Description
The 103rd Grey Cup was a Canadian football game that was played on November 29, 2015 between the East Divisionchampion 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 Trophyas Most Valuable Canadian.
The Edmonton Eskimos finished their season with a record of 14-4 (their best performance since 1989 in which they went 16-2). The Calgary Stampeders, the defending Grey Cup champions, finished with the same record as the Eskimos after the regular season. However, Edmonton clinched first place in the division (and a playoff bye) by virtue of defeating Calgary in two of three regular season contests. The two teams met again in the Western Final after Calgary defeated the BC Lions 35–9 in the Western Semi-Final.The Eskimos earned the right to represent the West in the Grey Cup game by virtue of a 45–31 victory against the Stampeders at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton. The 2015 Western Final game was the first time in CFL history where both teams came in with a 14-4 record in the regular season.Quarterback Mike Reilly was the offensive catalyst for the Eskimos as he passed for three touchdowns and ran for two more in the win.Edmonton reached its first championship game since winning the 93rd Grey Cup ten years earlier, making the 103rd Grey Cup the first of the modern era to be played by two teams that have not been any of the preceding nine championship games.
