The 112th Grey Cup is upon us, and the second I was theorizing potential matchups and what they would mean once the dust settled in the Division Finals, the predominant thought running through my head around the Saskatchewan vs. Montreal battle almost by word association was Tyson Philpot’s monster outing earlier this season in Regina.
You remember it right?
Nine catches on just as many targets for 238 yards (you read that right) and a pair of touchdowns, as the Alouettes popped their ugly five-game losing streak bubble in dramatic fashion with a 48-31 victory on the road against the eventual West Division Champions.
So, it’s a big stat line, but how the heck did Philpot do it, and is any of it possible to replicate this Sunday on the biggest stage where Philpot has already made history in 2023 as Grey Cup Most Valuable Canadian due to his late-game heroics?
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The first and most important caveat in this question is the matchup. Kerfalla Exumé is a tremendous special teams player, but was not up for the Philpot assignment in this game while filing in at cornerback.
The early evidence was Philpot’s first touch, with the game tied 3-3 midway through the first quarter. At that time, the Als’ standout Canadian pass-catcher hit the smoothest of slant and go moves as he immediately recognized he was alone and had beaten Exumé on his way to quickly turning North for the end zone. He easily reached the end zone after a great throw from Als’ backup quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson.
Seven minutes later, the Alouettes were able to isolate Tyson again as he ran a free wheeling slightly bent skinny post in a route you’ll have trouble drawing up on the whiteboard at home due to its unique shape created by Philpot’s feel for the game.
His third “catch” of the game was a simple jet sweep, or pop pass, as he turned first-and-10 into another fresh set of downs in a glorified running play as he appeared to be moving at a different speed than everyone else, likely due to the fresh legs of bouncing back off a hamstring injury. All three catches came on first-and-10 plays and the two downfield shots essentially played out as man, which is interesting because according to Pro Football Focus the Roughriders play man coverage just 9.9 per cent of the time. For context, the CFL average is 22 per cent and their opponents from Quebec this week lead the league at 37.5 per cent.
The fourth catch of Philpot’s Regina riot was a devilish slant and go against Exumé, again, with second-and-two and a nasty MBT pump fake as the bait. Philpot running quickly on his toes cut, and knew the end zone beckoned for the second score of the day.
From there, he had a flanker end around on second-and-one, a crossing route for a few yards and a slow, settling slant between zones before taking a pop from Riders middle linebacker Jameer Thurman.
The play that really cemented this monster day though was a first-and-10 from his own 23 when Philpot was left one-on-one, again, ran a go route, and threw up his hand asking for a vertical throw before even reaching 10 yard’s depth. His quarterback delivered high and outside, Tyson adjusted and caught the ball, punishing Saskatchewan further with yards after catch.
Pro Football Focus rates Philpot’s season as the third best receiving grade of his four CFL seasons thus far, but this game against Saskatchewan in Week 15 was a masterpiece of play calling and precision route running, while taking advantage of every opportunity. If the Roughriders blitz to test Davis Alexander’s hamstring, Philpot could get an early heave to the skies as Alexander looks to get the ball out ahead of his usual internal scheduling. A fate that’s likely considering the injury and Saskatchewan’s 40.5 per cent blitz rate placing them third in the CFL behind only Ottawa and Montreal’s ludicrous 47.6 per cent blitz percentage.
Saskatchewan plays zone on 84.3 per cent of snaps well above the CFL average of 70.5 per cent and Montreal’s league low rate of 56.1 per cent, but man or zone they better pay attention to Philpot before he goes to new Grey Cup heights in his already memorable career on the game’s biggest stage.
