A trip to the 112th Grey Cup is on the line on Saturday as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats host the Montreal Alouettes in the Eastern Final.
It’s a heavyweight battle between the two best teams in the East Division. Hamilton is back on top after missing the playoffs last year, hoping to head to the championship for the first time since 2021. On the other side, Montreal is fresh off an Eastern Semi-Final victory where they took down the Bombers, looking to win their second Grey Cup in three years.
The matchup is laced with plenty of storylines, including the quarterback duel between the swaggy, young Davis Alexander and the savvy veteran in Bo Levi Mitchell, that I wrote about earlier in the week.
With just one day until the big game, here are five things to know about the Eastern Final ahead of kickoff at 3:00 p.m. ET that can be watched on TSN, TSN2, RDS, CTV and CFL+.
2025 GREY CUP PLAYOFFS
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FROM ZERO TO HERO
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats turned things around in quick fashion, going from bottom of the East Division to the top in just one season.
In 2024, the Ticats finished with a 7-11 record, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2017. Fast forward almost 365 days later and the Tabbies reversed their fortunes, ending 2025 at the top of the East with an 11-7 record and earning a bye to the Eastern Final.
The last time a team started from the bottom and shot up to the top of a division in that timeframe was the Toronto Argonauts. The Argos were 5-13 in 2016, and finished 9-9 (first in the East) in 2017. That year they went on to win the 105th Grey Cup.
Will Bo Levi Mitchell and co. finish their season like Ricky Ray and his Argos did, hoisting a Grey Cup one year removed from sitting in the basement? Only time will tell, but first Mitchell needs to face the Montreal Alouettes and Davis Alexander who…
DAVIS ALEXANDER STILL HASN’T LOST
has not lost a single game as a starter in the CFL.
It’s remarkable, really, what we’re seeing from the young pivot. Alexander was 11-0 in the regular season, dating back to his starts in 2024, and with his win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers last weekend, is 1-0 in the post-season.
When he’s on the field, he makes the Alouettes look like a completely different team. He’s poised in the pocket, confident, and not afraid to chuck it down field. Kind of like someone else we know.
“There’s comparisons for sure,” Mitchell said when asked about the parallels between the two. “He’s been confident. He’s had a great season. He’s great for the league. And fun quarterback to watch.”
The similarities between the two pivots don’t stop there, either. Alexander’s five completions of 30+ yards last weekend tie the most ever in a single playoff game with, guess who? Bo Levi Mitchell, who did so on November 23, 2014.
Who will win this duel on Saturday? Only time will tell.
THE TIGER-CATS WILL MAKE YOU PAY
Alexander will need to be cautious of the Tiger-Cats defence on Saturday and protect the football.
Hamilton’s D were turnover machines in 2025, forcing the most turnovers in the CFL (44), helping the team finish the year with a +10 turnover margin. Disrupting passers was also a specialty of Hamilton’s, picking off quarterbacks 27 times (most in CFL), and knocking down 72 passes (second to only Winnipeg who had 73).
But as I wrote about earlier in the week, those turnovers are great to flip field position, but what the offence does after is the most important part. The Black and Gold made opposing teams pay for mistakes, scoring a league-high 134 points off turnovers, 34 more than second place Saskatchewan (100).
Montreal learned that the hard way, giving the ball away seven times in the regular season meetings against Hamilton, including a pick-six in their Week 4 meeting. They also learned that lesson last week in the Eastern Semi-Final, turning the ball over twice and Winnipeg cashed in on those mistakes with points.
“I can’t turn the ball over,” Alexander said.
“You can see how fast (things happen),” the Als’ pivot continued, after describing the two turnovers, an interception and a fumble, that turned into 14 points for the Bombers last week.
“Two turnovers in a minute and now we’re down two after being up 12. (I’ve just) got to take care of the football and they do a tremendous job getting hands on the ball.”
BIG TIME RECEIVERS, BIG TIME PLAYS
BIG START FOR HAMILTON!
Bo Levi Mitchell connects with Kenny Lawler for 48 yards on the first play from scrimmage! #CFLGameDay
🗓️: @Ticats vs Alouettes LIVE NOW
🇨🇦: TSN, RDS
🌎: CFL+ pic.twitter.com/Bdpak1CFhr
— CFL (@CFL) September 6, 2025
If you like explosive plays, look no further than the Eastern Final.
The Montreal Alouettes and Hamilton Tiger-Cats both have quarterbacks who like to stretch the field and each team has the receivers to make the catches.
In last week’s Eastern Semi-Final, Alexander had no trouble throwing deep, connecting on five passes of over 30 yards, using Austin Mack, Tyson Philpot, and Charleston Rambo for big chunk plays. Tyler Snead didn’t haul in a pass over 30, but he can. The Als 1,000-yard receiver had eight big play receptions in the regular season.
For context about how impressive the Als passing attack was against the league’s top pass defence, BC had the most passes of over 30 yards in the regular season (40) and had none in their Semi-Final win against Calgary.
On the other side, Hamilton’s leading receiver was the king of big plays in the regular season. Kenny Lawler hauled in 14 passes over 30 yards, two more than the next best in Keon Hatcher Sr. Lawler is no stranger to performing on the big stage, look no further than last year’s Western Final where Lawler went off for 177 yards and three touchdowns in the Bombers’ win that sent them to the 111th Grey Cup.
“He’s not a one trick pony,” said Mitchell of Lawler. “There’s nothing he doesn’t have in his bag. He’s a route runner. He blocks. He leads. He just also happens to be the guy that can make you play down the field over anybody.”
“Be your best when your best is expected,” said Lawler, when asked about performing in big games. “Big games just call for you to go out there and play your best ball. That’s what I’m trying to do for my guys in that locker room, just to get us to the next step where we want to go.”
The duel between the team’s receivers and opposing defences will be an intriguing matchup to watch on Saturday. Especially since Montreal and Hamilton allowed the fewest passes over 30 yards in the regular season, 20 and 24, respectively. Who wins this chess match?
FRONT SEVEN PLAYMAKERS
Here’s one reason Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund is the MOC nominee from the East!
📅: Eastern Semi-Final LIVE NOW
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🌎: CFL+#GCPlayoffs | @MTLAlouettes pic.twitter.com/MKoZgbv7Kd
— CFL (@CFL) November 1, 2025
The Eastern Final has plenty of playmakers on all three levels of both team’s defences.
For the Alouettes, Tyrice Beverette has been the heartbeat of Montreal’s defence all season. He’s all over the field, affecting the pass and run game, while also disrupting quarterbacks and making big stops when his team needs them. In last week’s Eastern Semi-Final win alone, Beverette tallied four defensive tackles and another two on special teams, along with a sack. For anyone watching Beverette throughout this year, it wasn’t surprising to see the weakside linebacker rallying to the football.
His teammate, Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund also has the ability to change a game on a dime. You’ll just have to look back at last week’s Semi-Final against Winnipeg once again for a great example of this. Adeyemi-Berglund had four tackles, a sack, and two forced fumbles, one of which he recovered himself. The defensive lineman earned his second straight nomination for Most Outstanding Canadian after collecting a career-high 11 sacks and his first career touchdown in 2025.
Speaking of Canadians, Devin Veresuk has headlined a defensive unit that prides itself on takeaways. Veresuk, a 2025 first round CFL Draft pick, proved that in his first start against Montreal in Week 4. The Ticats decided to move on from their starting middle linebacker at the time, Kyle Wilson, and Veresuk was given the opportunity and he more than ran with it. In that game, he picked off McLeod Bethel-Thompson and returned it for a touchdown in what head coach Scott Milanovich called the “biggest single play of our season.” He also had a game-high eight tackles in that contest.
Much like Veresuk, Julian Howsare has been outstanding for the Ticats this season. He’s been so outstanding, in fact, that he earned the East Division’s nomination for Most Outstanding Defensive Player. He finished second in the league with a career-high 13 sacks, but sacks weren’t the only way he disrupted quarterbacks this season. According to PFF, Howsare tallied 75 pressures in the regular season, five more than second-best Mathieu Betts.
All four can change the game on a dime. Whichever offence handles them better may be the team that heads to Winnipeg next week for the 112th Grey Cup.