SEASON 12 - WEEK 5
1. What was your biggest takeaway from your team this weekend?
The biggest takeaway is easy, the spectacular return of John Young and his partnership with Urban Hemsworth. These two linked up very well last season so I'm delighted to see them linking up so well on John's return. There has been a lot of talk about Max Ramos this season but that's only because John hasn't been playing. Going head to head there was only one winner this week. 2 receptions for 155 yards and 2 TDs is something else and I'm looking forward to seeing how this offence comes together now that we have all of our players back. There are still a few things we need to iron out but we have a real homerun threat which means teams can't go all out to stop our run and that frees us up to play the game we want to. You could see that this week already with the way Mixon and Johnson were able to run through St Paul. It wasn't a perfect performance. We didn't control the time of possession, we weren't getting enough first downs and our 3rd down conversion rate has to get better but I'm happy with how ruthless we were this week.
The other major takeaway is the season ending injury to Larry Stevens. It's a huge blow to the team. Not only is he the heart of the defence but he's one of the key figures in the organisation. Sure we'll miss his tackles but I expect the others who come in to step up and fill that hole. It's his leadership and his drive that we'll miss most. I'm sure he'll be right back on the sidelines as soon as he can be to help guide this team. Before you ask, no I'm not going to be as irresponsible as GM Franchise and risk a player's career and even his long term health by trying to rush Stevens back early. We will be listening to the doctors and making sure he is healed up properly before bringing him back in.
2. What do you make of the news of the league's expansion?
I think it's great news for not only the league but for the sport as a whole. The GMs have been discussing the possibility of international expansion this season so I'm sure you'll hear most of us have only positive things to say about it. Taking this league overseas allows us to tap into those markets that have previously been ignored and that can only be good for the fans, the owners and the players. I used to play professional "soccer" in London so I'm particularly pleased to see a franchise expanding to that city. The return of the Pearl Harbor Predators, the team I started my GM career with, is also particularly pleasing. Those fans were great to me and the team and they deserve to have top level football there. I loved living out there as well so it's a very good place to be a GM and I look forward to seeing how that team progresses. I know a few of you in the press are going to try and stir up some trouble, particularly when I don't have a long term contract tying me to the Cobras. However I want to make it absolutely clear that despite the fact that I am only managing here on a year by year basis, I'm committed to this project here in DC so I won't be the one leading either of those franchises but I wish the best of luck to whoever is fortunate enough to win those jobs.
3. Talk about this weeks opponent, and what you expect from your team?
This week's game feels like a more familiar place for me to be in. Fighting with GM Powers to see who tops the division is what I was used to in Cleveland and it's where the DC Cobras should be. Regardless of the opponent, winning the game right before the bye week is always important as you want to be going into your break with that sense of confidence which allows everyone to take a breath and get focused for the next period of games. There's also a huge psychological difference between being 5-1 or 4-2. What makes it even more important is that we're up against a team trying to achieve that exact same thing. The losing team this week will be looking to try and catch up and I want to make sure that's Michigan doing that rather than us. To do that we need to make sure we block up the running lanes and limit the damage Allen can do, then we need to find a way to contain Giovanni Hill. I've had success in the past in doing that by sitting back in coverage but that's not in the DNA of this team so it's going to be vital that whenever we do get to Hill that we make it count. He's one of those slippery QBs who is a nightmare to try and rush but if we can force him into rushing things we know we have the playmakers in the secondary to capitalise on any mistakes. This is our sternest test so far but I'm confident we can step up and it should be an intriguing, if not particularly exciting, game this week. I'm looking forward to it.