AAF 2019: Five things to love in the new alliance of American football and five things to dislike



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It's easy to think of the American Football Alliance as a professional sports league, because it's true. But basically, it's a start-up. It's a case. And as in any business, there are things that it does well and areas in which it is lacking.

Even though AAF existed long before the start of the football season two weeks ago, CEO Charlie Ebersol will learn a lot about how to improve his product over the next three months, as the inaugural season unfolds. As a single entity, the AAF can make quick decisions that will affect its operation.

After two weekends of games, we already have information to help us decide what we like and what we do not like about the AAF. Think of the following list as a Yelp! review for the FAA as it continues to deploy spring football. Here are five things that I liked – and not liked – about the Alliance.

What I like: the stories of the second chance

The AAF aims to give players another chance to excel at football. For most of them, this second (or third?) Chance is with the NFL; for others, it is to evacuate the last piece of football they have left. Regardless of the context, all FAA members have a story. Yes, The story of Luis Perez is fascinatingbut it's not the only one. Trent Richardson the story is inspiring, as are the three coaches in the Alliance. Getting to know the names that make up the AAF is part of the call.

What I do not like: the limited blitz

The offensive sells, so it makes sense that the AAF limits the blitz to five players within one box for the passes. (Pro Football Talk explains the rules in more detail.) And as the defenses are ahead of the training camp fouls, call the rules with a handicap. However, one does not ask the faults of playing with a hand behind the back, why the defenses? There are offensive games that can counter a blitz. Coaches can install this part of their offense without overloading players with too much information. Let both parties play unhindered.

What I like: instant mic reading up

I have dipped further in this, but I am a big fan of the instant stop of the replay. I would be bold enough to say that it's the best thing AAF does on match day. It is important to keep fans engaged and the replay is traditionally a time of play where it becomes easy to disengage. The people in charge of the retransmission are always human and will continue to make calls that people do not agree with, or sometimes wrong, but transparency is refreshing.

What I do not like: not enough SkyJudge

Christopher Walken needed more bells, just as I needed more from SkyJudge. The ninth member of the AAF match day umpire team is a group of eyes that sees everything, almost ubiquitous, designed to cancel arbitration errors " obvious and flagrant ". In two weeks, there have been obvious and flagrant arbitration errors. And yet, I have not heard much about SkyJudge, namely some pass interference penalties that should never have been canceled. I understand that the FAA wants the game to go as smoothly as possible, but we also need to keep the calls well placed.

What I like: games like Orlando-San Antonio

Sundays Thriller 37-29 Between Orlando and San Antonio, all that the AAF should be: to score points – at least in comparison – with moving elks, exceptional individual performances and a grueling crowd. If you missed it, you missed the best match of the first two weeks (and maybe the season). They even had a big human touch. It was the vision of the AAF carried out. Not all games are going to have that level of media hype and drama, but if the product is really as good as Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian have promised, then it will have to be more like it.

What I do not like: all the passes

Look, it would be imprudent to wait for a finished product after two weeks. It might be foolish to wait for a finished product. This league is for the development of players and you will get a football less powerful than what you see in the NFL. However, the missed passes have been frustrating, if not infuriating. Birmingham has been singled out here beforebut by no means are they the only offender. The sync routes take, um, time develop, but there was a noticeable amount of yards and points in the field.

What I like: Steve Spurrier in the back and always so sharp

Every sport needs a personality. Not a bad guy, in itself, but someone to stir things up a bit. The coach of Orlando Apollos, Steve Spurrier, is this person for the AAF and, thanks to heaven, he is here. AAF is not the NFL. It does not have to be as trendy as the NFL. Putting microphones on players and coaches is not new, but when you listen to Spurrier, there are good things to do.

What I do not like: the quarter shaky game

The fact that the last four teams – Atlanta, Memphis, Salt Lake City and San Diego – averaged less than 16 points per game is not just the fault of the quarterback game. Most quarterbacks are as good as their protection allows them. However, it is no coincidence that the four teams mentioned above have question marks at quarter – which is good, everyone will not have the next Kurt Warner. Injuries, as in the case of the Salt Lake stallions, also play a role. In the future, however, the FAA needs to look at how it selects and develops shifts. Maybe that means adapting diets to their talents; anyway, a lot of what football is doing is flowing. Or maybe that means we have to find a way to get some real NFL guys, number two, to get representatives. This will be one of the best offseason scenarios for the interest of this league.

What I like: presence on social media

The AAF gets the highlights on Twitter pretty quickly and the game clips are easy to find on YouTube. This facilitates the digestion of the most interesting parts of the game. The AAF application is also remarkable in that it allows fans to follow in real time the action of players in the field (it is not a text of sponsored presentation, I swear). In terms of covering its own games, the AAF is accessible with its content. This is a huge benefit for a company that does not get started like some other professional leagues.

What I do not like: the lack of organized statistics

AAF finally has a team team stats page on its website. This is useful if you want to know the raw data afterwards, but as a football league supposed to be more tech-savvy, it has been a little slow to download real-time statistics in a central official location. All statistics are compiled after the games. In addition, while using sites such as Pro Football Focus for advanced analytics is a good thing, it would be nice if AAF has a similar service to help solve matchup problems and fantastic football. You can certainly find these numbers if you dig yourself, but it's a service that is lacking.

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