3DownNation CFL best bets: Grey Cup

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The marathon that is the Canadian Football League season is down to its final 60 minutes, with the Edmonton Elks and Montreal Alouettes facing off in this year’s Grey Cup.

It is a fitting end to this season, as these two have looked like the best teams throughout the year. It is also a great way to head into a new era of CFL football, as Edmonton and Montreal have played so many classic games with the Grey Cup logo at the 55-yard line over the years.

Last week, we hit our East Final same-game parlay on Bet 99, and we were eight Nathan Rourke passing yards away from a perfect weekend.

This week, our friends at Bet99 are boosting another SGP for us, so let’s dive into it.

113th Grey Cup: Montreal Alouettes vs. Edmonton Elks — Sunday, November 15 at 6:00 p.m. ET

There really isn’t a lot that separates these two teams. For every strength that Edmonton has shown throughout the year, Montreal has been just as good at countering it. The same goes for areas where Montreal has succeeded this year.

For example, Montreal led the CFL in net offence in 2026. Edmonton led in net defence. Edmonton was fourth in net offence, while Montreal was fourth in net defence. However, it is how those teams got to those numbers that I think we can exploit this week.

Edmonton used a balanced offensive approach to give themselves a chance to play for a Grey Cup in their provincial rival’s stadium. While Montreal has had a couple of issues stopping the run, one thing they are very good at is limiting game-breaking plays. The Alouettes gave up the fewest big plays in the CFL, with a defensive strategy that forces teams into long drives with the assumption that, at some point, they’ll make a mistake and the talent on the Montreal side will be able to take advantage.

The Alouettes forced the second most turnovers in the league this year. As you’ve probably guessed by now, they were only behind Edmonton. This is a defence that is comfortable playing the style that Cody Fajardo and the Elks want to play. Montreal is going to force Edmonton to be perfect on offence, and while Fajardo has been very good for the Elks this year, I don’t think he’ll be able to avoid a misstep for the whole game.

On the other side, Montreal has been dominating teams through the air this year with M.O.P. Davis Alexander spreading the ball around to an incredibly talented receiving room. But their run game has been inconsistent this season.

In last week’s East Final, Stevie Scott III had 59 yards on the ground as the passing offence led the Als to victory. They face an even tougher test against Edmonton, who had the second-best run defence in the league this year, and completely took that part of the game away from the Lions in the West Final last weekend at Commonwealth Stadium.

If Montreal is going to win this year’s Grey Cup, they are going to have to get it done through the air.

Obviously, a lot of the focus for this year’s title game is going to be on the QBs and their respective offences. But I’m expecting the defences to steal the show come Sunday evening. Edmonton gave up the fewest points in the CFL this year, while Montreal wasn’t far behind them, sitting in third.

The total for this game is at 55.5. Six of the last eight Grey Cups have gone under that number, with one of the exceptions only going over that total in overtime. The clock changes have helped open up the offence a bit this year, and it isn’t expected to be as cold in Calgary this weekend as it has been in past Grey Cups. However, we still typically see a tighter start to championship games, and coaches are generally much more risk-averse than normal  — which is saying a lot for CFL coaches. As a result, I still believe points are going to be hard to come by this weekend.