XFL WEEK 8 PREVIEW & PICKS

BY ADAM GREENE

Well, I have bad news. In spite of some solid spring football being played by the XFL, our third iteration of the league took a real hit on the cable side of viewership. Friday night’s Arlington Renegades vs Seattle Sea Dragons brought in a paltry 177,000 viewers on the FX Network. It ranked 101 out of 150 Cable TV broadcasts and that’s just not good. Of course, they were going against the NCAA Women’s Final Four with some of the most marketable female athletes on the planet, so you can forgive that.

Saturday’s ESPN game was more respectable, pulling 365,000 viewers to rank 19^th out of the 150 cable shows of the week. That brings hope that the NFL minor league can continue and develop talent for its big brother. Regardless, while it’s here, we have the odds, lines and totals with which to make watching it that much more enjoyable. And lucrative.

XFL POWER RANKINGS

1. SEATTLE SEA DRAGONS (5-2)

Seattle surges to the top of the rankings after winning their fifth game in a row. Plenty of XFL franchises opened 0-2, but only one team in the league has a better record than the surging Sea Dragons. Last week: No. 2

2. ST. LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS (5-2)

St. Louis has worked its way to the top of the rankings the hard way, by beating the best teams and fielding the best fanbase in the league. For their sake, and St. Louis’s, let’s hope they can keep it going. A real NFL franchise might be at stake. Last week: No. 3

3. WASHINGTON DC DEFENDERS (6-1)

After six weeks of looking like pretenders and one of actually appearing as a contender, the Washington DC Defenders took their first loss of the season and they managed to do it against the league’s (and the world’s) worst football team, the Orlando Guardians. Last week: No. 1

4. HOUSTON ROUGHNECKS (4-3)

The Roughnecks opened the XFL season as the league’s best team, but have stumbled mightily in the second half of the season. Houston has lost three straight and needs to bounce back to that February mindset quick before the playoff seeding commences. Last week: No. 4

5. LAS VEGAS VIPERS (2-5)

Is there any chance, with a new quarterback, the Las Vegas Vipers are the potential championship team I thought they’d be in the preseason? Probably not, but they’re out of the basement in the power rankings and that’s something. Last week: No. 6

6. ORLANDO GUARDIANS (1-6)

Hey, look at that. The Guardians actually won a game and it was a shootout where their offense actually looked like they knew the game of football. I’m as shocked as anyone else. Last week: No. 8

7. SAN ANTONIO BRAHMAS (2-5)

With the chance to stack up two wins in a row, the Brahmas were completely shut out in the second half of their loss to the Las Vegas Vipers, showing that they should probably be at No. 8. But I can’t justify it since they beat the Arlington Renegades a week ago. Arlington should take that loss extremely personally at this point. Last week: No. 5

8. ARLINGTON RENEGADES (3-4)

Somebody has to be on the bottom and the Renegades drew the short straw after losing their second straight. They luck up, maybe, this week with a chance to right the ship against the Orlando Guardians, the franchise in competition for the worst in all of professional football just a week ago. Last week: No. 6

SATURDAY

LAS VEGAS VIPERS AT ST. LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS (-7, O/U: 46)

Las Vegas followed its first victory of the season with its second, beating the San Antonio Brahmas 26-12 last Saturday. Their new quarterback Jalan McClendon paid off in his first start, finishing 21 of 31 for 264 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He was sacked three times, fumbled once and rushed eight times for 25 yards. Rod Smith led the team with seven carries for 39 yards. John Lovett had nine rushes for 17 yards and a TD. Mathew Sexton caught four passes for 72 yards. Former Green Bay Packer Geronimo Allison caught three passes for 49 yards, Sean Price had three grabs for 46 yards and a score. Rod Smith caught three for 36 and a TD. CJ Avery ended the game with 10 tackles. Maurice Smith had seven tackles, one sack and one tackle for a loss. Marwin Evans ended his afternoon with six takedowns. Pita Taumoepenu had four tackles, 1.5 sacks, one tackle for a loss and a forced fumble.

After stumbling two weeks ago, the St. Louis Battlehawks once again proved they are one of the XFL’s best teams by knocking off the Houston Roughnecks 24-15 last Sunday. AJ McCarron continued his XFL MVP Campaign (if there is such a thing) in the win, completing 26 of 34 passing for 222 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He was sacked three times and rushed for five yards. Brian Hill had 11 carries for 53 yards. Darrius Shepherd caught seven passes for 70 yards and a TD. Hakeem Butler had four grabs for 27 yards and a TD. Gary Jennings caught two for 26 and a score. Nate Meadors ended the game with 11 tackles and two for a loss. Freedom Akinmoladun and Travis Feeney had four tackles apiece. Both recorded a sack. Akinmoldadun had one tackle for a loss. Freeney finished with two tackles for a loss.

I’ve liked Vegas from the start, but St. Louis might just be the XFL team of destiny here. Battlehawks 24, Vipers 20

ARLINGTON RENEGADES AT ORLANDO GUARDIANS (-1.5, O/U: 42.5)

Arlington dropped its second game in a row, this time losing a 24-15 decision to the Seattle Sea Dragons last Friday. Drew Plitt, who I am assured is a real person and not a pseudonym for a quarterback in witness protection, was 19 of 29 for 213 yards, no touchdowns and one interception in the loss. De’Veon Smith rushed 12 times for 61 yards and two touchdowns. Sal Cannella caught four passes for 64 yards. Victor Bolden hauled in three catches for 40 yards. Colin Schooler and Donald Payne both finished with 10 tackles each. Joe Powell had eight takedowns and Will Hill finished with seven tackles and a pick.

Stop the presses. After discovering how to play offense just a week ago, the Orlando Guardians put a complete game together and picked up their first win of the XFL season, 37-36 over the league’s previously only undefeated team, the Washington DC Defenders. Quinten Dormady was stellar for the Guardians, going 27 of 34 for 328 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in the win. He was sacked three times and rushed eight times for 22 yards and three touchdowns. If XFL fantasy football was a thing, and it shouldn’t be, that would have won the week for anybody. Jah-Main Martin had 11 carries for 52 yards. Cody Latimer caught seven passes for 93 yards and a TD. Charleston Rambo had three grabs for 63 yards. Daniel Williams had four for 47 yards and KD Cannon caught a 41 yard touchdown pass. Jordan Thomas had two grabs for 26 yards and a score. Matt Elam finished with eight tackles. Najeem Hosein and Terrance Plummer had seven tackles. Plummer added one tackle for a loss.

Listen, we’re all shocked that Orlando seems to have put it all together halfway through the season, but here we are. If there’s a team the Guardians should be able to beat with their new, more effective offense, it’s the Renegades and the books agree. Guardians 33., Renegades 30

SUNDAY

HOUSTON ROUGHNECKS AT SAN ANTONIO BRAHMAS (+5, O/U: 40)

After spending the first half of the XFL season as its best franchise, the Houston Roughnecks have decided to suck, losing 24-15 to the surging St. Louis Battlehawks last Sunday. Roughnecks QB Cole McDonald has forgotten how to play football, finishing 15 of 32 for 106 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He rushed eight times for 40 yard and, was sacked twice. Max Borghi finished with nine carries for 46 yards. Bryce Alleyne had six rushes for 39 yards. Cedric Byrd caught seven passes for 50 yards. Deontay Burnett had three grabs for 21 yards and a TD.

If you thought the San Antonio Brahmas were capable of stacking up two victories in a row, you were sorely mistaken as they fell to the Las Vegas Vipers 26-12 last Saturday. The Brahmas were held scoreless through the entire second half by a team that had one of the worst defenses in the league in the first half of the season. Kurt Benkert was 22 of 31 for 179 yards, one touchdown and an interception in the loss. He was sacked three times and rushed for seven yards and lost a fumble. Jacques Patrick had 12 carries for a whopping 20 yards. He added four catches for 45 yards. Landen Akers caught six passes for 75 yards. Jordan Williams ended his evening with 11 tackles with three for a loss. Tenny Adewusi, Delontae Scott and Sean Williams each recorded seven tackles. Scott had 1.5 sacks, two tackles for a loss and a forced fumble.

At some point the Roughnecks have to rediscover the magic of the opening five or so weeks of the XFL season. Facing off against San Antonio, one of the league’s worst teams, seems like the perfect time. Roughnecks 33, Brahmas 15

WASHINGTON DC DEFENDERS AT SEATTLE SEA DRAGONS (-1.5, O/U: 46.5)

Well, I hope you are sitting down. After keeping their record perfect with the best offensive performance of any team in the XFL in Week 6, Week 7 finally saw the Washington DC Defenders stumble as they fell 37-26 to the league’s worst team, the Orlando Guardians. As crazy as it might sound, quarterback Jordan Ta’amu had one of his best games of the season (after plenty of outright garbage performances) in the loss. He went 21 of 29 for 285 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He was sacked once and rushed twice for 23 yards. Abram Smith had 18 carries for 127 yards and a touchdown. Reggie Northrup had 11 tackles. Dadol Brown finished with seven tackles, one sack and two tackles for a loss. Dejuan Neal and Santos Ramirez had six tackles apiece.

The Seattle Sea Dragons remained hot, winning their fifth game in a row in a 24-15 victory over the Arlington Renegades last Friday. Ben DiNucci was still generous with the ball, throwing one interception, but he limited himself to the single turnover as he went 21 of 32 for 266 yards, a touchdown and the aforementioned pick. He led the Sea Dragons in rushing with nine carries for 52 yards and was sacked twice. TJ Hammonds rushed seven times for 45 yards and Darius Bradwell had six carries for 18 yards and a TD. Jordan Veasy caught three balls for 79 yards. Blake Jackson had four catches for 68 yards and Josh Gordon hauled in three passes for 43 yards and a score. Tre Walker and Antoine Brooks both finished with seven tackles apiece. Clarence Hicks had five tackles, a sack and a tackle for al loss. Qwynnterrio Cole (a name I’m going to struggle to spell all season) had four tackles and an interception.

Washington picked up its first loss after actually looking like a real football team for the second week in a row. Seattle won its fifth in a row in spite of Ben DiNucci trying to toss the ball to the other team during any possession. I never believed in DC and the only game they lost since Week 2 has been the one I picked them to win. So, I have good news for the Defenders today. Sea Dragons 20. Defenders 16

Last week

Straight up: 2-2

Against the spread: 2-2

Season

Straight up: 15-13

Against the spread: 14-14

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.

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