- 26,892
- Houston, Texas, USA
- JMarine25
When you think of Japan in football, you probably think of their awesome soccer team. You probably think of some collegiate rubgy rivalries. What you WOULDN'T think about is American football there. The NFL Network shown off coverage of the World Cup of American Football. In fact, Japan won about two World Cups of American football. I think we have even a Japanese footballer playing for the University of Cincinatti (unless Nakamura was drafted). There is even an All-Star non-season game in the Ivy League called the Ivy-Samurai Bowl, which fields American stars against Japanese stars.
--- Team Japan Observations from the USA vs. Japan NFL Network Coverage ---
Japan got the ball and from the first play from scrimmage, they threw a pick to America with some great coverage downfield. Watching the game, I noticed how this Japanese all-star team played in this World Cup of American Football. I seen the Japanese plow ahead for some nice runs. I even seen an option play being executed by the Japanese team. The team has shown some great coverage against the American team. They even pulled off a pooch punt and played the ball perfectly as there wasn't a return. This Japanese team has all or most of the fundamentals of playing gridiron football. This team has all the fundamentals granted there weren't a bunch of big uglies crowding the line. This is more like Japanese college football as they went up against some of America's collegiate stars. They rotated quarterbacks using about all three quarterbacks. To say the least, Japan kind of plays like some of the exciting non-BCS conference schools. They play like they are Boise State, New Mexico, or any of those non-BCS schools. They seem to play the game very well. I'm very impressed with how Japan plays on offense and defense. * Later in the Second Quarter, heavy rains pounded the stadium in Kawasaki, Japan. This led to the USA getting tackled from behind as Japan scooped up a fumble. Then as the drive stalled, they tried to hit a 50-yard field goal with rain falling hard from the sky. The Americans called a timeout. After the timeout, believe it or not... the Japanese FG kicker HIT THE FIELD GOAL FROM 50 YARDS OUT IN THE RAIN!!! The Achilles' Heel of the Japanese footballers is that they don't have much of the same physical conditioning as the Americans. Most of the injuries came from the Japanese team while Americans were not getting injured too often. A Japanese defender saw an American player hold the ball with one hand as he tried to race up the field. What happened was that a Japanese defender saw the ball in one hand and forced a fumble. Japan recovered the fumble for their second of the game. They'd fumble almost around 2:10 left in the first half and give the ball to the USA. *** Japan lead 10-7 after one half as America couldn't connect a 35-40 yard field goal to end the half. *** The rain let up and even stopped after the first half. Japan was able to defend the deep balls Team USA threw. One looked like a simple touchdown if uncontested. But the Ninhonjins (Japanese) made sure that didn't happen a couple of times. The Japanese quarterbacks could connect most of their passes. One pass around 2:30 left in the Third shown that Japan could throw and complete the deep ball. The Japanese punt crew didn't punt the ball all that well. They mostly did some rugby-like punts as well as pooch punts. Inside the 40 second mark left in the Third Quarter, the American team threw one up for grabs... right into the hands of a Japanese free safety. He lept up and caught the ball at its highest point. Either it was a dumb decision by the QB, or a great pass rush by the Japanese team. * In the Fourth Quarter, Japan had a misdirection play call that worked for about five yards. Then a bit later, Japan threw towards the end zone... but the receiver looked away from the ball. The USA could have a pick there. Japan had one of their field goals blocked. The Japanese team were able to keep the ball as an American player touched the ball... then fumbled again... gives the ball back to Japan. They went to work afterwards making three First Downs all the way to a 1st and Goal at the 6-yard line. They made only three plays. Their next play was something special. Japan broke the deadlock with an easy money touchdown with 7:07 left in the game. Add the PAT, then PAT on the back- 17-10 as Japan leads. Team Japan played composed. They huddled, broke huddles, and executed their plays. Real methodical offense. They don't really have the gritty and passionate style to them like us American folk, but they're pretty awesome for what they can do. America's running game phased Japan late. They got a touchdown with 2:51 left in the game. The PAT tied things with 2:51 left in the game. Now it's a 17-17 deadlock. Third(?) tie of the game. You have to see this game on TV to know how well Japan played. *** WE'RE GOING TO OVERTIME!!! Tied at 17! *** Japan defended as the USA got sacked by the Japanese team! First play from scrimmage. The US hit a 43-yard field goal. Japan almost got sacked, but threw a beautiful pass for the First Down that could have been picked off (meaning game over in college rules). Japan got a field goal, so bring on Double Overtime. Japan missed the field goal in their possession, so it may take a field goal to win the game for the Americans. Japan's run defense was completely bad. They kept the game close nonetheless. And America's field goal to win the game was... good. Japan went down in this one.
Regardless, Japan was amazing. They just lost a close game. Remember that I don't take a pro-American approach to a lot of things. Japan played very well, but America won on a 22-yard kick. They left Kawasaki showing America that they can play the game of gridiron football and play it extremely well. Call me crazy, but I actually wanted to see Japan win and really wow people. I thought of this much like when Boise State took on Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. The thing I took away is how the game has become more international. I still imagine what it would have been like if we had our All-Americans from college taking on Japan. Japan still played about as well as us Americans. Only thing I'd recommend for Japanese players in taking on America is to have some better fitness and better physical conditioning. They've played very well though they didn't win the title. I'm actually sold on these Japanese football players and what they can do on the field.
--- World Cup of American Football Facts ---
* Four 12-minute quarters
* running clock except on incomplete passes, running out of bounds, etc.
* no officials from either represented country
* Japan has won past two World Cup of American Football tournaments; third-ever WCAF tournament
* no two-minute warning
* three timeouts to each team for both halves
* college-style Overtime (start at 25-yd. line, no game clock, etc.)
* team that loses coin toss in Overtime has the choice to defend
--- Off-Topic ---
* In case you're wondering about America in this championship, they went up and beaten Korea and Germany to play in this world championship where only six teams could play for the World Cup. America had to literally prepare a team from scratch and had only two weeks to prepare. By the way... this is America's first appearance in the World Cup of American Football. So don't think that we're a lock to win just because we invented gridiron football. * The referree made a clipping call and instead of saying "15-yard penalty, second down," he said, "15-yard penalty, the down will be 2." Later on, there was a substituion infraction by the USA, and the ref said this: "a substitution infraction by the USA. 5-yard penalty, but the down is still 4." * I find all or most Japanese girls to be cute. That even includes Japanese cheerleaders. At least it's safe for me to know that Japanese race queens aren't the only collective bunch of Japanese beauties. * A joke made by the NFL Network crew stated that it was pretty uncommon when the biggest guy on the field is the referree. He was a big boy! * Over 21 teams try to qualify, 16 remain, and six get to play for the gold. * Over 220 university teams compete in Japan. About 60 or so high school teams compete in gridiron football.
I have to say that I'm really surprised that Japan can play the game of gridiron football even if their bread and butter is J-League soccer. If some of the big 1-A/FBS footballers were playing in this World Cup of American Football, we'd probably crush the competition and win. I initially provided this thread to talk about Japan in terms of their knowledge of gridiron football. Care to contribute? In the future, I'll make a similar thread for football for countries that aren't America or even Canada. Just by the information I provided, what do you make of Japan playing gridiron football?
--- Team Japan Observations from the USA vs. Japan NFL Network Coverage ---
Japan got the ball and from the first play from scrimmage, they threw a pick to America with some great coverage downfield. Watching the game, I noticed how this Japanese all-star team played in this World Cup of American Football. I seen the Japanese plow ahead for some nice runs. I even seen an option play being executed by the Japanese team. The team has shown some great coverage against the American team. They even pulled off a pooch punt and played the ball perfectly as there wasn't a return. This Japanese team has all or most of the fundamentals of playing gridiron football. This team has all the fundamentals granted there weren't a bunch of big uglies crowding the line. This is more like Japanese college football as they went up against some of America's collegiate stars. They rotated quarterbacks using about all three quarterbacks. To say the least, Japan kind of plays like some of the exciting non-BCS conference schools. They play like they are Boise State, New Mexico, or any of those non-BCS schools. They seem to play the game very well. I'm very impressed with how Japan plays on offense and defense. * Later in the Second Quarter, heavy rains pounded the stadium in Kawasaki, Japan. This led to the USA getting tackled from behind as Japan scooped up a fumble. Then as the drive stalled, they tried to hit a 50-yard field goal with rain falling hard from the sky. The Americans called a timeout. After the timeout, believe it or not... the Japanese FG kicker HIT THE FIELD GOAL FROM 50 YARDS OUT IN THE RAIN!!! The Achilles' Heel of the Japanese footballers is that they don't have much of the same physical conditioning as the Americans. Most of the injuries came from the Japanese team while Americans were not getting injured too often. A Japanese defender saw an American player hold the ball with one hand as he tried to race up the field. What happened was that a Japanese defender saw the ball in one hand and forced a fumble. Japan recovered the fumble for their second of the game. They'd fumble almost around 2:10 left in the first half and give the ball to the USA. *** Japan lead 10-7 after one half as America couldn't connect a 35-40 yard field goal to end the half. *** The rain let up and even stopped after the first half. Japan was able to defend the deep balls Team USA threw. One looked like a simple touchdown if uncontested. But the Ninhonjins (Japanese) made sure that didn't happen a couple of times. The Japanese quarterbacks could connect most of their passes. One pass around 2:30 left in the Third shown that Japan could throw and complete the deep ball. The Japanese punt crew didn't punt the ball all that well. They mostly did some rugby-like punts as well as pooch punts. Inside the 40 second mark left in the Third Quarter, the American team threw one up for grabs... right into the hands of a Japanese free safety. He lept up and caught the ball at its highest point. Either it was a dumb decision by the QB, or a great pass rush by the Japanese team. * In the Fourth Quarter, Japan had a misdirection play call that worked for about five yards. Then a bit later, Japan threw towards the end zone... but the receiver looked away from the ball. The USA could have a pick there. Japan had one of their field goals blocked. The Japanese team were able to keep the ball as an American player touched the ball... then fumbled again... gives the ball back to Japan. They went to work afterwards making three First Downs all the way to a 1st and Goal at the 6-yard line. They made only three plays. Their next play was something special. Japan broke the deadlock with an easy money touchdown with 7:07 left in the game. Add the PAT, then PAT on the back- 17-10 as Japan leads. Team Japan played composed. They huddled, broke huddles, and executed their plays. Real methodical offense. They don't really have the gritty and passionate style to them like us American folk, but they're pretty awesome for what they can do. America's running game phased Japan late. They got a touchdown with 2:51 left in the game. The PAT tied things with 2:51 left in the game. Now it's a 17-17 deadlock. Third(?) tie of the game. You have to see this game on TV to know how well Japan played. *** WE'RE GOING TO OVERTIME!!! Tied at 17! *** Japan defended as the USA got sacked by the Japanese team! First play from scrimmage. The US hit a 43-yard field goal. Japan almost got sacked, but threw a beautiful pass for the First Down that could have been picked off (meaning game over in college rules). Japan got a field goal, so bring on Double Overtime. Japan missed the field goal in their possession, so it may take a field goal to win the game for the Americans. Japan's run defense was completely bad. They kept the game close nonetheless. And America's field goal to win the game was... good. Japan went down in this one.
Regardless, Japan was amazing. They just lost a close game. Remember that I don't take a pro-American approach to a lot of things. Japan played very well, but America won on a 22-yard kick. They left Kawasaki showing America that they can play the game of gridiron football and play it extremely well. Call me crazy, but I actually wanted to see Japan win and really wow people. I thought of this much like when Boise State took on Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. The thing I took away is how the game has become more international. I still imagine what it would have been like if we had our All-Americans from college taking on Japan. Japan still played about as well as us Americans. Only thing I'd recommend for Japanese players in taking on America is to have some better fitness and better physical conditioning. They've played very well though they didn't win the title. I'm actually sold on these Japanese football players and what they can do on the field.
--- World Cup of American Football Facts ---
* Four 12-minute quarters
* running clock except on incomplete passes, running out of bounds, etc.
* no officials from either represented country
* Japan has won past two World Cup of American Football tournaments; third-ever WCAF tournament
* no two-minute warning
* three timeouts to each team for both halves
* college-style Overtime (start at 25-yd. line, no game clock, etc.)
* team that loses coin toss in Overtime has the choice to defend
--- Off-Topic ---
* In case you're wondering about America in this championship, they went up and beaten Korea and Germany to play in this world championship where only six teams could play for the World Cup. America had to literally prepare a team from scratch and had only two weeks to prepare. By the way... this is America's first appearance in the World Cup of American Football. So don't think that we're a lock to win just because we invented gridiron football. * The referree made a clipping call and instead of saying "15-yard penalty, second down," he said, "15-yard penalty, the down will be 2." Later on, there was a substituion infraction by the USA, and the ref said this: "a substitution infraction by the USA. 5-yard penalty, but the down is still 4." * I find all or most Japanese girls to be cute. That even includes Japanese cheerleaders. At least it's safe for me to know that Japanese race queens aren't the only collective bunch of Japanese beauties. * A joke made by the NFL Network crew stated that it was pretty uncommon when the biggest guy on the field is the referree. He was a big boy! * Over 21 teams try to qualify, 16 remain, and six get to play for the gold. * Over 220 university teams compete in Japan. About 60 or so high school teams compete in gridiron football.
I have to say that I'm really surprised that Japan can play the game of gridiron football even if their bread and butter is J-League soccer. If some of the big 1-A/FBS footballers were playing in this World Cup of American Football, we'd probably crush the competition and win. I initially provided this thread to talk about Japan in terms of their knowledge of gridiron football. Care to contribute? In the future, I'll make a similar thread for football for countries that aren't America or even Canada. Just by the information I provided, what do you make of Japan playing gridiron football?
