There is an aura around great teams, if not exactly of invincibility, of cold certainty: Given maximum effort on both sides, we'll win, you'll lose, and that's how it is.
There was just such a whiff of inevitability about the Montreal Alouettes last year, when they stomped the league en route to a 15-3 record and a victory in the Grey Cup game, fortuitous though it may have been.
But this season, the kings of three-down football haven't always looked so regal.
Yes, the Als won the East Division crown for the eighth time since 2000, but their 13-game home winning streak was snapped, they closed out the year 3-3 and lost two of their last three games - albeit the last without a full-strength squad.
Another symptom that all isn't quite right emerged on Thursday.
In his three impressively successful years in charge of the Alouettes, head coach Marc Trestman has been many things, indecisive is not among them.
But after suggesting Wednesday that kick-return specialist Larry Taylor - who spent much of the year on the New York Jets NFL practice roster - would likely play on Sunday, Trestman on Thursday announced Taylor had been cut and sent home.
Though the explosive Taylor rejoined the team in October, he played in only one game before getting injured, and recently returned to Florida to deal with an illness in his family, missing more preparation time.
It seems that having a question mark hovering over a key aspect of Sunday's East final against the Toronto Argonauts - Trestman identified special teams as "the No. 1 priority" - wasn't something he was willing to live with.
"I just felt it was in the best interests of the team to play the guys who were here all year," the coach said, adding: "I don't think we're going to have any regrets."
That may be, but the Als are now going to match up with the CFL's most dangerous special teams player, Chad Owens, without a game-breaking return man of their own (speedy rookie Tim Maypray is not yet in the same class as Taylor).
The decision won't require a massive adjustment on the Alouettes' part - Maypray had 1,374 return yards this year - but the timing, three days before the division final, will surely hearten the opposition.
They may draw somewhat less comfort, however, from the fact the Alouettes are the first to acknowledge they're not the juggernaut they were in 2009.
"Last year, we knew we were the best of the CFL, but this year, people are questioning [us] Last year, we had the best defence in years. It's nothing like last year. We are not the same team," all-star linebacker Chip Cox said earlier this week.
At the same time, quarterback Anthony Calvillo said the Alouettes should get more credit for keeping their noses ahead of what is a fast-closing pack.
"The Argonauts have won 10 games, the [Hamilton]Tiger-Cats won nine, and we still were able to finish first," he said. "People don't always appreciate how hard this thing is to do year in and year out."
So beware the veteran team determined to prove its best days aren't behind it.
The Als have plenty of weapons with which to blunt Toronto, they're rested, and playing in a stadium where they've lost only one of eight division finals since 2000. But with their unflappable head coach uncharacteristically changing his mind over the inclusion of Taylor - who practised Wednesday and pronounced himself ready to play - will doubtless see an admission Montreal is worried about taking even calculated risks on Sunday.