Week two of the XFL season started with another nail biter in the Seattle cold Thursday night. The Seattle Sea Dragons hosted the St. Louis Battlehawks in the North division match up. The Seattle Sea Dragons came in favored by 4 points and were my pick to cover the number.

The first half was a back and forth battle. The defenses played well in the first quarter with Seattle only able to score a field goal after its 13 play 61 yard drive stalled out. The action picked up in the second quarter with a deep strike from Ben DiNucci to Jahcour Pearson for a 54 yard touchdown. The Sea Dragons decided to attempt a 3-point conversion, which was successful with a pass to Josh Gordon. The Battlehawks did not wait until the fourth quarter this game to have its offense wake up, as on the next possession they answered the Sea Dragons with a 14 play 72 yard touchdown drive of their own with a 1 yard run by AJ McCarron. The Battlehawks’ scoring drive took 7:24 off the running clock within the XFL rules, which is a huge factor in possession. Going into halftime the Sea Dragons led 12 - 8.

The third quarter was drab followed by another thriller of a fourth quarter for the XFL. The third quarter displayed the Achilles heel of the Sea Dragons: turnovers. They were only able to muster 1 possession in the quarter for 2 plays, because of not 1 but 2 fumbles. The first was a fumbled punt by Jahcour Pearson on a punt return and the second was a fumble on a run by Morgan Ellison. The Battlehawks did not capitalize on the costly turnovers by missing a field goal and making one to head to the fourth quarter down 12 - 11. The fourth quarter started the same way the third quarter and last week went for the Sea Dragons with yet another fumble. Video of coach Haslett begging, “not again” on the sideline, when Ben DiNucci fumbled on a quarterback sneak on 3rd down and 1. The Sea Dragons were in the middle of a good drive losing the ball on the Battlehawks’ 18 yard line. This is important to mention but we will discuss in depth at the end. Next play, disaster struck. The Battlehawks once again woke up late in the fourth quarter this time with a little more than 2 minutes with AJ McCarron throwing a dime in stride to their star receiver Hakeem Butler. Butler who was sure-handed in college at Iowas State had dropped a couple of balls earlier in the game. Butler did not drop this one and took it to the house for a 44 yard touchdown. St. Louis failed on the two point conversion but took the lead 17 - 12. The Battlehawks got the ball back almost immediately with a failed fourth down conversion by the Sea Dragons, which led to DiNucci expressing his frustration about not running the ball to one of the backs. With the opportunity to expand its lead, the Battlehawks failed, missing a 50 yard field goal attempt that was just short. The Sea Dragons took advantage of the short field and on another fourth down from the 8 yard line, DiNucci threw a back line strike to the big target Jordan Veasy, giving the Sea Dragons the lead back 18-17. The score set up yet another attempt for AJ McCarron and the Battlehawks to play spoilers on the road. With 1:21 left to play, the Battlehawks did just that, AJ McCarron led a gutsy 50 yard drive leaving five seconds on the clock for their kicker Donny Hageman’s attempt at redemption with a 44 yard attempt to win the game. And … it’s good!

Battlehawks win 20 - 18, moving to (2-0) while the Sea Dragons move to (0-2) overall and most importantly (0-2) in the North division. The stars of the game were Lacale London (STL) who had 2 forced fumbles along with 3 solo tackles, AJ McCarron (STL) with 184 yards passing 41 yards rushing and 2 total touchdowns and Chris Payton-Jones (SEA) whose father passed away the morning of the game and played the game having two pass break ups.

The Battlehawks for the second week in a row muster up the will power to steal a win. Anthony Becht the head coach for the Battlehawks has really surprised me as an effective ingredient for his team. I felt prior to the season his lack of coaching experience may be a negative for St. Louis. Watching him on the sidelines, he truly delegates coaching duties to the coordinators and staff. He approaches the game as a manager with enthusiasm as he induces it into the team. It has worked well so far and shows on the sidelines. The other story is AJ McCarron. I hated this guy at Alabama but he has shown who is - a winner. Winners don’t care about stat lines, perception or anything else other than leaving the field with a W. McCarron has proven that the first two weeks. The Battlehawks are on an upward trend and once running back Brian Hill is able to return, they will be the favorites if not already.

The Sea Dragons came into the season as one of the favorites to the win it all but the first two weeks of the season have shown without some drastic changes this will most likely not be the case. The bright spot of the team has been its defense. The issue they have faced is after numerous turnovers by the offense, they get tired and tired defenses get exposed. Their quarterback has shown little to no resilience, nor has he proven to be a leader. When the team is playing well he wants the credit but as soon as something goes wrong he is quick to point fingers. For example, late in the game the possession after he fumbled for the second week in a row during a good offensive drive, he lackadaisically throws a ball out of the reach of his receiver on a fourth down attempt. After the play his mic catches him saying, “can we not run the ball”. This sort of effort and mannerisms is not productive for a team especially from the quarterback. Additionally, DiNucci’s inability to stay in the pocket long enough for routes to develop is another issue. The Sea Dragons have the best receiving group by far in the XFL, yet the early scrambling has cost the team opportunities to utilize the best weapon to its full capacity. The quarterback is not the only issue holding the team back. Sea Dragons head coach Jim Haslett has been almost nonchalantly watching these meltdowns unfold for two weeks. With all the team’s timeouts and a challenge to use, Haslett refused to challenge a spot for a first down after a DiNucci scramble. It clearly looked like the quarterback cleared the line to gain by a full yard but Haslett did not challenge the play. The next play from scrimmage on a quarterback sneak attempt, DiNucci fumbles the ball. It is these situations that seem small at the time but end up blowing up due to the unforeseen consequences. In this particular case, a fumble late in the game on your opponent's 18-yard line which eliminates a possession and potential for at least a field goal if not a touchdown. Either one would win the game. The Sea Dragons will face a large uphill battle the remainder of the season.

In conclusion, the flow of the game heavily favored the Sea Dragons for the majority of the game but the Battlehawks yet again come out victorious. I really felt without Brian Hill in the line up the Battlehawks had no chance to win. Except, with 3 forced turnovers, the Battlehawks willed their way to another victory. The Sea Dragons have fooled me twice now and brought my XFL record to 2-2-1. We move on to the next!