There is a word that I think we can connect to the 111th Gray Cup, in Vancouver.

It’s a word that I think might be most if not outright rejected by the players and coaches of both the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Toronto Argonauts.

The word is “redemption,” and I think it applies.

That goes for the Blue Bombers, who have lost the last two Gray Cups in excruciating fashion. Year 2022, Toronto’s Robbie Smith blocked a field goal in the dying seconds to secure a 24-23 win for Toronto. Last year, Tyson Philpott caught a touchdown pass with 15 seconds left, giving the Montreal Alouettes a 28-24 victory.

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That goes for the Argonauts, who let the glow of a 16-2 season in 2023 slip away in a devastating loss in the East final. Their best plan, of course, was to cap off their 150th anniversary season with another Gray Cup victory.

It applies Nick Arbucklethe well-traveled quarterback who didn’t quite live up to the potential he was believed to have now found himself at the center of the biggest game of the year, following the Argos’ start. Chad Kelly was sidelined with an injury during last week’s Eastern final.

After back-to-back Gray Cup wins in 2019 and 2021, the Blue Bombers had two more slip ups and while they don’t use the word “redemption,” there’s no doubt they feel some sort of duty to right the wrongs of the past two years.

“We don’t think about it,” the Winnipeg receiver Nic Demski told me after the team completed their Saturday briefing. I find that hard to believe, considering what his coach, Mike O’Shea, said in his media conference half an hour later.

“I don’t know that there are a lot of people in sports, no matter what sport, that have that figured out,” O’shea said. “(But) yes, the magnitude of a loss seems to trump the magnitude of (the joy of) wins.”

However, we can talk about semantics here. You can be sure the Blue Bombers are determined to avoid the simmering frustration of the last two disappointments. Demski puts it another way.

“I mean, I think it’s unfinished for us. Not revenge or redemption.”

For Arbuckle, the now 31-year-old journeyman who left Calgary in 2020 to be a rookie in Ottawa, the road has been rocky. He didn’t play a game for the REDBLACKS before being traded to Toronto, who then traded him to Edmonton (for the rights to Kelly, by the way) that same season. Then he ended up back in Ottawa last year before the Argos gave him a depth quarterback contract just as this season’s training camp began.

After Arbuckle came in late to help the Argos hang on against the Montreal Alouettes last week, Toronto head coach Ryan Dinwiddie immediately announced he would be the team’s Gray Cup starter and that he trusted Arbuckle. That he was capable of being ‘the man’ instead of ‘the journeyman’.

“Now he’s got to go and show it,” Dinwiddie said this week.

If Arbuckle shines in this game, he will have dramatically changed the trajectory of his career. He talked, this week, about being this close to pursuing coaching opportunities before the Argos called. If he leads the team to a Gray Cup, the coach will have to wait.

These are the redeeming backdrops of this year’s Gray Cup game, but there are so many delicious stories beyond them to dig into.

On the field, the battles are exciting.

The Toronto defense — receptive to the big play but also very capable of constructing its own — has seemingly had the Winnipeg offense’s numbers.

In two regular-season wins, by scores of 16-14 and 14-11, that defense was at the fore, especially in the second game, where they rolled into Winnipeg and delivered a two-turnover, seven-sack tour de force. Last week, in Montreal, the Argos’ D came up with four fumble recoveries and two interceptions — both by the star running back Benjie Franklin – in taking the game from the Als.

Led by their heart and soul centre-back Wynton McManis – “I want to do so well that I still get nervous at times and moments like these,” he told me – and fueled in large part by a ferocious rotation of fearsome pass rushers who Jake Ceresna, Folarin Orimolade and Ralph Holleythe Argo defense will look to play a big role in what they hope will be an upset win.

However.

The struggling Winnipeg offense that the Argos handled during the regular season appears to be a distant memory. Last week’s 38-22 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders, in the Western final, got the quarterback Zach Collaros meet the recipient Kenny Lawler for three touchdown drives. Lawler finished the game with 177 yards in receptions as he continued his hot late-regular pace into the playoffs.

Collaros, for his part, has left a so-so first half of the season far behind, it seems, after tearing the Roughriders for 301 passing yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. But he knows he and his offense need the answers they haven’t gotten before against Toronto.

“They’re very good up front,” said Collaros of Toronto’s defense. “They’re not afraid to play man coverage — not many teams in this league play man — and they do a good job of it.”

Maybe a healthy dose of running back Brady Oliveira will be the key for Winnipeg.

Oliveira, named both the league’s Most Outstanding Player and Most Outstanding Canadian on Thursday night, will aim to carry the Bombers on his shoulders, with the potential to do something no player in CFL history has ever done before; link those two trophy wins to a double on Gray Cup night by winning Most Valuable Canadian and Most Valuable Player. Rushing for 1,353 yards in the regular season and adding 476 more yards in receptions, Oliveira is clearly a key player to watch in this matchup.

In fact, this game is filled with game-breaking stars, players who each have the pedigree and desire to be named the brightest of them all when the confetti cannons go off.

Toronto running back Ka’Deem Carey may need to beat the Argo’s offense. Good news for Toronto is that he is very capable of doing so. Third in the CFL regular season in rushing, Carey totaled 1,060 yards, which is even more impressive considering he often gave way to two more Toronto running backs, Daniel Adeboboye and Deonta McMahon.

Damonte Coxie and super-rookie Makai Polk are standout performers in Toronto’s receiving corps. Winnipeg’s flight of receivers — led by Lawler — isn’t taking a back seat to the Toronto duo. Winnipeg has its own amazing rookie Ontario Wilson and they also have veteran Demski, who Argos defensive coordinator Will Fields said “makes everything go.”

Shutdown defensive backs will be all over the field in this one. Outside of Franklin, who led the CFL in pass knockdowns with 13, the Argos boast the sublime DaShaun Amosone of the league leaders in forced turnovers in 2024. Winnipeg corner Tyrell Ford was named the team’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player, and his seven interceptions and 12 knockdowns were a big reason why.

Then there’s Big Willie.

At age 33, the Bombers defensive end Willie Jefferson continues to amaze, in this his tenth season in the CFL. Jefferson knocked down 10 passes at the line of scrimmage last season, which tied him for fifth in the category, if you can imagine. Every other player in the top 20 is a defensive back.

And we can’t forget there’s the tantalizing matchup of the Toronto returner Janarion Grant versus his old team, the team where he was a star for four seasons before leaving in free agency. Grant was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Special Teams Player on Thursday night, and had four returns for touchdowns in the regular season and then added a 71-yard touchdown return in last week’s East final.

Could he do it again and haunt his former team?

The final word on this very exciting Gray Cup game comes from the Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros who during his Saturday afternoon media conference quoted one of his old college coaches.

“Be fearless yourself,” Collaros said. “Because who you are is good enough.”

So who will be the most fearless this gray cup Sunday?

Who will be redeemed?

Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 PM ET and can be seen on TSN, RDS, CFL+ and CBS Sports.