NFL: Franchise tagged players

With the NFL franchise tag window opening Monday, we take a look at what the franchise tag actually is and players that could be playing under one come next season

The term ‘franchise tag’ may be unfamiliar to amateur fans of the NFL, but it is certainly a major part of the off-season that can have a great influence in free agency.

The franchise tag is essentially a ‘hands off’ sticker, when an unrestricted free agent (any team will be able to sign them in free agency) is given the tag no other team is allowed to talk to the player or make a bid on them in the free agency process.

It allows teams to lock up that one player that they cannot and do not want to risk leaving. For example, if a team’s franchise quarterback’s contract is up but they haven’t worked out a deal yet, he can be given the tag so that other QB needy teams can’t come in and sweep him away with a massive contract offer. Think Joe Flacco and the Baltimore Ravens this off-season.

Franchise tags can be pretty unpopular among players wanting to hit the market and land a massive contract, which results from the supply and demand bidding frenzy system of free agency. This usually results in aging free agents getting massively overpaid, particularly when going to the smaller name, worse-off teams that have to offer higher salaries to get the players to sign, i.e. Mario Williams and the Buffalo Bills last off-season.

Updated Playoff Rankings

Following the release of the new tie-breakers and last weekend’s fixtures, we can finally reveal the playoff seedings for the championship and plate playoffs.

First thing to remember is that the tie-breakers state WLT record percentage, not record. Therefore, a 7-0 team can be ranked higher than an 8-0 team due to the fact they’ve both got a 1.000% record. The next tie-breaker is the average points conceded against the top four teams before the average points conceded per game regular season game.

Therefore, using these tie-breakers, we can reveal the rankings are as follow. Remember, the top four teams earn byes.

Also remember that it goes – seven conference champions plus the top five second place records go to the champ playoffs. The next two second placed teams plus the third placed teams and the three best records from the fourth seeds go to the challenge trophy playoffs.

Clansmen overpower Pyros in double-header

The Stirling Clansmen overcame the UWS Pyros on Sunday in two back-to-back matches.  The double-header victories, scheduled because of bad weather fixture congestion, have moved the Clansmen to 6-0 for the season.

In game one, the Clan’ hit the ground running with the Defence holding strong before the offence scored on its first drive. Fullback Zake Muluzi powered the ball in on Stirling's 6^th play of the match.  The Clansmen then recovered the onside kick, which was to be a tactical decision repeated for much of the game, as Stirling - with one eye now firmly set on the play-offs - looked to improve their overall seeding.  

On the very next play, quarterback Stephenson threw a slant to standout RB Grant Isdale who ran in for a 48-yard score.  The defence again managed to force the Pyros to punt, and once again Isdale was the scorer for the offence.  The defence managed to hold again and block a UWS field goal attempt however the offence ran out of time whilst in the UWS red-zone as the referee blew for half time. 

Stirling received the ball at the start of the second half but were turned over when back-up quarterback Kenny Mackay was intercepted.  Once again though, the Clan defence stopped the UWS run game and forced them to punt.  Rookie running-back Craig Findley ran the ball in on the next offensive drive for the score.  Running-back Isdale scored twice more and linebacker Kevin Ferber scored with an interception to round off the scoring and the match, which finished 48-0 to Stirling.

DCW Poll: Top 25

A name change to better describe the Double Coverage Writers poll, we polled all our regional writers to name their top 25's to give us a more balanced view of the league standings

1. Birmingham -
2. Hertfordshire -
3. Loughborough -
4. Derby -
5. Stirling +1
6. Hull -1
7. Bath -
8. Sheffield +1
9. UWE +1
10. Kingston +2
11. Portsmouth +6
12. Southampton -4
13. Cambridge +9
14. Kent -3
15. NTU -
16. Warwick +2
17. Carnegie +2
18. Glasgow -2
19. BNU +1
20. UEA -7
21. Manchester +2
22. Brighton -8
23. Plymouth -2
24. Gloucester NEW
25. Leeds NEW

The biggest news is #TeamPHD flying up the rankings by nine spots. Having defeated the UEA Pirates, a team many had them pegged to lose to the Cambridge Pythons have deservedly moved up the rankings and look set to claim a playoff spot in only their second year!

In contrast to their SEC rivals, the UEA Pirates have taken the biggest tumble with the biggest fall of the week. A loss to a team ranked below them and a potential fall from Playoff contention will have played a part here.

The other biggest gainer is Portsmouth flying up the rankings in the wake of games actually being played. Defeating the Stags must have played a big part in this and we can expect them to continue their steady progress if they can go 4-4 in their "hell week".

The top 9 spots remained largely unchanged with only the Stags loss moving several teams up a couple of spots. Gloucester and Leeds make appearances at the bottom as their records begin to improve.

Edinburgh Napier Knights vs Glasgow Tigers: Match Report

The Knights put in a valiant effort at the playoff bound Glasgow Tigers but came away with another loss.

Napier took the opening drive and seemed to score an opening Touchdown through Running Back Danny Flannery but with no official signal being given the Knights came away empty handed when a 4th down conversion was kept out on the 1 yard line.

A scoreless 1st quarter gave way to a brace of scores in the 2nd when Glasgow began to flex its powerful running game, including one for Quarterback Euan Beasley, finishing the half 14-0 to Glasgow.

The tigers continued where they had left off at the start of the 2nd half with a long breakout run for Newland Pratt.

The Knights offense did show more life than it has done all season and some impressive drives were capped off with a long scoring strike to the returning team Captain Dominik Wiest in the 3rd Quarter.