XFL WEEK 10 PREVIEW & PICKS

BY ADAM GREENE

This is it. The end of the XFL regular season and we have two playoff spots on the line. There’s been some solid and sometimes downright great football in the XFL 3.0, so let’s hope that means the minor league football operation helmed by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson makes a second appearance. Unlike The Rock’s last professional outing as Black Adam in the now all but shuttered DC Extended Universe.

The Washington DC Defenders and the Houston Roughnecks have not only clinched a postseason berth, but their respective divisions. That means the Roughnecks and Defenders will host next week’s first round playoff games. DC has secured home field if they make it to the championship.

For us, there’s football to watch and we have the odds, lines, totals and now futures bets with which to make it interesting. So let’s take a gander at the league and picks some games.

XFL POWER RANKINGS

1. WASHINGTON DC DEFENDERS (8-1)

Odds to win the XFL Championship: +110

It took overtime, but the DC Defenders remain atop the XFL standings and atop the power rankings. They are, unquestionably, the favorites heading into the postseason and have the target on their backs. Last week: No. 1

2. SEATTLE SEA DRAGONS (6-3)

Odds to win the XFL Championship: +375

On paper, Seattle’s match up with the St. Louis Battlehawks looked like the best of the week. Instead, it was a cake walk for the Sea Dragonsm who got a step closer to clinching a spot in the XFL postseason with a blowout win. Last week: No. 3

3. ST. LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS (6-3)

Odds to win the XFL Championship: +500

Everything was laid out before them last week with the Seattle Sea Dragons coming to the Gateway City. With a chance to clinch an XFL playoff spot, the Battlehawks soiled the bedsheets in a blowout loss. They can possibly seal the deal with a win over the Orlando Guardians this week, but, unfortunately for St. Louis, the Sea Dragons have the San Antonio Brahmas. Last week: No. 2

4. HOUSTON ROUGHNECKS (6-3)

Odds to win the XFL Championship: +210

In spite of absolutely atrocious QB play from Brandon Silvers, the Roughnecks were able to win their second game in a row after securing a berth in the XFL playoffs a week ago. Last week: No. 4

5. ARLINGTON RENEGADES (4-5)

Odds to win the XFL Championship: +1600

Picking up Las Vegas Vipers cast off quarterback Luis Perez has paid dividends for the Renegades, but it wasn’t enough to overtake the Washington DC Defenders last Sunday. Though, Perez is showing pretty definitively that he was not the problem in Vegas. Arlington will have to try to punch its ticket to the XFL postseason in the final week of the season. Last week: No. 5

6. SAN ANTONIO BRAHMAS (3-6)

Odds to win the XFL Championship: +5000

In a battle for the bottom of the XFL, the Brahmas got the good luck of outlasting the Orlando Guardians by all of two points to pick up their third victory of the season. Last week: No. 7

7. LAS VEGAS VIPERS (2-7)

Exemplifying that sometimes improvement can come too late, Vegas is a much more competitive team in the latter half of the season, but still finds a way to lose the close games that used to be blowout defeats. Last week: No. 6

8. ORLANDO GUARDIANS (1-8)

Try as they might, the Guardians just can’t keep from laying a stinker. Two quarterbacks took snaps last Saturday to no avail. Orlando remains the worst professional football team on the planet until if, and when, a USFL team takes their place. Last week: No. 8

SATURDAY

ORLANDO GUARDIANS AT ST. LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS (-9.5, O/U: 48)

I hope you are sitting down. Even though they’re starting to look like a real football team, the Guardians remain the worst franchise in the XFL, falling 25-23 to the San Antonio Brahmas, who are also pretty terrible. Quinten Dormady ended his day 9 of 17 for 47 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He rushed four times for 10 yards and was sacked three times. Deondre Francois took snaps at QB as well, going 3 for 5 for 20 yards and a TD. Devin Darrington had 16 carries for 133 yards and a score. KD Cannon caught one pass for 69 yards, which was nice. Terrance Plummer ended his night with 10 tackles. Tegray Scales recorded nine tackles with one for a loss. Baylen Buchanan and Gerald Willis put five tackles in the books apiece, with Willis adding a tackle for a loss.

With a chance to clinch an XFL playoff spot, the Battlehawks were overwhelmed by the Seattle Sea Dragons in front of their own home fans, falling in an embarrassing 30-12 loss that never even felt that close. AJ McCarron, in a battle of two of the league’s best three quarterbacks, did not make his case. McCarron was 18 of 32 for 186 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He was sacked four times. Gary Jennings rushed just four times for 35 yards and 17 of that came on a single carry. Marcell Ateman caught seven passes for 99 yards. Darrius Shepherd hauled in six receptions for 60 yards and a TD. Lukas Denis finished with 10 tackles and a pick. Mike Hampton and Lavert Hill both had six tackles, with Hill adding one for a loss. Carson Wells had four tackles, one sack and two tackles for a loss.

Orlando is significantly better than they were to open the year, but it won’t matter Saturday. St. Louis is too much better and is actually playing for something. Battlehawks 27, Guardians 20

WASHINGTON DC DEFENDERS AT SAN ANTONIO BRAHMAS (+3, O/U: 42)

The Defenders saw the Arlington Renegades mount a 17 point comeback in the fourth quarter, but managed to get the lone score in overtime, winning 28-26. Jordan Ta’amu looked a lot more like the mediocre DC Defenders quarterback that opened the season, going 14 of 20 for 188 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He rushed for 14 yards. Abram Smith had 10 carries for a paltry 27 yards. Josh Hammond caught five passes for 74 yards and a TD. Brandon Smith hauled in two balls for 57 yards.

They gave their best effort and usually that doesn’t bode well for the Brahmas. This time, facing the Orlando Guardians, it managed to work out as San Antonio claimed a 25-23 victory over the worst professional football team in our universe, if not the entire multiverse. Jack Coan might have had the best game of his XFL career, ending his day 25 of 31 for 302 yards and a touchdown. He rushed for six yards and was sacked once. Jacques Patrick had 20 carries for 80 yards and a TD. He added five catches for 50 yards and lost a fumble. Nick Holley caught four passes for 105 yards. Jon Hilliman had six receptions for 47 yards. Travis Toivonen caught two balls for 42 yards and a score. Jordan Williams picked up 11 tackles and one for a loss. Sean Williams had six tackles and one for a loss. Drew Beesley wrapped up the game with four tackles, 1.5 sacks, one tackle for loss and an interception. Deontae Scott had three tackles, one sack and one tackle for a loss.

Washington can pretty much rest starters, but after their performance last week, they shouldn’t. Also, this is the XFL, so the back ups are probably all taking a shift at Fudrucker’s and unavailable. Defenders 20, Brahmas 13

SUNDAY

HOUSTON ROUGHNECKS AT ARLINGTON RENEGADES (-1, O/U: 42)

Just in time to prepare for the postseason, the Roughnecks stacked up wins, knocking off the suddenly formidable Las Vegas Vipers, 28-21, last Saturday. They did it despite another terrible outing from quarterback Brandon Silvers, who finished 16 of 27 for 105 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. Max Borghi rushed 10 times for 74 yards and a TD. Brycen Alleyne had 12 carries for 42 yards and a score. Justin Smith led the receivers with a humiliating two catches for 26 yards, but it was hardly his fault. Emmanuel Ellerbe continues to make a case for an NFL job, recording 12 tackles, half a sack and a tackle for a loss. Tavante Beckett and Akene Harris each had six tackles, Beckett added half a sack. Harris had a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. John Daka had three tackles, 1.5 sacks and one tackle for a loss. Deandre Johnson had three tackles, a sack and a forced fumble.

They gave the Washington DC Defenders all they could want, taking the game into overtime, but the Arlington Renegades couldn’t officially clinch a spot in the postseason, falling 28-26 in the extra period to the XFL’s top team. Luis Perez had a big day behind center, going 31 of 41 for 335 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He rushed for 15 yards and was sacked twice. De’Veon Smith rushed 12 times for 43 yards and two touchdowns. Sal Cannella caught seven passes for 92 yards. Leddie Brown and Tyler Vaughns hauled in six catches each. Caleb Vander Esch caught two passes for 28 yards and a TD. Darnell Sankey recorded nine tackles. Colin Schooler had six tackles, two for a loss and an interception. Joe Powell recorded three tackles and a pick. TJ Banes had two tackles, one for a loss and a forced fumble.

Arlington is getting better at the right time thanks to their new quarterback. Houston has clinched the XFL South, in spite of its horrible quarterback. The Renegades have to have it, Sunday. I think they get it to set up a rematch next week. Renegades 24, Roughnecks 20

LAS VEGAS VIPERS AT SEATTLE SEA DRAGONS (-9, O/U: 47)

They were better. They made it interesting, and they kept it close, but it was the same old story for the Las Vegas Vipers last week as they fell 28-21 to the playoff bound Houston Roughnecks. Jalan McClendon was solid for the Vipers, finishing 27 of 37 for 249 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He rushed five times for 41 yards, lost a fumble and was sacked four times. John Lovett had nine carries for 46 yards and a touchdown adding four receptions for 63 yards. Former Green Bay Packer Geronimo Allison caught six passes for 60 yards. Jeff Badet had four grabs for 43 yards. Deontay Anderson and Maurice Smith both finished with eight tackles. Smith added two for a loss and forced a fumble. Keylon Kennedy had just one tackle, but picked off two passes.

Seattle looked as if it was in for a real test last week as they traveled to St. Louis to take on the Battlehawks, but the team from the Pac West dominated from kickoff, winning a laugher, 30-12. Ben DiNucci had a solid day at QB, going 21 of 31 for 260 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He rushed seven times for 38 yards, a TD and was sacked twice. TJ Hammonds had seven carries for 59 yards and a score. Jahcour Pearson caught seven passes for 115 yards and a touchdown. Josh Gordon had two grabs for 46 yards. Bryce Thompson ended his afternoon with seven tackles, two tackles for a loss and a pick. Mykael Wright and Antoine Brooks finished with five tackles apiece. Qwynnterrio Cole, who I almost made it through a preview article without typing out his name, had only two tackles, but picked off a pass. Tariqious Tisdale (are you kidding me? After a Qwynnterrio I have to learn how to spell a Tariqious?) recorded two tackles, two sacks and two tackles for a loss. Tuzar Skipper had two tackles, a sack and a tackle for a loss.

Seattle hasn’t officially clinched a playoff spot and that’s bad news for Vegas. The Vipers are a better team than the last time these two squads met, but it won’t make a difference Sunday. Sea Dragons 33, Vipers 23

Last week

Straight up: 1-3

Against the spread: 0-4

Season

Straight up: 18-18

Against the spread: 15-21

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.

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