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Watched three of the four games. I really like their rule differences to the NFL.

 

*No kickoffs .........starting on the 25

*No extra points (must go for 2)

*There are no television timeouts during games and an ongoing effort to have fewer   commercials to reduce overall game time to roughly 150 minutes instead of 180 minutes in the   NFL.

*Onside kicks have been replaced by an onside conversion. If a team is trailing by 17 points, or   there is five minutes or less left in the fourth quarter, they can opt to get the ball on their own   28-yard line and try to convert a 4th-and-12.

 

I found myself really enjoying the games. Less flags, good coaches, and players giving their all. I will definitely be watching next week. 

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Kitt O'Brien looked solid opening holes for Trent Richardson for the Iron (Though Trent sometimes couldnt find them, not shocking really.)  Christian Hackenburg is bad like beyond bad so how bad is former Titan starting QB Zach Mettenberger to be behind Christian (Actually Zach is 3rd string even behind Brandon Silvers) for Memphis ?

 

John Wolford former Wake Forest QB looked very solid for Arizona, he went undrafted last season was picked up by the Jets late in preseason, 3 days before final game but played 3 quarters in that game. He has an arm,can read defenses and is mobile.  Im very interested to see if he can put a few games like this together in a row.

 

I find it interesting several teams started different QBs then most experts expected in the days leading up to opening week (Based on QB draft made sense experts would lean that way but only 3 top qb picks started)

 

Wolford over Trevor Knight in Arizona

Matt Simms over Aaron Murray for Atlanta

Logan Woodside over Dustin Vaughn for San Antonio

 

After opening week Orlando and Arizona seem to be the teams to beat, Birmingham and San Antonio right behind. Salt Lake has an offense no D, SD has a D no O, Memphis has a mess on their hands and Atlanta is in need of a miracle.

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I watched the SD @ San Antonio.

 

I was pleasantly surprised by the discipline play of the defense.  Overall it was some pretty good football but they will need to get better QB play if the league is going to last.

 

Some interesting things.

As @ReMeDy pointed out, listening to the conversation with the ref during a replay is a very good idea.

 

All players are paid exactly the same.

 

They (AAF) wants to be a minor league system for the NFL.

 

On "big" plays, the entire team receives a bonus.  So there were 3 or 4 INTs in the game I watched and for each of those a bonus was given to all players.

 

They also give bonuses to the teams for community involvement, social media, etc.

 

Overall though, the game was fun to watch, much, much better coaching and play than I was expecting.

 

As far as helping players transition into the NFL.  The positions I see it helping the most are:

oline, RBs, DBs, TEs, and maybe edge rushers.  I don't see many QBs making the transition.  What will be interesting is what could happen with a high school player that doesn't want to go to college for whatever reason.  I could see the AAF becoming an option for that kid

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12 hours ago, RockThatBlue said:

The shaky QB thing is definitely an issue but it is nice to watch defenses be allowed to play defense. I think that alone will draw me in.

I think the O-line and QB play will get better.  These teams have only existed for 5 weeks. 

I liked:

How the play was very much like the NFL as far as play calling and schemes.  

How 81% of the players have had NFL contracts.

The Sky Judge.  It's nice to have a person to take care of obvious missed calls.

The leagues effort to have NFL experience in key positions. 

No kickoffs

 

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I watched parts of 2 of the games (SD@SA, SLC@AZ) and enjoyed it a lot.  Obviously, the offenses are slower to develop than the defense.  There was really no game tape available to prepare for the opponents, so I expect next weekend's games to be better quality.  Hard to really grade the QB's since most were hurried due to lack of pass protection.  Offensive lines need more work together.

 

Lots of credible people as coaches, GMs and front office personnel, so I expected quality.

 

I wasn't impressed by the TV announcers, especially the game last night in Arizona.  Seems they were chatting too much and not paying attention.  I'm curious about the Illegal Formation penalties on the DEFENSE.  Two were called fairly close together and the announcers didn't mention them or explain why they were called.  I'll try and do some research.

 

There were some technical glitches, but that's to be expected, I suppose.  However, it's not like they were being broadcast on Nickelodeon...it was CBS and NFL Network.

 

I'll be tuning into the games when I can...just glad to have football to watch!!

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I really enjoyed what I saw in the two games I was able to watch portions of.  The offenses will catch up with more practice time and reps, too.

 

Does anyone know the details on the Illegal Formations the defenses were getting flagged for?  None of the announcers explained the calls, but I guess they didn't know, so they didn't try to explain.

 

I really believe this is a legitimate league...not the quirky stuff like other leagues in the past tried.  This league is obviously NOT competing with the NFL and seems to be trying to work with the NFL to make this a developmental league, much like the NBA is doing with the G League.

 

Looking forward to seeing Memphis this weekend...I picked them as my team and, of course, they get pummeled!!  I don't have CBSSN, so couldn't watch them yesterday.

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1 hour ago, Coffeedrinker said:

I watched the SD @ San Antonio.

 

I was pleasantly surprised by the discipline play of the defense.  Overall it was some pretty good football but they will need to get better QB play if the league is going to last.

 

Some interesting things.

As @ReMeDy pointed out, listening to the conversation with the ref during a replay is a very good idea.

 

All players are paid exactly the same.

 

They (AAF) wants to be a minor league system for the NFL.

 

On "big" plays, the entire team receives a bonus.  So there were 3 or 4 INTs in the game I watched and for each of those a bonus was given to all players.

 

They also give bonuses to the teams for community involvement, social media, etc.

 

Overall though, the game was fun to watch, much, much better coaching and play than I was expecting.

 

As far as helping players transition into the NFL.  The positions I see it helping the most are:

oline, RBs, DBs, TEs, and maybe edge rushers.  I don't see many QBs making the transition.  What will be interesting is what could happen with a high school player that doesn't want to go to college for whatever reason.  I could see the AAF becoming an option for that kid

I thought it was the Arena League at first until I watched further and sort of realized all the plays they were running were exactly like the NFL style plays.  And then once I saw Mike Martz on the sideline I totally knew it wasn't arena ball.  I noticed some former NFL players out there also like David Cobb.

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I watched all 4 games just to see what it was like:

 

The Commanders-Fleet game was great, the game just had energy to it like an NFL game.

 

The Apollos-Legends game was boring. The 1st quarter was low-scoring, but then when the scoring happened it was all Orlando. The rain might have ruined the fan environment a bit, but it was boring. 

 

The Iron-Express game brought all the excitement from the Commanders-Fleet game back to earth. Trent Richardson averaged 2.4 yards per carry, Hackenberg was awful, and a 26-0 snoozer didn't help either (but my Iron did win!). CBSSN did do a good job miking the crowd up, but the 17,000 people there made the stadium look a bit empty. 

 

The Hotshots-Stallions game was pretty good from the play on the field, but Marvin Lewis should retire immediately from commentating, he was so boring. The Hotshots unis are actually better than I thought they'd be. The stadium was virtually empty too. Almost 12,000 people in a 70,000+ house. NFL Network had to keep the camera angles low to avoid the empty stands.

 

Overall, it was a pretty good week for the Alliance, but we'll see if their success can be sustained over the season. Go Iron!

 

 

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13 minutes ago, krunk said:

I thought it was the Arena League at first until I watched further and sort of realized all the plays they were running were exactly like the NFL style plays.  And then once I saw Mike Martz on the sideline I totally knew it wasn't arena ball.  I noticed some former NFL players out there also like David Cobb.

Yeah, there are definitely some big NFL and college names associated with the league.

 

Martz, Polian, Daryl "Moose" Johnston is the GM of the San Antonio team.  Steve Spurrier is the coach of the Orlando team.  I didn't know the player but either San Antonio or San Diego had a TE who was a 2nd round pick of the cowboys in 2015 or 2016.

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Did some research on the defensive rules and Illegal Formation penalties and found this on the AAF website:

 

On defense, no more than five players may rush on passing plays.

 

Players that line up on the line of scrimmage are designated as one of the five players eligible to rush, regardless of whether they rush or not.

 

No defensive player may rush from a position of more than two yards outside the widest offensive lineman and more than five yards from the line of scrimmage (defensive pressure box). The exceptions would be play-action or run-pass option plays and if the ball leaves the tackle box.

 

Any player who aligns on the line of scrimmage either prior to or at the snap is designated as one of the five players regardless of whether he rushes.

 

A flag for "illegal defense" carries a 15-yard penalty.

 

This is to help protect the QBs and develop OL since most haven't seen complex defensive formations and blitzes, according to Hines Ward, Head of Player Development for the AAF.

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1 hour ago, Barry Sears said:

I really enjoyed what I saw in the two games I was able to watch portions of.  The offenses will catch up with more practice time and reps, too.

 

Does anyone know the details on the Illegal Formations the defenses were getting flagged for?  None of the announcers explained the calls, but I guess they didn't know, so they didn't try to explain.

 

I really believe this is a legitimate league...not the quirky stuff like other leagues in the past tried.  This league is obviously NOT competing with the NFL and seems to be trying to work with the NFL to make this a developmental league, much like the NBA is doing with the G League.

 

Looking forward to seeing Memphis this weekend...I picked them as my team and, of course, they get pummeled!!  I don't have CBSSN, so couldn't watch them yesterday.

Not sure on the illegal formations.   Hopefully it comes out soon.   They also need to release the box scores. 

 

From what I say, I think there will be 12-15 AAF players on NFL teams next season.  Mostly practice squad though. 

 

 

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Teams cannot have more than five players rushing at a time.  On defense, no more than five players may rush on passing plays. No defensive player may rush from a position of more than two yards outside the widest offensive lineman and more than five yards from the line of scrimmage. The exceptions would be play-action or run-pass option plays and if the ball leaves the tackle box.

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I enjoyed it quite a bit.  81% of the players have had NFL contracts.   They are playing hard to get back there.   I think several will end up on practice squads and who knows from there.   I was impressed with Mekale McKay on San Antonio.    A big 6'4" WR.   He has bounced from a couple NFL teams, but he looked good.  

Obviously there is a drop in talent from the NFL, but better overall talent than college.   I will continue to watch. 

 

They really seems to be doing thing the correct way.  

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I take it that this won't only be a possible NFL feeder league, but may also be a testing ground for future NFL rules(?).

 

Some of the ideas sound pretty good, and if the AAF gains popularity, it's not only a way to test the rules, but acclimate the fan base to the rules before adopting them.

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The only issue I have with the AAF is the defenses are only allowed to blitz a maximum of five guys. I understand what Barry Sears said above, but does this mean this is a temporary rule until teams can get acclimated to their coaching staff and the speed of the game? If it's for safety reasons, then I find it ironic they allow these hits on the QB:

 


So I don't know if the AAF is trying to promote more safety or less, lol.

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3 minutes ago, ReMeDy said:

The only issue I have with the AAF (and maybe someone can answer this for me), is why are defenses only allowed to blitz a maximum of five guys? Safety reasons? I find it ironic though they allow hits to the QB like this though:

 


So I don't know if the AAF is trying to promote more safety or less, lol.

 

Brady wouldn’t last three games in the AAF. 

 

 

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This league is more about developing players to play at the NFL level, with out the big money politics of the league and owner's involved. It's a through back about the love of the game, like it was in the early stages of the NFL. I don't know if it will have longevity, but it's a nice refreshing concept. Only at this stage is hard to get excited about a team until they have played more.   

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I don't know if anyone has touched on it yet, but the players being mic'd up provided rare insight. Memphis was the only team that got shut out and Hackenberg and Singletary weren't familiar with all of the rules. I hope the league sticks, the viewership numbers were great week one and the football quality was surprisingly good. It's much better than watching an NBA game or two unranked college basketball teams on a weekend night.

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12 hours ago, ReMeDy said:

The only issue I have with the AAF is the defenses are only allowed to blitz a maximum of five guys. I understand what Barry Sears said above, but does this mean this is a temporary rule until teams can get acclimated to their coaching staff and the speed of the game? If it's for safety reasons, then I find it ironic they allow these hits on the QB:

 


So I don't know if the AAF is trying to promote more safety or less, lol.

I don't think that doing one thing for safety means you have to do everything that way.   You pick and choose which are more important.  I don't think having no more than 5 guys rushing the passer will affect the look of the game at all.  

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6 hours ago, King Colt said:

I enjoyed both games I watched. I guess next in line is Vince McMahon's league. Never liked that guy.

Andrew's dad Oliver is the commish of McMahon's XFL. There are rumors the XFL will get more than half of their games on national TV. I'm intrigued to see how it works out for them...

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14 hours ago, ReMeDy said:

The only issue I have with the AAF is the defenses are only allowed to blitz a maximum of five guys. I understand what Barry Sears said above, but does this mean this is a temporary rule until teams can get acclimated to their coaching staff and the speed of the game? If it's for safety reasons, then I find it ironic they allow these hits on the QB:

 


So I don't know if the AAF is trying to promote more safety or less, lol.

 

I copied and pasted that info from the AAF website, because I saw penalties on the defense for illegal formation.

 

I'm guess limiting pass rushers is a safety concern, and it also is part of the development goal of the league.  However, even with limited pass rushers, the offensive lines need to step up, because there were a lot of hurries and a few sacks...especially the hit on the San Diego QB...he got plastered!

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9 hours ago, Barry Sears said:

 

I copied and pasted that info from the AAF website, because I saw penalties on the defense for illegal formation.

 

I'm guess limiting pass rushers is a safety concern, and it also is part of the development goal of the league.  However, even with limited pass rushers, the offensive lines need to step up, because there were a lot of hurries and a few sacks...especially the hit on the San Diego QB...he got plastered!

 

According to Bill Polian the rule is in place because the teams have only been practicing for a little over a month. He said the offensive lines wouldn't be able to handle exotic blitzes and pick them up effectively at this point in their development, therefore rendering the passing game mostly ineffective. It will be interesting to see if they keep the rule in year 2.

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33 minutes ago, Grigson's Gaffes said:

 

According to Bill Polian the rule is in place because the teams have only been practicing for a little over a month. He said the offensive lines wouldn't be able to handle exotic blitzes and pick them up effectively at this point in their development, therefore rendering the passing game mostly ineffective. It will be interesting to see if they keep the rule in year 2.

I'm guessing this will be dependent on how much of a revolving door the talent is.

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On 2/11/2019 at 8:25 AM, Barry Sears said:

I really enjoyed what I saw in the two games I was able to watch portions of.  The offenses will catch up with more practice time and reps, too.

 

Does anyone know the details on the Illegal Formations the defenses were getting flagged for?  None of the announcers explained the calls, but I guess they didn't know, so they didn't try to explain.

 

I really believe this is a legitimate league...not the quirky stuff like other leagues in the past tried.  This league is obviously NOT competing with the NFL and seems to be trying to work with the NFL to make this a developmental league, much like the NBA is doing with the G League.

 

Looking forward to seeing Memphis this weekend...I picked them as my team and, of course, they get pummeled!!  I don't have CBSSN, so couldn't watch them yesterday.

I agree, they are not trying to compete with NFL but make a better product for the NFL to use than AFL, CFL, NCAA. Hopefully it continues to do that. The hope with ex-NFL players and personnel you would have to hope they would understand what they need to do.

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7 hours ago, PuntersArePeopleToo said:

I agree, they are not trying to compete with NFL but make a better product for the NFL to use than AFL, CFL, NCAA. Hopefully it continues to do that. The hope with ex-NFL players and personnel you would have to hope they would understand what they need to do.

They said that they tried to have the head coaches be ex NFL head coaches so that the players are even more trained for NFL play.  

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Just watched SD vs Atlanta..

Not bad...A lot of enthusiasm.....

 

Its hard to develop rooting interests because there's no teams in the Midwest..

But its minor league, offseason football.  I kinda like it.

And the players get $75,000 a year and health coverage?

…...AND a chance to showcase their game for the NFL the next year?.

..With 2 games a week on the NFL Network, that means the NFL is subsidizing this league, right?

 

..and what a blessing for the NFL Network.

I mean. How many times can you re-run 'A Football Life - Matt Hasselbeck"   or keep showing the 20 greatest games of 2018??

 

I think if they expand to 16 teams and every NFL franchise becomes affiliated with one of them.

This becomes not only a minor league with more players' jobs but a place to test new rules.

There's a lot of potential here.

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