XFL week six begins with a battle between the surging Seattle Sea Dragons and the woefully inept Orlando Guardians at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium. This will be the first and only meeting of the season between these two teams.
Last week at Seattle’s Lumen Field, the Sea Dragons were successful in beating the highly touted Roughnecks by a score of 21-14. By restricting Houston’s explosive offence, the Sea Dragons established a solid defensive tone and raced out to a 15-0 lead at the half. The Roughnecks made it a one-score game in the fourth quarter, but the Sea Dragons were able to hold them off and overcome three turnovers to go over .500 for the first time this season.
Orlando’s previous game against Vegas was a losing effort at 35-32, but they showed progress in how they put on an offensive show to almost overcome the Vipers. On the up side, Guardians backup quarterback Quinten Dormady completed 22 of 25 throws for 256 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. Eight passes were caught by Cody Latimer for 124 yards and a touchdown. With five receptions for 69 yards and another touchdown, Charleston Rambo also had a strong day. Remarkably, the offence did not commit a single turnover. However, the defense struggled as they gave up 392 total yards.
What should we look for?
Seattle’s offense is still rolling along, but last week wasn’t their best game. Still. it was good enough to win. Ben DiNucci completed 17 of 32 passes for 209 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions. Jahcour Pearson caught five passes for 82 yards to lead the way for the receivers. However, the Sea Dragons did not generate many yards on the ground. Statistically they were led by DiNucci’s 33 rushing yards as a wounded Morgan Ellison was kept in check. Orlando needs to look for DiNucci to be ready to air it out to Pearson and Gordon to get big plays, and somehow stop that effort. DiNucci will turn over the ball if he is forced, and Orlando needs to capitalize on that fact.
In the last game, we saw friction in Seattle’s offense, specifically an open mic caught DiNucci calling for receiver Josh Gordon to be benched. We should look to see if any friction is still there or if the Sea Dragons have mended fences.
The Orlando defense needs to be able to create turnovers in this game, and give their offense a chance to return to the field and put on the same explosive show they demonstrated in the second half against Vegas. The Guardians’ defense needs to be as aggressive as they can to strip the ball, and stunt the Sea Dragons progress. Linebacker Terrance Plummer is the Guardians’ leading tackler with 17, and he could be an agent of change in this game. Also, the Guardians have not been very good in stopping opponents on third down, and they need to work on that this week.
Seattle’s defense may be a huge problem for the Guardians. The Sea Dragons sacked Brandon Silvers three times last week. Pressuring the Roughnecks passer caused Houston to sputter on offense. The Guardians need to look out for the pass rush and give Quinten Dormady time to pass. Keep in mind, Silvers likes to live in the pocket. Maybe the Guardians should consider getting the ball away quickly or have Dormady exit the pocket. Just know, Seattle’s defense will be coming for the pivot. It’s a given.
Conclusion
The Sea Dragons need to be up for this game as there are many ways the Guardians can overcome them on this outing. It is a home game for Orlando, which is something that is debatable as being a plus. However, Orlando is hungry for a win and their starting quarterback Quinten Dormady probably has more to prove than any other player on the field. Seattle head coach Jim Haslett is probably aware of the potential pratfalls and has prepared his squad accordingly.
If the Guardians can eke out a win it would be one of the biggest upsets so far this XFL season.
