Hello, Tyson and Jalen Philpot. “Wonder Twin powers, activate!”
Those were two incredible performances you put in, gentlemen.
One day, yes one day, we will get the gift of seeing what heights you can push each other to in a Grey Cup game.
I hope.
Here are the Eastern and Western Semi-Final takeaways.
2025 GREY CUP PLAYOFFS
» Alouettes defeat Bombers, punch ticket to Eastern Final
» Collaros, Bombers ‘feel terrible’ after Eastern Semi-Final loss
» Lions beat Stamps to earn another Western Final trip
» Dickenson wishes ‘better fate’ for Stampeders in loss to Lions
» Sign up and watch CFL games on CFL+ in the U.S. and Internationally
ONCE IN AWHILE, THEY EARN THE RIGHT TO BE CALLED ’EXTRA-SPECIAL’ TEAMS
Fresh off his team’s 33-30 Western Semi-Final win over the Calgary Stampeders, BC quarterback Nathan Rourke pointed towards the Lions’ special teams as the backbone of the victory.
“I think this was our special teams’ best game all year and they stepped up in a huge way,” said Rourke.
In mind, particularly, he had Robert Carter Jr.’s 95-yard kick return touchdown as well as a late fourth quarter fumble recovery by Kieran Poissant, forced by Adam Auclair.
Acknowledging that the Lions’ offence didn’t enjoy it’s usual high performance levels — “this was an ugly game, offensively, for us,” he said — Rourke nonetheless was happy to both be moving on and having the team make a discovery about themselves.
“We’re more well-rounded than even we thought,” he said.
LOOKS LIKE HE CAN HANDLE IT
There was just a little bit of “yeah, but” energy flying around last week in the lead up to the Eastern Semi-Final.
It centred around Montreal’s young quarterback, Davis Alexander, who’d impressed with his play over the last two regular seasons, but who had yet to face the high-octane pressures of playoff football in the CFL.
Davis played a whale of a football game in the Eastern Semi, passing for 384 yards and a touchdown, rushing for 32 more yards and another major.
“There’s a belief in him,” said beaming Montreal head coach Jason Maas after his team’s 42-33 win over Winnipeg. “A competitiveness in him that’s unnatural, in my opinion. He believes he can make something happen. And he does.”
Part of what impressed about Alexander was his resilience, rallying the troops after the Blue Bombers had stunned the Als with three quick touchdowns — one of them coming after an Alexander interception — to turn a 25-6 deficit into a 27-25 lead, in the third quarter.
“In the most humble way possible, I feel like I’m built for this,” said Alexander in his post-game media conference.
“I’m built for this league.”
SOMETIMES THIS GAME CAN MAKE YOU FEEL JUST LIKE CHER
If he could turn back time… Vernon Adams Jr. would probably love to do it over again.
In extending his last chance to score a major before halftime, the Calgary quarterback pushed the play too long. With his team very comfortably in field goal range, Adams spent all the remaining seconds on the clock with a scramble, a roll, and a pass.
In a 33-30 loss, it’s not hard to see how those points could have figured in.
“That’s on me,” said Adams after the game. “That’s bad management on me.”
His coach, Dave Dickenson, agreed, but didn’t want his critique of the decision to overshadow all his thoughts on how his pivot played.
“My thought is you always go to your ‘one’ guy,” Dickenson told reporters. “If it ain’t there, it’s (a quick pass) in the ground or out of bounds. Vernon had a hell of a game so I certainly don’t wanna be a guy that piles on any one decision.”
Still, on a weekend where many of us turned back the clocks, Vernon Adams Jr. would have liked to have had the same option at that moment.
STEVIE SCOTT III IS NOW OFFICIALLY A THING
In my takeaways from Week 20, I wrote “Stevie Scott III is becoming a thing.”
We shall now remove the word “becoming.”
Following a week of lighter than usual practice, dealing with a tender knee, the Alouettes’ first-year running back looked the part of a locomotive, rushing 18 times for 133 yards and two touchdowns, and four big runs of ten-plus yards.
Scott added three catches for 29 yards, 24 of those yards coming after the catch.
“He’s turned into a monster,” said Montreal quarterback Davis Alexander. “And his confidence is only growing and growing and growing.”
NEVER STOP NOT STOPPING
Still with Stevie Scott III, his fourth quarter touchdown “run” of seven yards was perhaps the most memorable short distance major of the year.
Driven back by Winnipeg defensive lineman James Vaughters when he hit the three-yard line, Scott soon lost all contact with the outside world when Montreal offensive linemen Justin Lawrence and Donald Ventrelli arrived to push forward, with another Alouette offensive lineman, Nick Callender, pulling Scott in the direction of the goal line.
Like a dying star out in the cosmos, the pile collapsed in on itself in the end zone.
That musta felt like some kind of weird sensory-deprivation tank that the 25-year-old running back was in for a few seconds there.
Occasionally, it takes a village to score a touchdown.
AND FINALLY: “Really? My contract situation? Let’s not get into that. You wanna talk about the game?” — Winnipeg head coach Mike O’Shea when asked about his future during his post-game availability.