# 2009 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season

The 2009 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season was the 52nd season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 77th overall. The Blue Bombers were in the playoff hunt until the last game of the season, at home, against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, but lost the game and failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2005, finishing the season with a disappointing 7–11 record.

## Off-season

On February 18, Milt Stegall announced his retirement from the Blue Bombers.
New coach Mike Kelly made many roster moves to re-shape the team that lost the 95th Grey Cup in 2007 and slid to an 8 win and 10 loss record in the 2008 season.

### CFL draft

The 2009 CFL Draft took place on May 2, 2009. Due to trades, the Blue Bombers did not have a selection until the third round, when they chose lineman Mike Morris from UBC.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School/Club Team |
| 3 | 19 | Mike Morris | OL | UBC |
| 4 | 27 | Adam Bestard | OL | Wilfrid Laurier |
| 5 | 35 | Peter Quinney | FB | Wilfrid Laurier |
| 6 | 45 | Thaine Carter | LB | Queen's |

### Notable transactions

* On February 18, Riall Johnson was acquired by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, from the Toronto Argonauts for import middle linebacker Zeke Moreno and a conditional draft pick.

### Pre-season

| Date | Opponent | Score | Result |
| June 17 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 32–22 | Win |
| June 24 | @ Montreal Alouettes | 31–27 | Loss |

## Regular season
### Division standings

East Divisionviewtalkedit :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts |
| Montreal Alouettes | 18 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 600 | 324 | 30 | Details |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 449 | 428 | 18 | Details |
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 386 | 508 | 14 | Details |
| Toronto Argonauts | 18 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 328 | 502 | 6 | Details |

### Season schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Score | Result | Attendance | Record |
| 1 | July 2 | at Edmonton Eskimos | 19–17 | Loss | 30,650 | 0–1 |
| 2 | July 10 | Calgary Stampeders | 42–30 | Win | 29,533 | 1–1 |
| 3 | July 18 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 25–13 | Loss | 24,292 | 1–2 |
| 4 | July 24 | Toronto Argonauts | 19–5 | Loss | 28,466 | 1–3 |
| 5 | August 1 | at Toronto Argonauts | 13–12 | Win | 23,821 | 2–3 |
| 6 | August 8 | at Calgary Stampeders | 31–23 | Loss | 35,650 | 2–4 |
| 7 | August 15 | Montreal Alouettes | 39–12 | Loss | 25,053 | 2–5 |
| 8 | August 21 | at BC Lions | 37–10 | Win | 27,983 | 3–5 |
| 9 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 10 | Sept 6 | at Saskatchewan Roughriders | 29–14 | Loss | 30,945 | 3–6 |
| 11 | Sept 13 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | 55–10 | Loss | 29,533 | 3–7 |
| 12 | Sept 20 | at Montreal Alouettes | 33–14 | Loss | 20,202 | 3–8 |
| 13 | Sept 26 | Toronto Argonauts | 29–24 | Win | 22,446 | 4–8 |
| 14 | Oct 2 | Edmonton Eskimos | 27–17 | Win | 21,965 | 5–8 |
| 15 | Oct 12 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 38–28 | Win | 19,562 | 6–8 |
| 16 | Oct 18 | BC Lions | 24–21 | Loss | 24,048 | 6–9 |
| 17 | Oct 24 | Montreal Alouettes | 41–24 | Win | 21,378 | 7–9 |
| 18 | Nov 1 | at Montreal Alouettes | 48–13 | Loss | 20,202 | 7–10 |
| 19 | Nov 8 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 39–17 | Loss | 29,038 | 7–11 |

### Roster
## Statistics
### Offence
#### Passing

| Player | Att | Comp | % | Yards | TD | INT | Rating |
| Michael Bishop | 404 | 204 | 50.5 | 3035 | 15 | 19 | 68.3 |
| Stefan LeFors | 88 | 41 | 46.6 | 459 | 2 | 2 | 60.8 |
| Bryan Randall | 20 | 6 | 30.0 | 58 | 0 | 4 | (−44.2) |
| Richie Williams | 10 | 3 | 30.0 | 30 | 0 | 1 | 39.6 |
| Casey Bramlet | 14 | 2 | 14.3 | 18 | 0 | 3 | (−70.0) |

#### Rushing

| Player | Att | Yards | Avg. | TD | Fumbles |
| Fred Reid | 238 | 1371 | 5.8 | 7 | 2 |
| Yvenson Bernard | 53 | 336 | 6.3 | 0 | 4 |
| Brock Ralph | 22 | 135 | 6.1 | 0 | 2 |
| Michael Bishop | 19 | 84 | 4.4 | 0 | 6 |
| Stefan LeFors | 15 | 68 | 4.5 | 0 | 2 |
| Lavarus Giles | 14 | 54 | 3.9 | 2 | 0 |
| Mike Renaud | 1 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| Ricky Santos | 7 | 24 | 3.4 | 1 | 0 |
| Bryan Randall | 4 | 23 | 5.8 | 0 | 0 |
| Romby Bryant | 4 | 12 | 3.0 | 0 | 1 |
| Richie Williams | 2 | 9 | 4.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Gavin Walls | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jon Oosterhuis | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Receiving

| Player | No. | Yards | Avg. | Long | TD |
| Adarius Bowman | 55 | 925 | 16.8 | 55 | 6 |
| Terrence Edwards | 52 | 816 | 15.7 | 57 | 5 |
| Brock Ralph | 43 | 559 | 13.0 | 32 | 2 |
| Titus Ryan | 8 | 285 | 35.6 | 65 | 3 |
| Romby Bryant | 20 | 232 | 11.6 | 36 | 0 |
| Otis Amey | 18 | 188 | 10.4 | 47 | 0 |
| Fred Reid | 21 | 157 | 7.5 | 24 | 1 |
| Yvenson Bernard | 17 | 153 | 9.0 | 29 | 0 |
| Aaron Hargreaves | 14 | 142 | 10.1 | 17 | 0 |
| Dudley Guice, Jr. | 6 | 76 | 12.7 | 33 | 0 |
| Arjei Franklin | 5 | 53 | 10.6 | 18 | 0 |
| Jon Oosterhuis | 4 | 41 | 10.3 | 19 | 0 |
| Craphonso Thorpe | 2 | 27 | 13.5 | 14 | 0 |
| Steve Morley | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 |
| Riall Johnson | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 |
| Daryl Stephenson | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 |

## Playoffs

The Blue Bombers finished third in the East Division with a record of 7 wins and 11 losses. The BC Lions, who finished fourth in the West, had a better record of 8 wins and 10 losses, and under the cross-over rule eliminated Winnipeg from the playoffs. The Lions went on to play the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East semi-final at Ivor Wynne Stadium, winning 34-27 in overtime before losing to the Montreal Alouettes in Montreal in the East Final.