Bombers Do Nothing Yet in Off Season

[TheLionKing]

http://tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=386421

[Blue In BC]

To be fair, it's easier to stand Pat or appear to not be making drastic moves the season after you win the Championship. Given the Lions struggled in the first part of the season but came together and gelled in the second half, why would they make big changes?

Well, the Bomber also played in the Grey Cup, so why would you expect them to make big changes? 6 other teams didn't get to play in the game.

The Bombers are a very young team which had many 1st and 2nd year players starting. OTOH, the Lions have quite a few players that may be close to or past their best before date. If not past their best before date, they may be past what the Lions can afford from an SMS point of view.

That is why the Lions may be more likely to see changes made intentionally than the Bombers might. I'm taking players lost unavoidably to free agency as part of the equation. Some players will choose to leave for reasons beyond the teams control.

[Wakesbetterthanyou]

Buck isn't a starter for a championship team in the cfl. If you think otherwise I have a 4 yard pass for you on second and 8.

[ziggy]

To be fair, it's easier to stand Pat or appear to not be making drastic moves the season after you win the Championship. Given the Lions struggled in the first part of the season but came together and gelled in the second half, why would they make big changes?

Well, the Bomber also played in the Grey Cup, so why would you expect them to make big changes? 6 other teams didn't get to play in the game.

The Bombers are a very young team which had many 1st and 2nd year players starting. OTOH, the Lions have quite a few players that may be close to or past their best before date. If not past their best before date, they may be past what the Lions can afford from an SMS point of view.

That is why the Lions may be more likely to see changes made intentionally than the Bombers might. I'm taking players lost unavoidably to free agency as part of the equation. Some players will choose to leave for reasons beyond the teams control.

Playing in the Grey Cup and wining it are two totally different things in my opinion. If you lose you proved you were not good enough to win, just a little better than your eastern rivals. I would say by losing, you have two choices ,either you make changes,large or small, I guess it comes down to how close you really felt you were, or just hope everyone else gets a little worse.If I was a Bomber fan(last I looked Hell hadn't frozen over), I would opt for making changes maybe small on D but definitely larger on O. Personally though if the Bombers want to stand Pat, as a Lion fan I`m all for that.

[Toppy Vann]

I'm just shocked at the snail's pace they seem to be moving on although they got their coveted OC...hahah. Was Lapo happy or was this imposed? We shall see.

I am also shocked that they have all 3 QBs unsigned.

It is funny how the attack on Buck suggests he didn't do the job for the Bombers. He sold tickets and got them to a GC which seems to suggest he was doing something right.

Mack might be communicating something different to the players than what fans and media are hearing but you want the media writing positive stories when you are trying to expand your season ticket base - maybe not an issue in the 'Peg but it can be if you take the paying customers for granted for too long.

TSN's team by team take on offseason actions to Jan. 30 and note the Bombers at the bottom and the Lions near the top. That is not a statistic with meaning in my view but shows actions only:

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/feature/?id=54526

Maybe this should be a thread that gets updated.

[Blue In BC]

Buck isn't a starter for a championship team in the cfl. If you think otherwise I have a 4 yard pass for you on second and 8.

Apparently you've never seen a 4 yard screen pass on 2nd down go for more than 4 yards? Absurd. R Ray made a living on those for years.

Bomber fans are not 100% sold on Pierce but with the OC and OL we had, we're not sure how good Pierce might be in the future.

To suggest he's not a starter for a championship team, you may or may not be right. I'm on the fence. When he was in BC, many fans thought he was.

It's a team game and the Bombers were not a championship team on offense. He was good enough to beat the LIons twice in 2011. IMHO, he's good enough to win a Grey Cup if the team around him is good enough, but as a whole it wasn't.

M Crandell, Tom Burgess among others won Grey Cup's and nobody is putting them in the Hall of Fame.

[Blue In BC]

To be fair, it's easier to stand Pat or appear to not be making drastic moves the season after you win the Championship. Given the Lions struggled in the first part of the season but came together and gelled in the second half, why would they make big changes?

Well, the Bomber also played in the Grey Cup, so why would you expect them to make big changes? 6 other teams didn't get to play in the game.

The Bombers are a very young team which had many 1st and 2nd year players starting. OTOH, the Lions have quite a few players that may be close to or past their best before date. If not past their best before date, they may be past what the Lions can afford from an SMS point of view.

That is why the Lions may be more likely to see changes made intentionally than the Bombers might. I'm taking players lost unavoidably to free agency as part of the equation. Some players will choose to leave for reasons beyond the teams control.

Playing in the Grey Cup and wining it are two totally different things in my opinion. If you lose you proved you were not good enough to win, just a little better than your eastern rivals. I would say by losing, you have two choices ,either you make changes,large or small, I guess it comes down to how close you really felt you were, or just hope everyone else gets a little worse.If I was a Bomber fan(last I looked Hell hadn't frozen over), I would opt for making changes maybe small on D but definitely larger on O. Personally though if the Bombers want to stand Pat, as a Lion fan I`m all for that.

A couple of things. I'd disagree that losing proves your aren't good enough to win. The better team doesn't win every game and if that was the case, they could award the Grey Cup after TC. The team that plays better during the game doesn't always win either ( even if they are the better team ). Stuff happens.

I agree that the Lions were a better team in the 2nd half of the season and were certainly the better team in the Grey Cup. To suggest the Bombers had no chance to win is a bit absurd. They beat the Lions twice during the season.

Every game has a few plays which turn a game one way or the other. Momentum is a slippery slope.

Kudo's to the Lions on their season and their win. They deserved to win.

If you can't see my point that the Bombers are a young team which appear to be on the way up, I don't know what to say. I'm not suggesting changes don't need to be made, but I'm also suggesting the Lions haven't reached dynasty status just yet either.

Status quo is not usually a good thing, even after you win a Grey Cup. Other teams will adapt.

[Big Time]

Apparently you've never seen a 4 yard screen pass on 2nd down go for more than 4 yards? Absurd. R Ray made a living on those for years.

Bomber fans are not 100% sold on Pierce but with the OC and OL we had, we're not sure how good Pierce might be in the future.

To suggest he's not a starter for a championship team, you may or may not be right. I'm on the fence. When he was in BC, many fans thought he was.

It's a team game and the Bombers were not a championship team on offense. He was good enough to beat the LIons twice in 2011. IMHO, he's good enough to win a Grey Cup if the team around him is good enough, but as a whole it wasn't.

M Crandell, Tom Burgess among others won Grey Cup's and nobody is putting them in the Hall of Fame.

Agreed. BP clearly has what it takes to win a GC. The problem IMO was that he doesn't have enough talent around him and the play calling was pretty questionable. If you want to throw for 4 yards on 2nd and 8, you better make sure you're throwing it to a guy who can get the YAC yards to make that a first down. As far as I could tell, the Bombers simply did not have that type of player. As a result, they were more likely to go 2 and out then have a sustained drive. All those 2 and outs in the Grey Cup game led to the defense getting worn down and the Lions took advantage.

BP has all the tools to lead a team to a championship - he just can't do it by himself. Keep in mind many of us were wondering the same things about Lulay at the start of the year and look how that turned around for him.

[West Coast Blue Fan]

It is funny how the attack on Buck suggests he didn't do the job for the Bombers. He sold tickets and got them to a GC which seems to suggest he was doing something right.

I think their defence, aka, Swaggerville, had a little something more to do with their record and with the amount of ducats sold.

[KnowItAll]

boy, listening to some people, one would think that next season was starting next week.

[WestCoastJoe]

The Bombers had a nice turnaround season.

New stadium. Cool.

I am a Buck Pierce fan. I hope he shoots lights out next year, with an OC who has some autonomy, without LaPolice interfering.

It seems odd that Joe Mack operates out of the US. How about in season? That would be dumb, IMO. Make him reside in Winnipeg. Make a commitment. LOL OK, it is probably freezing there, but it goes with the job. IMO ...

Hey, Mack. Get both feet on the ground in Winnipeg.

[Blue In BC]

It is funny how the attack on Buck suggests he didn't do the job for the Bombers. He sold tickets and got them to a GC which seems to suggest he was doing something right.

I think their defence, aka, Swaggerville, had a little something more to do with their record and with the amount of ducats sold.

Absolutely. The Lions defense is also what turned the Lions season around. That gave them time to work in players like Harris into the offense and solidify the play of the OL. Given better TOP and development of the playmakers allowed Lulay to develop as the season progressed.

Overall the Lions had a very solid team in all 3 aspects of football ( offense, defense and ST ). You don't generally win big games without being better than the opponent in 2 of those 3 facets of the game.

Simply put, the Bombers were not a good team on offense and only about average on ST ( even that would have been only once in awhile ). Poor kicking game and inconsistent return and coverage teams was a nightmare for Bomber fans.

[Blue In BC]

With all the delays in signing their QB's, you wonder if the Bombers might have another QB prospect up their sleeves?

As much as I like Buck they really should be developing a real gunslinger for the future.

Don't know. They have confidance in both Elliott and Brink but will they be able to sign either is a big question. Not having any of the QB's re-signed is not a good feeling, but OTOH it doesn't mean much until they sign elsewhere.

Reports from Winnipeg are that FA signings are underway and announcements could be made shortly. Which players are involved in those comments is not known by fans. Labatte and Carr are high on the list along with the QB's as far as priorities.

Who knows which players ( not in the CFL already ) they might be interested in, are in their sights. As far as QB's they did have another two on the PR which I believe are still under contract. I wouldn't expect either of those two to be higher than # 3 in 2012, but you never know.

[Anglophone]

Latest: they've signed Elliot.

Do people in winnipeg really think he's any good? I remember being very unimpressed with him, from what I saw.

Sounds like a BAD move to try to force buck to sign.