The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have opened as short favourites over the Toronto Argonauts in this week’s Grey Cup rematch at IG Field.
The clubs haven’t met since last year’s CFL championship game at Mosaic Stadium in Regina when the Argos upset the two-time defending Grey Cup winners by a score of 24-23. Chad Kelly came into the game late after McLeod Bethel-Thompson suffered a thumb injury and helped engineer the game-winning drive, which ended in a five-yard touchdown run from A.J. Ouellette.
Toronto has already clinched first place in the East Division and sit atop the standings with a 12-1 record. The club rested Ouellette against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats this past week and will continue to strategically sit veteran players in advance of the playoffs.
“It’s gonna be a tough battle, especially in their house,” Chad Kelly recently told 3DownNation. “It’s gonna be loud, they obviously have shown they can win at any time and they’ve got a great all around team. They returned a lot of guys (from last year), so it’ll be a tough game for sure.”
The Blue Bombers are coming off a bye week following a surprise 29-23 loss in Steeltown on Sept. 16. The team has lost two of their last three regular season games for the first time since 2021 after they’d already wrapped up the top spot in the West Division standings.
Andrew Harris, who left his hometown team in free agency after the 2021 season, is unlikely to play this week as he was recently added to the six-game injured list due to an issue with his knee. This would have been the veteran running back’s first game in Winnipeg since departing the city as Toronto didn’t visit IG Field last season.
Winnipeg is currently tied for first place in the West Division with the B.C. Lions as the teams sport matching 10-4 records. The season series between the two teams is currently tied at one game apiece and will be decided on Friday, Oct. 6 when the clubs meet at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver.
The Blue Bombers will host Toronto at IG Field on Friday, Sept. 29 with kickoff slated for 8:00 p.m. EDT. A crowd of 32,343 is expected as the game has already sold out.
