason) Maas told us. He said, 'The momentum's gone for them. We get the ball (to start the second half). If we go down and kick a field goal or score a touchdown, it's a one-possession game.' And so that's what we were excited about."

And that's exactly what Montreal did to start the third quarter. Fajardo found Cole Spieker in the end zone for a touchdown that seemed to shake Winnipeg.

The Alouettes' defense did its part, holding Zach Collaros to 236 yards and no touchdown passes. Kabion Ento snuffed out a third-quarter Bombers drive with an interception in the end zone, and Collaros didn't come close to throwing a touchdown pass again.

While Montreal's defense carried it into the Grey Cup by dismantling the Argos in the East final, it was the offense - and more specifically QB Fajardo, written off by so many - that was responsible for victory in Hamilton.

Fajardo finished with 290 yards and three touchdowns. Receivers Spieker, Austin Mack, and Philpot - named the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Canadian after his game-winning grab - each hauled in majors. The Alouettes' 373 net offensive yards were a stunning turnaround after the team didn't get anything going in two lopsided regular-season losses to the Blue Bombers.

In fact, Montreal's biggest play of the night wasn't even the game-winning touchdown. Facing a third-and-5 with 38 seconds left, Fajardo went over the top and found Spieker for a 31-yard gain. It was a gutsy pass in that situation and stunned everyone - including, likely, the Blue Bombers' defense, since Fajardo's next throw was to Philpot in the end zone.

"It was an incredible call by coach Maas," Fajardo said. "We knew that their corner was gonna be aggressive on third-and-5, and we called the play to a guy that had one catch going into this game. He had a huge touchdown in this game, and another huge catch on that one. And it was incredible."

Eyebrows were raised in Montreal when Fajardo arrived as a free agent last winter. His final season with Saskatchewan, on the heels of a second straight playoff loss to Winnipeg, seemed like a step back. Questions were being asked whether he could truly lead a championship team - something his Alouettes teammates never seemed to understand.

"Him and (coach) Maas was the scapegoat in Saskatchewan," Mack, the first-year Alouette receiver who hauled in a game-high 103 yards, told theScore about Fajardo (Maas was the Roughriders' offensive coordinator at the time). "I think it's deeper than that. I think it's probably that head coach or that GM (in Saskatchewan). Because that man came in here, he put his head down, he went to work, and now he's a Grey Cup champ."

Fajardo may not be the perfect pivot to many, but he now owns the ultimate trump card. While this isn't his first Grey Cup ring (he was Ricky Ray's backup with the Argos in 2017), it's his first as the undisputed starter and leader of an offense, and he's got an MVP trophy to go along with it. Football fans in Montreal will forever remember "The Drive" and "Fajardo to Philpot," legacy moments that can never be taken away from him.

"One of the things I told those guys: if you want to be immortal, win this game," Fajardo said. "Cause your name will be on that Cup forever. My name was already on that Cup but as a backup quarterback. I wanted to solidify my name on that Cup as a starting quarterback."

Mission accomplished.