XFL Returns: Review After One Game

Nope. That’s not some alternate universe Rutgers vs. Miami game. 

XFL has got potential. But it needs to last to be judged appropriately.

The XFL 2.0 kicked off its inaugural game Saturday afternoon when the D.C. Defenders hosted the Seattle Dragons. The Defenders didn’t make a mockery of their name, in fact lived up to it with two pick-sixes en route to a 31-19 win.

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Ravens fans would have recognized some players in the inaugural game as Keenan Reynolds suited up at wideout for the Dragons, coached by Jim Zorn whom made a quick stop in Baltimore during the Joe Flacco years. On the D.C. side Matt Elam plays safety and D’Ondre Wesley plays O-line. Opposite Elam in the secondary is Rahim Moore. Not a Raven, but the “other guy” in likely thee, Jacoby Jones poster. Eight former Ravens can be spotted around the league.

It’s hard to judge an entire league as a product based on one game. The NFL has their fair share boring games each year, each week even. The advent of fantasy football and daily fantasy aids in why Ravens fans in Baltimore might stay up to watch the Jets play the Lions on a Monday Night snoozefest. Not because Sam Darnold playing quarterback is must see tv. Far from it.

Let’s breakdown the broadcast and the game.

The Good

It is evident right from the start that the focus this time around is going to be on the football. You would not know this was a Vince McMahon product if you didn’t know any better. As a polarizing figure, that is a good thing when trying to bring new eyes to the product. The wrestling crossovers, blurred lines, and extreme rules from XFL 1.0 were scraped. That bodes well going forward.

No scrum for the football to see who gains possession to start a game resulting in torn ACLs. In fact, no coin flip. Home team just choses receive or defer. I’m indifferent on that front. Makes little difference, in my opinion. One less thing to possibly screw up.

The kickoff rules put more emphasis on having a good kicker. You can’t blast it out of the endzone because the team takes over at the 35, as opposed to the NFLs 25. If you kick it short of the 20-yard line, the receiving team takes over on the opponents 45. That is as detrimental as a turnover. The biggest difference is where the men line up. The blockers and gunners are back near the return man and five yards apart between the 30 and 35. They don’t move until the ball is caught. It takes away the full head of steam before plowing into a guy that is a player safety issue, but also makes for almost a certain kick return for a TD if the returner finds one hole. I am ok with this rule as well. Keeps the kickoff in the game while lowering the danger on special teams. High schools and below should be adopting this immediately, though I feel the NFL will be reluctant because some guys make the team because of special teams alone. NFLPA may take exception.

Hands down the best thing was transparency in the replay booth. Play under review, just like we at home can see often see one angle and make the call, the head referee is in communication with the booth without having to come all the way to the sideline, the guys in the booth see what they see, tell the ref what to do, and they announce it and play resumes. Cuts off two minutes at least on what the NFL does. Plus, you don’t have to have former referees on the broadcast team making the same bad calls as their peers on the field, making us double down on the hate for the terrible officiating in the NFL.

The Bad

It is still a three-hour game. One of the tentpoles of the new XFL was making the games less than two and a half hours in innovative ways. Picture in picture commercial breaks with continuing action was a big one. The NFL stole this idea before the XFL even got started. In the inaugural game, I don’t recall such an occurrence of one of those.

Other ways the XFL sped up the game are a 10-minute halftime and the running clock after incompletions once the ball is spotted. However, this kind of gets cancelled out by the 25 second play clock which gets more plays off. More plays equal more incompletions, more scoring maybe, hence, more clock stoppages.

Another different rule is the way offenses operate within the two-minute range. The clock stops until the ball is spotted, then a five second runoff of the play clock. About 10-12 seconds a team saves by completing a simple short yardage pass in bounds, players hustle to the line and get the next play off after maybe one or two seconds tick off. Clock also stops like the NFL by going out of bounds or incomplete passes. It’s going to lead to more comebacks completed, but if you have been losing all day, why should you be rewarded by the rules to make it easier to catch your opponent? The NFL has this one right.

Late in the game the broadcast noted the attendance of over 17,000+ at Audi Field in D.C., but then went on to say that you couldn’t buy two seats next to each other at game time. However, when the camera panned the crowd, you could see eight or more seats in a row in plenty of places, giant gaps in sections. Stinks a little of Vince McMahon meddling with the script when anyone with eyes can tell that isn’t true. Stadium was maybe 75% capacity, and not many at all in the suites or club seats.

The Ugly  

The sideline reporting started off rough. While Defenders quarterback Cardale Jones was warming up his arm pregame, he was approached for a few questions. First of which we couldn’t hear the response to because you can’t get a handheld mic close to a guy’s mouth while in a throwing motion. Once they realized it needed to be closer to catch the audio, of course, Jones whacked his arm on it throwing a ball. [Writer shakes his head]

On the other side, one of the questions posed to Austin Proehl after catching the league’s first touchdown was, “Is that a play you guys have practiced before?” [Writer shakes his head again]

Another ugly, the football itself. The actual game balls. The black and red ball from XFL 1.0 was badass [hot take]. However, this normal brown pigskin looks worse with the painted tips. Every throw that isn’t a perfect spiral looks like a complete duck, and there are a lot of them.

What I do like about the team’s game balls is that they have the XFL logo in their team colors, and their team name very prevalent on it. Late in the game a Defenders player recovered a fumble and brought the ball back to the sidelines, refusing to give it up. He stole it and now has a clearly denoted Dragons football for his mantle.  This should be a thing. When you turn the ball over, the opposing player keeps it as a trophy. NFL balls I believe have tiny logos on the underside. Not really for displaying. I’d love to see Ed Reed’s wall full of footballs he’s taken from other teams.

The Unnecessary

The XFL doesn’t shy away from the gambling community. The spread of the game and the over/under is visible all game long on the telecasts scoring display. (This wan on the ABC telecast, but not the FOX one). That’s fine and all, except that people that care about it, know what it is, and would have had to have placed their bets pregame. Maybe there is some value to having it on the graphic if you’re looking to exploit some second half bets. Then again, those that care, already know. Broadcasters Steve Levy and Greg McElroy also alluded to the spread throughout the second half as the Defenders were favored by 9.5, led 31-22 (-9) at one point after a Dragons field goal, but a penalty gave the Dragons a first down and they took the FG off the board to go for the touchdown, and didn’t get it. Game ended 31-19 (-12). Not to mention the O/U of 51.5, as the score went from 53, to 50. Yikes.

Not sure how I feel yet about everyone being mic’d up. Noticed it was toned down a little on the FOX broadcast of Tampa Bay vs. New York. The D.C. vs. Seattle game on ABC felt like they were playing Jim Zorn calling Seattle’s plays every time. Seems cool, might not be, still unsure. McElroy would then take Zorn’s call and explain whats about to happen the way Tony Romo does when he see’s a certain alignment or mismatch. Perhaps take the best sound and play it during some down time.

Conclusion

 

Time will tell. “He Hate Me”, sideline strippers, cameras in the cheerleader’s locker room, this is not. Thank goodness.

The football wasn’t that bad in in the SEA/DC game. Small sample size. Wasn’t a great game between the Dragons and Defenders, but there were plays made. Some good throws, big hits, defensive scores, and a kicker made a 55-yard field goal. Though missed a 35-yard attempt earlier in the day. The TB/NY game…woof. Tough watch.

It has plenty working in its favor that NFL fans are fed up with. I didn’t feel like the games were penalty filled. Illegal contact and holding happens every play and they seemed to only flag the egregious penalties. Transparency in the replay booth and speeding up that process. All of this the NFL can steal.

It’s not the NFL though, and that is what it has working against it. Are people going to watch a three-hour game that is not the NFL? There are no reminders that there is XFL on television aside from a commercial here and there. There is no pregame show, postgame show. No fantasy leagues other than I think daily contests on the XFL app. It probably won’t be the lead on sports reports in the heart of basketball season, March Madness around the corner, and spring training coming up. 17,000+ people came to Audi Field this week. How about next week for game two? How about week 8 against Tampa? That will be the measuring stick.

I think this is better than XFL 1.0. But it’s got to last more than a season, if the fans will let it, to really gauge the outlook moving forward. At this point it’s not appointment watching, but will put it on in the background as I complete various weekend projects.