XFL Week 2 Sunday Preview
This second Sunday of the XFL season will bring us two matchups to enjoy. The first game will be at 3:00pm CT at the Camping World Stadium where the San Antonio Brahmas (0-1) will be visiting the Orlando Guardians (0-1). The second game will be at 6:00pm CT at the TDECU Stadium where the first battle of Texas will take place with the Arlington Renegades (1-0) visiting the Houston Roughnecks (1-0).
San Antonio Brahmas vs Orlando Guardians
In week one the Orlando Guardians faced the Houston Roughnecks and lost 12-33. The loss was the largest margin of defeat for week 1. The Guardians looked lost on the field at times and they gave up 4 turnovers, 7 sacks and benched their starting quarterback Paxton Lynch. A stat came out this week that Paxton Lynch is the first quarterback to benched in the NFL, CFL, USFL and now XFL. Not a stat you want to see as a Guardians fan falling into the hype of the late signing. Other than Paxton Lynch, the rest of the Guardians team seemed to put out a lackluster product. The defense allowed 33 points, which was the most by any team in week one. The Brahmas week one ended in a devastating loss to the St. Louis Battlehawks in epic fashion. Although the Brahmas completely dominated all aspects of the game for 3 ½ quarters, their inability to score more points was concerning and ended up costing them the game. The Brahmas had 24 first downs to the 11 of the Battlehawks. The Brahmas have in my opinion the league’s most balanced offense but with injuries sustained on the offense line last week, we will see if that plays a factor today.
San Antonio is favored by 4 in the matchup for today. Based on the showing from both teams last week, I think the Brahmas had better upside with a little cleaning up to do to regain some momentum going into week 2. The Guardians have too many unanswered questions at this time. I am picking the Brahmas to cover the 4 points. The total is set at 37, I feel both teams may score more points, but I am not confident. I am leaning under but it is a non-play for me this week. Prediction for final San Antonio 22 – Orlando 13.
Pick: San Antonio Brahmas -4
Arlington Renegades vs Houston Roughnecks
This is the game of the week in the XFL. The only matchup of 1-0 teams, a battle of Texas teams and a heavily weighted South Division matchup. The Arlington Renegades kicked off the XFL season last week mounting a comeback against the Vegas Vipers with two pick sixes putting them into the winners circle. Although their defense stepped up in a huge way, the offense led by Drew Plitt was not as impressive. The Renegade offense did not score a touchdown but was able to drive for 3 made field goals by Taylor Russolino. As we saw in the game last night, the Vegas Viper defense is susceptible to the run but the Renegades were not able to expose that weakness with a good running back corps. For me this is a cause for concern heading into this matchup against Houston. The Houston Roughnecks impressed plenty of XFL fans last week with its dominate performance against the Guardians. They have become the odds on favorites to win the XFL Championship. Brandon Silvers came out hot leading 4 scoring drives in the first half resulting in 21 points. He was humbled a bit in the third quarter throwing two interceptions but lead two additional scoring drives in the fourth quarter to seal the dominating win. The offensive attack for the Roughnecks is balanced but forceful. Their OC AJ Smith did very well with play calling. On the other side of the ball their defense was flying around, causing 7 sacks and 4 Turnovers.
Houston is favored by 5.5 in the matchup for today. The line initially opened at 3.5. I still feel that Houston playing at home with the confidence from a dominating win last week will cover the 5.5. I would feel more confident at 5 but 5.5 is still good. The decision comes down to the quality of product from the previous week and the Roughnecks were grade A. I would grade the Renegades performance a C+. The total is set at 40, which is a tight number for this game. I am leaning under based on the level of both defenses but it’s a non-play for me. Prediction for final Houston 23 – Arlington 15.
Pick: Houston Roughnecks -5.5
Looking forward to a great day of Sunday Football! Thank goodness for spring football & our fans reading along!
XFL Season Record: (2-3-1)