What’s old is new again in the CFL playoffs.
Saturday’s West Division final between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and visiting B.C. Lions will be the fourth consecutive playoff game that has the exact same teams playing in the exact same locations as last season.
If Winnipeg beats B.C. and the heavily favoured Toronto Argonauts top the Montreal Alouettes in the East final, the CFL will go a perfect five-for-five in the match game — albeit with a different city hosting the Grey Cup.
Last season, the Blue Bombers captured their third consecutive West title with a 28-20 win over the Lions.
Here is a capsule look at this year’s West final, which has all the makings of a classic.
The Schedule
Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET / 3:30 p.m. PT at IG Field.
The Line
The Blue Bombers, who will at least be close to a fifth consecutive home sellout, were favoured by 4.5 points on FanDuel as of Friday morning.
At Stake
A trip to the Grey Cup on Nov. 19 in Hamilton. The Blue Bombers are looking to become the first team to go to four consecutive Grey Cup games since Edmonton’s five-championships-in-a-row dynasty from 1978 to ’82.
Season Series
Just like last year, the Blue Bombers (14-4) took two of three from the Lions (12-6).
The Lions sent an early message that they were a force to be reckoned with by pounding the Blue Bombers 30-6 in Week 3 in Winnipeg. Lions QB Vernon Adams Jr. threw for 239 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions.
The Blue Bombers exacted revenge with a 50-14 thumping of a Lions team missing an injured Adams in Week 9. Blue Bombers star quarterback Zach Collaros threw for 369 yards, two touchdowns and one interceptions.
The season series came down to a critical game in Week 18 at BC Place. With first place in the West on the line, the Blue Bombers won 34-26 in overtime. Both quarterbacks were great — Collaros throwing for 389 yards, two touchdowns and one interception and Adams notching 352 passing yards with one interception.
The Blue Bombers erased a 10-point deficit in the final minutes before star running back Brady Oliveira, the West’s nominee as the league’s most outstanding player, scored the winning TD in overtime.
Playoff History
The Blue Bombers are making their seventh consecutive playoff appearance under head coach Mike O’Shea and are in the West final for the fifth year in a row. They’ve won at home in the West final the past two seasons. Winnipeg lost to Toronto in last year’s Grey Cup in Regina after winning the previous two titles.
Before last year, the Lions hadn’t won a playoff game since 2016. B.C. beat the visiting Calgary Stampeders 41-30 last week to advance to the West final. The Lions haven’t been in the Grey Cup since winning at home in 2011 against the Blue Bombers.
The Coaches
Mike O’Shea (Winnipeg) vs. Rick Campbell (B.C.)
O’Shea is 96-62 since becoming Winnipeg’s bench boss in 2014.
The Blue Bombers are an astounding 40-10 in regular-season play over the past three years.
They’ve finished with a winning record each of the past seven years. Winnipeg is 31-3 at home in the regular season the past four years.
Campbell is in his third season as head coach of the Lions after spending the previous five years as the first head coach of the Ottawa Redblacks. Campbell, also the co-GM of B.C., led the Redblacks to the Grey Cup in 2016 and also was runner-up with Ottawa in two other years.
Campbell has had a different starting quarterback in each year as head coach of the Lions — Michael Reilly (now retired), Nathan Rourke (now on the Jacksonville Jaguars’ practice roster) and Adams.
The Quarterbacks
Zach Collaros (Winnipeg) vs. Vernon Adams Jr. (B.C.)
Two of the best.
After being named the CFL’s most outstanding player the past two years, Collaros will relinquish the crown this year after Oliveira beat him out for the team nomination.
But don’t take that as a sign that Collaros’ play has slipped. He was second in the league with 4,263 passing yards and threw for 33 touchdowns against just 15 interceptions and was named the West Division all-star QB ahead of Adams.
It looked like Collaros’ career was all but finished before a late-season trade from Toronto to Winnipeg in 2019 changed everything — both for him and the Blue Bombers franchise.
Like Collaros, Adams experienced a big bounce-back after a trade — the Montreal Alouettes shipped the then-backup to B.C. midway through last year after Rourke went down with an injury. Adams kept the Lions afloat while Rourke was out and then got the starter’s role this year with the latter player in the NFL.
The dynamic Adams led the league with 4,769 passing yards with 31 touchdowns and 18 interceptions this year. He was at his best last week, throwing for 413 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Calgary.
Three Matchups to Watch
Winnipeg RB Brady Oliveira vs. B.C. defensive front
The Lions’ rush defence was seen as a potential weakness heading into the West semifinal, but B.C. held Calgary to 77 rushing yards after letting opponents hit three digits the previous three games.
However, CFL rushing leader Oliveira didn’t hit the 100-yard mark in any of the three games against B.C. this season.
You can be sure the Blue Bombers will want to try to get the Winnipeg-born Oliveira heavily involved on Saturday, especially with star receiver Dalton Schoen (ankle) out.
Blue Bombers offensive line vs. B.C.’s Mathieu Betts and Co.
The Lions finished second in the league with 55 sacks, while the Blue Bombers were second in the league in sacks allowed (33).
Betts led the way with 18 sacks — a record for a Canadian player.
The Blue Bombers’ offensive line features proven veterans like Chris Kolankowski, Jermarcus Hardrick, and Patrick Neufeld. The latter two were 2023 all-stars.
Great matchup.
Vernon Adams Jr. vs. Blue Bombers secondary
Another strength versus strength.
The Lions led the league in passing yards, while the Blue Bombers were No. 1 in passing yards allowed.
Winnipeg has three West all-stars in the secondary in Demerio Houston (also a league all-star), Evan Holm and Brandon Alexander, while the Lions counter with Adams throwing to top-five receivers Keon Hatcher and Alexander Hollins.
Prediction
B.C. 28, Winnipeg 24
