Part of the reason scoring in the XFL hasn’t been as high as some would’ve expected with rules tilted toward the offense is not just the number of turnovers, but turnovers in the red zone. That affliction struck again in week five. In the Thursday night game, Sea Dragons QB Ben DiNucci threw two interceptions in the end zone as the team was close to adding more points. His counterpart on the Roughnecks, Brandon Silvers fumbled just outside the Seattle 20-yard line. Then, in the Sunday nighter, Brahmas QB Reid Sinnett had a pass intended for TE Deon Yelder intercepted at the goal line. Until teams are able to clean up these turnovers deep in opponent territory, scoring may continue to lag behind expectations.
Down: First time head coaches
One of the storylines heading into this XFL season was the disparity in coaching experience amongst some of the head coaches. You had Wade Phillips, Jim Haslett, and Bob Stoops, who had coaches for decades. Reggie Barlow joined them as someone with several years of head coaching experience. Then there were those being thrown into the head coach role with very few years as a coach at any level. Those were Rod Woodson, Anthony Becht, Hines Ward, and Terrell Buckley. At the halfway mark of the season, the results are clear: The inexperience shows in the latter group. Of those without a previous stop as head coach, their record is 5-15, with three of those wins coming from Becht alone. It was a risk by the ownership group to hitch the wagon of half their franchises to these coaches, and so far, that risk doesn’t appear to be paying off.
Up: Goal-line QBs
At least three teams now have quarterbacks specifically to run goal-line plays or conversions. Houston has subbed out Brandon Silvers for Cole McDonald; D’Eriq King has often replaced Jordan Ta’amu; and Orlando has now been added to the list with Quinton Flowers. It’s understandable why Orlando would want to do this, given the trouble they’ve had scoring points. And so far, Houston and DC have been pretty successful with this strategy. McDonald has rushed for a touchdown and has led a number of Houston conversions. King leads the league in TD runs with five and has thrown two others. Flowers was brought in on the first series and rushed for a touchdown on 3rd-and-goal. With Quentin Dormady playing so well in relief of Paxton Lynch, it’s fair to wonder whether Flowers will still see a goal-line role if the Guardians move forward with Dormady as their starter.
Down: Tomato cans
In boxing parlance, “tomato cans” are fighters who are guaranteed wins for their opponents, those who don’t present a challenge and can be easily beaten. Vegas and Orlando were thought to be just that heading into week five, both entering winless at 0-4. However, both teams showed signs of life in the Vipers’ 35-32 victory. Luis Perez threw three touchdowns for Vegas, a team that was missing its star receiver, Martavis Bryant, due to injury. When Orlando turned to Dormady, their offense awoke. He completed nearly 90% of his passes and added two touchdowns. Both teams have struggled offensively at times through the first half of the season, but changes at the quarterback position may be the elixir both teams need to find success in the second half.
Up: Running games
After stagnating for much of the season to this point, the running game for at least a few teams led their offenses. Abram Smith set an XFL single-game rushing record against St. Louis, rumbling for 218 yards. For the Battlehawks, Brian Hill averaged 5.6 yards per carry on 14 rushes. While the passing game for the Vipers got most of the ink, their running game was effective against Orlando, as their three backs combined to run for 114 yards. Arlington also surpassed 100 yards rushing against San Antonio on Sunday night as well. At 868 total yards over the four games in week five, it was the highest single-week rushing output of the season so far.
Down: Brahma fan support
San Antonio was expected to be second place behind St. Louis for attendance in 2023 on the heels of the city’s performance in the Alliance of American Football in 2019. Another major league city without a major league football team, the Brahmas were supposed to be embraced in a similar way to the Battlehawks. And after the first home game where San Antonio drew 24,000 to the Alamodome, those predictions were looking prescient. Then came week five. St. Louis and San Antonio both had their second home games this weekend, and St. Louis saw a drop of just 3,000 from its 38,000+ draw last week. San Antonio, however, was at just over 13,000 for its second home game, down nearly half from its debut.
St. Louis certainly has a more competitive team, and perhaps the Sunday night timeslot was not advantageous to San Antonio’s citizenry. One has to wonder if the drop has any connection to the firing of San Antonio’s Vice President of Team Business & Event Operations by the XFL after the first home game. No announcement has been made of a replacement at that position. Whatever the reason for the drop, it is concerning, even if we’re just two games in. The team closes with home games in week eight, nine, and ten, which could send the numbers into freefall if San Antonio is out of playoff contention by then.
