The Alliance Of American Football Is Actually Just Like Regular Football
So I hope everyone tuned in to watch the inaugural week of The Alliance of American Football!
It was…not too bad!
I honestly really enjoyed it. I was extremely worried it would basically be Arena Football, which is honestly kinda garbage and stupid. But it felt and looked like legitimate NFL ball. Actually outside the QB play, it could have passed for normal football. It was kind of like watching week 4 of preseason, where all the guys are on the bubble just playing their hearts out and doing their best. It was so much more watchable than I think anyone expected, and nobody I know who tuned in was particularly disappointed. If you miss football already and could use a sort of fix, this developmental league is a pretty decent hit.
Some random thoughts:
-GO APOLLOS
-The first TD of the entire league was a contested, questionable catch. It was amazing. Then the AAF did something that immediately made it better than the NFL. It gave us a camera and audio on the booth review official. We listened to her actual thought process with transparency. It was fantastic. We saw the very moment she changed her mind to catch.
-Overall the rule changes were all positive. The lack of kickoffs made things feel faster, though it was kinda weird.
-The QB play was bad but the defensive play was actually quite fun to watch.
-The refs held back on a lot of things that would have been obvious flags in the NFL. If you like big hits and lament their loss, this league definitely has your back
-The 35 second play clock wasn’t terribly noticeable
-It’s a really fun league for recognizing old players you forgot about. Just this weekend I heard and saw Will Hill, Trent Richardson, Demontre Moore, Matt Asiata, and Younghoe Koo. In fact Koo scored the first points in AAF history.
-The two point conversion requirement owns
-Generally the rule differences feel like testing the waters for potential changes in the NFL
-Having CBS production vales certainly helped. I’m interested to see how well it holds up on weaker boradcasts to see how much broadcasts actually help.
-Christian Hackenberg still sucks lol
-The logos are kinda generic but mostly okay. The uniforms are a bit goofy but pretty solid. Many of them have two-tone helmets, and they look great, making the Jaguars abortion even more embarrassing.
If you have nothing to watch, and an AAF game is on, I recommend it. It’s watchable, fun football. It won’t wow you, but it will scratch that football itch and make the offseason far more bearable.
i think a nice system would be that around September or October they do a draft of all the undrafted or unsigned players from the previous NFL Draft so for example this year they would draft undrafted and cut/unsigned players from the 2019 NFL draft
wonder what will happen when xfl inevitably returns
“golden age of pro football” (as long as you dont mind skyrocketing cte cases)
And so the dude living in Portland picks himself the team literally furthest from him.
The closest team to me is Salt Lake City so it’s not like I have any real options for a hometown team
So you pick the most dominant 1 Dave
I believe that’s called being a “bandwagoner”
shots fired
He picked the team that is affiliated with his NFL team.
You can’t be a bandwagonner if you join in day 1 though.
Boy I’ve been an Apollos fan from day 1
Ground floor bitch
It felt like a weird mix of preseason games 3 and 4. And just like in a preseason game, I got bored and turned it off after one quarter.
I thought the games were like watching a decent college football game. Not a *great* one, but a good one, by either a couple of Power-5 mid-tier programs, or a couple of really good Group of Five teams. Since I’m a college football fan first and NFL second, this definitely scratched my itch.
also the Apollos are literally the Florida Gators
Even the Hack was entertaining throwing F-bombs better than footballs.
that touchdown catch was BS
GO FLEET
I found it more entertaining than the Superbowl.
Dang, did you draw this with charcoal, Dave? I like this new comic style
Best part was the transparency in the review booth. Getting to see the review process and how they come to their conclusion was sweet
i’m guessing digital charcoal, but the doesn’t answer process questions.
i like the look, btw
I think I should check this out. Normally, come March and April I am so desperate for football that I eat up OTAs. This might be a good methadone to wean myself down.
Before last weekend I saw that blitzing was illegal in the AAF and was worried that defenses weren’t going to be able to do anything. Boy howdy was I wrong about that. #gocommanders
Only partly banned. You can’t rush more than five, and you can’t have them rush from too far past the tackles.
Exactly that hit on the qb where the helmet went flying they pulled one DE into coverage and blitzed the corner it was tits
I’m definitely a little bothered by it. I’ve grown accustomed to defenses having free reign on what they do so seeing a flag for illegal defensive formation was a little out of left field. It didn’t horribly impact the actual play, but adding another reason to throw a flag and stop the action isn’t optimal.
Supposedly it’s only for this first season, while they get the O-lines trained.
Well, that’s encouraging, so long as this isn’t the UFL and it lasts more than three or four seasons.
And not all of the QB play was bad either. Hotshots QB John Wolford put on a freaking clinic last night. I think I’ll definitely be keeping my eye on this league.
I liked being able to hear a little more from the coaches and refs. I think I am going to be a Commander fan. I enjoyed their game more than the Apollos one and I like their colors. I probably could pick a deeper reason to like a team, but eh? I’m also from Texas, so closest team to my roots?
I’ll randomly go with Salt Lake, not that I care so whatever.
I randomly picked the Hotshots, eben though they have the most stupid name of any pro sports team, including the fictional Sheboygan Bratwurst.
Hey Dave, any chance that we might have a few AAF comics over the course of the season? Like for example checking in on Christian Hackenberg?
Or checking down on Hackenberg because he can’t even do that for himself.
I take it I am in the minority about wanting kickoffs? If they are taking that away, why not scrap special teams play altogether?
They better not.
I feel like football is a relationship, and special teams is the unappreciated person in that relationship. They don’t get enough credit for what they do. They take beatings too you know. Just ask that kicker.
I actually liked the AFL until my team was sold to another town. I still have a season ticketholder shirt that says “Loyalty Binds Us”. I totally understand San Diego.