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| Date | November 20, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Mosaic Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Regina, Saskatchewan | ||||||||||||||||||
| Most Valuable Player | Hénoc Muamba, LB (Argonauts) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Most Valuable Canadian | Hénoc Muamba, LB (Argonauts) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favourite | Blue Bombers by5+1⁄2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Teagan Littlechief | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coin toss | RoseAnne Archibald | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Dave Foxcroft[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Halftime show | Jordan Davis,Tyler Hubbard andJosh Ross[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 33,350 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Ratings | 3.1 million (average) 8.2 million (total)[5] | ||||||||||||||||||
The109th Grey Cup decided theCanadian Football League (CFL) championship for the2022 season. The game was played on November 20, atMosaic Stadium inRegina, Saskatchewan.[6] It marked the fourthGrey Cup game to be held in Regina, and the first to be held at the new Mosaic Stadium as opposed toTaylor Field.
The game was played between theWest Division championWinnipeg Blue Bombers and theEast Division championToronto Argonauts; the Argonauts won 24–23 and earned their league-leading 18th Grey Cup, preventing the Blue Bombers from becoming the first team to winthree consecutive Grey Cups since the five-in-a-rowEdmonton Eskimos of1978–1982.
As of August 2018, three teams were interested in submitting bids to host the 2021 Grey Cup, as the league met with representatives of those unidentified clubs inHamilton.[7] Based on the location of the meeting and their previously stated desire to host, theHamilton Tiger-Cats were speculated to be one of the teams.[7] The previous obstacle—a lawsuit over the construction ofTim Hortons Field—which had prevented the Tiger-Cats from bidding on a Grey Cup game, was settled on May 31, 2018.[8] The Tiger-Cats had previously expressed interest in submitting a bid for the107th Grey Cup and with litigation cleared, they could move forward with bidding to host their first championship game since the84th Grey Cup in 1996.[9]
The first club to openly confirm their plans to bid were theSaskatchewan Roughriders, as stated by the club's president and CEO, Craig Reynolds, on October 1, 2018.[10][11] The game would coincide with the 110th anniversary of the club and would be the fourth time the game would be hosted in Saskatchewan, if successful.[12] The Roughriders' new facility,Mosaic Stadium, opened in 2017 and the Roughriders last hosted the Grey Cup in2013.[10]
On November 4, 2018, it was reported that theMontreal Alouettes were preparing a bid to seeOlympic Stadium host the 2020 championship game.[13] The Alouettes confirmed that they had representatives in Toronto on November 6, 2018, to make their presentation at the league head office to host the game.[14]
It was confirmed on November 13, 2018, that the Tiger-Cats were indeed making a bid for the game as team representatives made their presentation to the league head office in Toronto the week prior.[15] Their Grey Cup festival concept included a downtown-centred event at venues like theHamilton Convention Centre andArt Gallery of Hamilton. The Tiger-Cats' president of business operations, Matt Afinec, confirmed that the club had support from Hamilton's mayor,Fred Eisenberger, and that three bids for the Grey Cup game had been made.[15]
On February 21, 2019, the 2020 and 2021 Grey Cup games were awarded to Regina and Hamilton respectively.[16] The2020 CFL season was postponed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic; on May 20, 2020, the CFL announced that the Grey Cup in Regina had been cancelled, and that the game would be played at thehome field of the team with the better regular season record, if played at all. Regina was therefore awarded the Grey Cup game played in 2022.[17][18] The 2020 season was cancelled in full in August 2020.[19]
The Grey Cup Festival was held atREAL District during the week preceding the game.[20] Teagan Littlechief of theWhite Bear First Nations performed "O Canada", with lyrics sung inEnglish,French, andCree languages, marking the first time that the anthem was sung in three languages and sung in an Indigenous language.[21][22][23]Valley performed theSiriusXM Grey Cup Kickoff Show,[24] while country musiciansJordan Davis,Tyler Hubbard, andJosh Ross performed theTwisted Tea Grey Cup Halftime Show.[25]
The game featured the two teams with the most Grey Cup championship appearances, with theWinnipeg Blue Bombers playing in their 27th game and theToronto Argonauts playing in their 24th game.[26] The Argonauts were attempting to win their league-leading 18th championship while the Blue Bombers were vying for their 13th championship, which would become the third-most in Grey Cup history.[26] The Blue Bombers were also attempting to win their third consecutive Grey Cup, which has not been accomplished since theEdmonton Eskimos won five in a row from1978 to1982.[26]
The Blue Bombers once again finished a dominant season with a franchise best15–3 record and a second consecutive first-place finish in theWest Division.[26] The team opened the season with nine straight victories, which was second in franchise history to the1960 team that won ten in a row to open the season.[27] The Blue Bombers secured a playoff spot with eight weeks left in the regular season with a victory over theSaskatchewan Roughriders in theLabour Day Classic on September 4.[28] The team then clinched first place in the West in week 18 on October 8 with two games left on the schedule and 36 days in between meaningful games.[29] The team finished with a 10–1 division record with the lone loss coming from theBC Lions after the Blue Bombers had already clinched first place and were resting starting players. The Blue Bombers defeated the Lions in the West Final by a score of 28–20 behind a strong rushing performance byBrady Oliveira and a punt return touchdown byJanarion Grant.[30]
The Blue Bombers' quarterback,Zach Collaros, won his second consecutiveMost Outstanding Player Award and All-Star nomination and finishedsecond in franchise history with 37 touchdown passes in the season.[31][32] The team's head coach,Mike O'Shea won theCFL Coach of the Year Award for the second year in a row and the team'sleft tackle,Stanley Bryant, won theCFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award for the fourth time in five seasons — no other player has won more than twice.[31] At receiver, the team was led by rookie standoutDalton Schoen who led the league in receiving yards and touchdowns and was named theCFL's Most Outstanding Rookie.[31] The team featured six league All-Stars, but just one on defence despite leading the league in points allowed, offensive touchdowns allowed, and net offensive yards allowed.[32][26]
The Argonauts finished in first place in theEast Division for the second consecutive year with a regular season record of11–7.[26] The team began the year with just four wins in nine games, but finished the year with a7–2 record, five of which were on the road, and won seven total games away from their home stadium,BMO Field.[33] The team qualified for the playoffs in week 13 and clinched a first-place finish in the penultimate regular season game against theMontreal Alouettes, who were also contesting first place in the East.[34][35] The Argonauts last finished with consecutive first place division finishes in1996 and1997 when the team also won back-to-back Grey Cups. In the East Final, the Argonauts jumped out to a 21–3 lead over the Alouettes and held on to a 34–27 victory after quarterbackMcLeod Bethel-Thompson passed for 299 yards with a 70.4% completion rate and the game-clinching third quarter touchdown pass toKurleigh Gittens Jr.[36]
Despite being with the team since2017, quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson entered the season as the undisputed starter for the first time in his career and was named an East Division All-Star after leading the league in passing yards.[37][26] He was scheduled to play in his first Grey Cup game as a starter.[26] The team had no major award winners, but head coachRyan Dinwiddie was named the East Division coach of the year after leading the team to another first-place finish in just his second year with the Argonauts.[31] The team featured three CFL All-Stars with Kurleigh Gittens Jr. leading all national receivers with a team-leading 1,101 receiving yards and was the East DivisionMost Outstanding Canadian.[32] Defensive endJa'Gared Davis would play in his sixth consecutiveGrey Cup game, but sought just his second championship after winning with the2018 Calgary Stampeders. Five-time All-Starrunning backAndrew Harris would face his former team after winning back-to-back Grey Cups with the Blue Bombers and winning theGrey Cup Most Valuable Player award in2019.
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TheWinnipeg Blue Bombers andToronto Argonauts met just once during the regular season, inToronto, at the end of week 4.[38] Winnipeg scored two first quarter touchdowns, including an interception returned for a touchdown byWinston Rose, and held a 17–3 lead at halftime. Despite the deficit, the Argonauts committed to the run game in the second half andAndrew Harris finished with 22 carries for 111 yards in the first meeting against his former team.[38] Trailing by seven points with 30 seconds left in the game,McLeod Bethel-Thompson threw a two-yard touchdown pass toMarkeith Ambles, but placekickerBoris Bede missed the potential game-tying convert and the Blue Bombers held on to win 23–22.[38]
This championship was the seventh meeting between the two teams in the championship game, with all 7 having been won by Toronto, the most recent being one of the most famous: the1950 Mud Bowl.[26] The 72-year gap between meetings is the longest-ever continuous gap between meetings of two traditional East and West opponents.[26] The Argonauts won the first meeting in1937 and repeated as champions in1938.[26] Toronto then won three consecutive championships over the Blue Bombers in1945,1946, and1947.[26] All six of these championship games were played atVarsity Stadium, in Toronto.[26]
As the West Division representative in a Grey Cup held in a West Division city, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were the designated home team for the game and used the home locker room.[39] However, the Blue Bombers wore their road white jerseys with gold pants which were the same uniforms worn in the previous two Grey Cup games by the team.[39] The Argonauts wore their home blue jerseys and blue pants and used the visitors' locker room.[39]
The game began fairly defensively, with neither team making a first down on their first possessions, and the only points in the first quarter being a field goal by Toronto'sBoris Bede. The second quarter opened with another such attempt, but it sailed wide for thesingle point. Winnipeg immediately answered with a nearly 40-yard throw to Rookie of the YearDalton Schoen, beginning a drive that ended in a short touchdown rush byDakota Prukop. The two teams traded field goals before the first half ended with Winnipeg leading 10–7.[40]
The second half opened with a poor punt byMarc Liegghio giving Toronto prime field position, allowing them to strike quickly with anA. J. Ouellette touchdown. Winnipeg then spent seven minutes driving down the field in a penalty-aided drive that ended in another Prukop major score. The teams traded a few punts before the third quarter ended with Winnipeg leading 17–14.[40]
For the first play of the fourth quarter,John Haggerty punted the ball down to the Winnipeg eight-yard line, only for it to be returned for a Grey Cup record 102-yard touchdown byJanarion Grant, but Liegghio's kick for the convert went wide. Toronto was only able to muster a field goal in response to make the score 23–17, and were unable to capitalize on an interception soon after, withChad Kelly replacing an injuredMcLeod Bethel-Thompson at QB. Liegghio then produced another poor punt, the return byJavon Leake taking the ball past the line of scrimmage, putting Toronto in prime position once again. After a failed challenge for pass interference, andBrandon Banks taking a penalty for being rude to the referee, Kelly pulled off a big 20-yard run to keep the drive going. Ouellette scored another rushing touchdown, with the successful convert giving Toronto the lead, 24–23.[40]
On Winnipeg's first play after the kickoff,Zach Collaros was picked off byHénoc Muamba with just over three minutes to go, giving Toronto the ball again at the edge of field goal range. Failing to gain any ground, they made the kick attempt, but it was blocked byNick Hallett, giving the Bombers one last chance. On 3rd-and-13, Toronto managed to sack Collaros, on the second consecutive play, to potentially end the game, butRobbie Smith picked up a face-masking penalty to extend Winnipeg's hopes. The drive continued up to the 40-yard line with under a minute to go, so facing third down again, Winnipeg chose to attempt to kick a field goal that would give them the lead. The try was blocked by Smith, returning possession to Toronto, winning the Argonauts the game 24–23.[40]
Muamba was named the game'sMost Valuable Player and also received theDick Suderman Trophy as the game's Most Valuable Canadian.[41]
First quarter[42]
Second quarter[42]
Third quarter[42]
Fourth quarter[42]
Sources:CFL 109th Grey Cup Boxscore
The following diagrams illustrate the teams' depth charts that were released one day prior to game day. Starters are listed in boxes in their respective positions with backups listed directly above or below. As per CFL rules, 45 of the 46 players for each team would dress in the game. Winnipeg'sKeion Adams was listed as a game-time decision and was ultimately replaced byRicky Walker.[43]
 30Rose 21Hallett 45Parker 31Holm 46Lawrence 25Ford 34Briggs 44Gauthier 00Maruo 41Cole 22Darby 94Jeffcoat 54Adams 95Thomas 99Lawson 90Sayles 66Bryant 68Gray 64Dobson 59Couture 53Neufeld 51Hardrick 88Bailey 12Prukop 83Schoen 80Grant 20Oliveira 10Demski 24Miller 13Liegghio 13Liegghio 40Benson 80Grant Italics indicate American player Bold indicates global player Reference:bluebombers.com |
36Sutton 8Amos 20McFadden 30Jones 43Hoyte 10Muamba 45Cassar 23Priester 56Davis 93Marion 99Hendrix 91Brinkman 40Smith 95Barlow 53Blake 62Hunter 54Lawrence 65Bladek 59Allen 68Richards 80Daniels 12Kelly 16Banks 18Brissett 33Harris 32Leake 17Ambles 38Cross 44Calver 89Phillips 81Nield 14Bede 29Haggerty 46Latour 32Leake 16Banks Italics indicate American player Bold indicates global player Reference:argonauts.ca |
The highest ratedofficials during the2022 CFL season from their respective positions were selected for the game and announced on November 17, 2022.[1] The numbers below indicate their uniform numbers.
