The Rock, new rules add intrigue

Less than a week after the Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 57, the XFL kicked off its third iteration on Saturday at Choctaw Stadium (former home of MLB’s Texas Rangers) in Arlington, Texas. .

The first of 10 four-game regular season slates opened with the Arlington Renegades rallying for a 22-20 win over the Vegas Vipers on Saturday and ended with the DC Defenders winning 22-18. against the Seattle Sea Dragons on Sunday night.

The league co-owned by artist/actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has a number of rules differences from those of the NFL, and those changes added intrigue to the opening weekend of the XFL.

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Here are the winners and losers from Week 1 of the 2023 XFL season.

WINNERS

soccer fans

Not only do football fans get the thrill of spring football, but the XFL gives them a whole new TV experience.

Live streams of both teams’ offensive and defensive coordinators calling plays — then announcers breaking down the terminology — add a unique dimension for those watching dueling strategies during a game.

It was also interesting to act as a fly on the wall inside the XFL Command Center where Dean Blandino, the league’s vice president of umpiring, forwarded a review decision to the on-field referee.

Football fans who are looking for greater immersion in all the decisions made by the different parties during a match should be satisfied with the XFL television product.

The defense of Bob Stoops

The Arlington Renegades didn’t score a single offensive touchdown, but did manage two pick sixes for a 22-20 win over the Vegas Vipers in the XFL opener of the 2023 season.

The defensive effort also included a critical sack from Vipers QB Luis Perez as Vegas attempted a two-point conversion attempt in the final seconds.

Renegades head coach Bob Stoops, who coached at the University of Oklahoma from 1999 to 2016, said after the game he was pleased with his team’s performance after a 14- 3 at halftime.

Luis Perez

When Perez threw a touchdown pass in Game 1 for the Vegas Vipers in the XFL Version 3.0 inaugural game on Saturday, he earned a special place in the history of the startup pro football league. That’s because he also threw the first touchdown pass for the USFL Version 2.0 last year while a member of the New Jersey Generals. Perez — who led Texas A&M-Commerce to the 2017 NCAA Division II National Championship — also played for the AAF’s Birmingham Iron in 2019.

Wade Phillips

Wade Phillips, the 75-year-old defensive genius who went 82-64 as NFL head coach, returned to the win column as his Houston Roughnecks beat the Orlando Guardians, 33-12. Houston forced four turnovers in the win.

Trent Harris and Tim Ward

Harris accounted for four of the Houston Roughnecks’ seven sacks and Ward had two in the win over the Orlando Guardians. Orlando lost 28 yards to sacks from Harris and 10 to Ward.

Remove the kick in play forever

The NFL should look no further than Sunday to find out why it needs to adopt the XFL’s fourth and 15, it must be had to replace the kick in play. The St. Louis BattleHawks offense has been anemic during the first three quarters of their win over the San Antonio Brahmas, but after quarterback AJ McCarron found Hakeem Butler in the end zone and then converted a three-point attempt to cut San Antonio’s lead Antonio. at three, the BattleHawks became the first team in the 2023 season to convert onside kick substitution.

McCarron extended the game under pressure and found receiver Austin Proehl to convert the first down and keep the St. Louis offense on the ground. The play – and subsequent touchdown – allowed the BattleHawks to score 15 points in the two-minute warning to win the game. The NFL loves parity and when games are on the line. Adopting this rule would only make exciting comebacks like this more likely.

The Rock and Dany Garcia

Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia had a weekend filled with football. The XFL co-owners managed to attend all four of the weekend’s opening games. It’s quite an achievement. “The Rock” even gave an impassioned speech before the first game between the Vegas Vipers and the Arlington Renegades.

Thankfully, “The Rock” hasn’t revisited his “can you smell what the XFL is cooking” speech from the XFL’s first incarnation in 2001.

LOSERS

DC Defenders Fans Throw Lemons On The Pitch

Seemingly unhappy with the confiscation of their prized beer snake, DC Defenders fans located in the section behind one of the end zones (the section reserved for standing supporters designed for MLS team, DC United) threw lemons in the field. The game was temporarily halted due to the lemon throw. The Beer Snake has been described by ESPN announcers as a “tradition” for DC Defenders fans (please note that, combined with the 2020 version of the XFL DC Defenders, this was only the fourth home game to AudiField).

A “free the snake” chant broke out.

Moments later, Seattle Sea Dragons quarterback Ben DiNucci (remember him?) threw a pick six to Michael Joseph as DC cut Seattle’s lead to 18-14 en route to the victoire. Despite this positive moment on the pitch for the Defenders and their fans, throwing objects on the pitch should not be tolerated.

San Antonio Brahmas D folds when it matters most

For all but two minutes of Sunday’s game, the Brahmas dominated. Their defensive line harassed St. Louis BattleHawks quarterback AJ McCarron and prevented St. Louis from supporting practices. But then, with the game on the line, San Antonio’s defense suddenly played far too conservatively. In the fourth quarter, the Brahmas allowed McCarron to complete 11 of 14 attempts for 133 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning score. The majority of that production came in the final two minutes of the match.

The last minute

During Saturday’s home opener between the Vegas Vipers and Arlington Renegades, some fans watching on TV were caught off guard when the game clock dropped to less than a minute left. Instead of the clock going down to two digits (i.e.: 59) instead of four, the clock has remained at four digits (i.e. 59:59) for the past 60 seconds.

This caused some viewers to momentarily think that there were 59 minutes left in the quarters when in fact there were only 59 seconds left.

A Twitter user suggested the show should show the numbers in red after dipping under a minute to help viewers make the necessary distinction, but the show ran with double numbers for the last three quarters of Saturday’s game and for the rest of the weekend.

USFL

If you watched the Super Bowl last week, you might have noticed an ad for the USFL claiming there was no football for eight weeks. Obviously, that’s not true. By the time the USFL finally kicks off on April 15, the XFL’s 10-week regular season will be almost over. So what will be the appetite of American sports fans for second-tier professional football? Also note that the XFL plays home games in the cities that the teams represent. The USFL – which played all of its games in Birmingham, Alabama, last season – will see its eight teams play in four “host cities” this year; only three teams play in the cities they theoretically represent. If you’re a fan of, say, the New Jersey Generals, your team’s “home” games will be played in Canton, Ohio.