2015 Grey Cup – Ottawa RedBlacks vs Edmonton Eskimos

The 103rd Grey Cup was a Canadian football game that was played on November 29, 2015 between the East Division champion Ottawa Redblacks and the West Division champion Edmonton Eskimos to decide the Canadian Football League (CFL) championship for the 2015 season. The game was played at Investors Group Field in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Shaw Communications was the presenting sponsor of the game; it was the first time in CFL history that the Grey Cup has been sponsored. The Eskimos won the contest 26–20 to claim their 14th Grey Cup championship in franchise history and first since 2005. Mike Reilly was named Most Valuable Player and Shamawd Chambers received the Dick Suderman Trophy as Most Valuable Canadian.

Entertainment

Country performer Dean Brody performed as part of pre-game festivities, while Quebecois singer Bobby Bazini performed the national anthem. American rock band Fall Out Boy performed during halftime.

Game Summary

The Redblacks got out to a quick start as quarterback Henry Burris threw a pair of touchdowns in the first six minutes and nine seconds of the game: Ottawa completed a six play opening drive for their first score, then recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff that led to a second, but unconverted, touchdown as the Redblacks took a 13–0 lead before Edmonton’s offence had a chance to take the field. Edmonton answered with a field goal followed by a Mike Reilly touchdown pass to Adarius Bowman late in the first quarter. An Ottawa field goal and a single point for Edmonton following a missed field goal attempt moved Edmonton within five points, trailing 16–11 with a little under five minutes to play in the first half. A two-yard touchdown pass by Reilly to Akeem Shavers gave the Eskimos a 17–16 lead at half time.

Second Half

The second half became what the Edmonton Journal called a “brutal defensive struggle”. The Redblacks regained the lead as they turned a 42-yard pass interference penalty to Edmonton into a field goal, while Edmonton scored one point off a punt, and then missed a field goal late in the quarter as Sean Whyte’s attempt hit the uprights and out; Ottawa led the game through three quarters by a 19–18 score. They added a point in the fourth quarter when kicker Chris Milo, attempting to pin Edmonton’s offence deep in their own zone, instead kicked a wind-aided 72-yard punt into the end zone. The score then remained unchanged until the final minutes of the contest as Edmonton marched the ball 78 yards, aided significantly by consecutive pass interference penalties to Ottawa, the second called after a coaches’ challenge that the referees initially failed to penalize. Jordan Lynch then scored on a one-yard touchdown run that gave Edmonton a 26–20 lead with 3:22 left to play, and which held up as the final score of the game.

For the Eskimos, it was the 14th Grey Cup championship in franchise history, and their first since 2005. Mike Reilly was named Most Valuable Player after completing 21 of 35 pass attempts for 269 yards with two touchdown passes. He was also Edmonton’s leading rusher at 66 yards. Shamawd Chambers, who missed the majority of the 2015 season with a knee injury, received the Dick Suderman Trophy as Most Valuable Canadian.

Scoring Summary

First Quarter
OTT – TD Lavoie 3 yard pass (Milo convert) (11:32) 0–7 OTT
OTT – TD Jackson 7 yard pass (Convert by Milo missed) (8:51) 0–13 OTT
EDM – FG Whyte 25 yards (5:46) 3–13 OTT
EDM – TD Bowman 23 yard pass (Whyte convert) (2:19) 10–13 OTT
Second Quarter
OTT – FG Milo 26 yards (7:34) 10–16 OTT
EDM – S Whyte 44 yard missed field goal (4:27) 11–16 OTT
EDM – TD Shavers 2 yard pass (two-point convert failed) (0:12) 17–16 EDM
Third Quarter
OTT – FG Milo 23 yards (7:03) 17–19 OTT
EDM – S Shaw 69 yard punt (5:00) 18–19 OTT
Fourth Quarter
OTT – S Milo 72 yard punt (9:01) 18–20 OTT
EDM – TD Lynch 1 yard rush (Shavers two-point convert) (3:22) 26–20 EDM

Complete 2015 Grey Cup Game