What does it say about a team that decides to come back with basically the same lineup as the year before? Well, either they are deluding themselves — or in the case of the Winnipeg Blue bombers — the football people in charge believe everything that could go wrong did go wrong last year, and their core talent is good enough to win with. It’s the latter belief that drives Winnipeg Blue bomber General manager Joe mack and head coach Tim Burke.
The Bombers will begin the 2013 CFL regular season with 80% of the starters who closed out the 2012 campaign.
On offence, the Bombers will return 11 of their 12 starters. And there is evidence to support that decision. The Bombers were among the offensive leaders in the CFL in their last 7 games of 2012.
Their offensive line developed into a solid unit as the season went along, the receiving group is led by sensational CFL rookie of the year Chris Mathews and veteran Terrence Edwards and Chad Simpson is a stud running back.
Also, Buck Pierce has proved to be a winning quarterback whenever he is on the field. And that’s where the Bombers have their fingers crossed. A healthy, productive year out of Pierce will go a long way in returning the Bombers to the CFL playoff discussion. 
Mack and Burke decided to release backup quarterbacks Alex Brink and Joey Elliott during the winter. They will go with Justin Goltz, their number-four quarterback the last 2 years, and newcomer Max Hall as Pierce’s understudies. Offensive coordinator Gary Crowton spent a good portion of last year learning the nuances of the Canadian game, and there is a tremendous feeling of optimism about what the Bombers might do offensively this year — assuming they get production from the quarterback position.
Defensively, the Bombers will have two new starting outside linebackers. Terrell Parker will replace Marcellus Bowman at weak side linebacker, Bowman fleeing to Hamilton as a free agent. Rookie Desai Dunn will play what the Bombers are calling the nickelback spot until Johnny Sears is healthy, which should be by Week 2.
Winnipeg’s secondary will feature 2 changes with Cauchy Muamba taking over from Ian Logan at safety and Demond Washington replacing Jonathan Hefney at halfback. Logan and Hefney were both released. Jovon Johnson, Brandon Stewart and Alex Suber return to round out a secondary that was the best in the CFL in 2011 only to fall into a team-wide malaise in 2012.
Tim Burke enters his first full year as Bomber head coach and the players says he is bringing a new level of discipline and accountability. Casey Creehan has been brought back to Winnipeg from Hamilton to coordinate the defence. He and Burke have worked together for a number of years and are joined at the hip philosophically. Burke is particularly excited about the acquisition of Craig Dickenson as Special teams coordinator. Burke calls him the best special teams coach in the league. The Bombers were unable to find a kick return dynamo during the pre-season, so those chores will again fall primarily on two of their starting defensive backs, Johnson and Washington.
The Bombers were 0-2 and got crushed in the pre-season. Even though Burke sparingly played his starters, the Bombers pre-season performance has created something of a negative vibe regarding the teams chances this year. Both Burke and Mack have downplayed the pre-season results, urging their fans to wait until the real games are played before passing judgment.
Blue Bombers were a good punt, and a touchdown pass away from having at least two extra wins last season which would have put them in the playoffs.
Have they done enough to make the handful of plays in the incredibly competitive CFL that can be the difference between winning and losing? We’ll start getting some meaningful answers to that question on Thursday when the Bombers and Montreal Alouettes launch the 2013 CFL regular season at magnificent Investors Group Field on Thursday night.
