This is the first matchup between Orlando and St. Louis and the final regular season game for both teams. While Orlando is out of the hunt for a berth in the XFL South Division Championship game, this game will have plenty of impact on the North Division race. St. Louis would clinch a spot in the XFL North Division Championship with a victory. Meanwhile, If Orlando wins they would help Seattle who would still be alive for a berth in the Northern Division Championship.
What should we look for?
The Guardians boast the league’s No. 2 passing offense, while St. Louis is No. 4 in passing. The Guardians are No. 3 in the league in rushing offense, while St. Louis ranks No. 7. Orlando quarterback Quinten Dormady is No. 4 in the XFL in yards per attempt at 7.3, while Battlehawks signal-caller A.J. McCarron is tied for No. 9 at 6.7 yards per attempt.
Last week in San Antonio, down by eight late in the fourth quarter, the Orlando Guardians had a shot to tie the game but failed to capitalize on a two-point conversion, leaving the San Antonio Brahmas with a 25-23 win, and letting them stay alive in the South Division playoff race. San Antonio racked up 389 yards of offense, while Orlando was limited to just 264 yards, and 110 yards passing.
The Guardians will be looking for another stellar performance from starting quarterback Quinten Dormady. After all it was Dormady who let the Guardians to their only win this season, and it was done against the league leading D.C. Defenders. Dormady has completed 67.4 percent of his passes, going 122-of-181 for 1319 yards, with 8 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. He is ranked second in the XFL in completion percentage among players who have attempted a minimum of 100 passes. The Battlehawks need to be very wary of Dormady as he has the talent to put up some good numbers in this game.
Orlando’s Devin Darrington had a breakout 133-yard performance rushing against San Antonio last week, which was the second-best single-game running performance in the XFL so far this season. This season only three backs have eclipsed the 100-yard mark in a game, namely Abram Smith (DC) with 218 yards against St. Louis, Devin Darrington (Orlando) with 133 yards against San Antonio,
Abram Smith (DC) with 127 yards against San Antonio, and Morgan Ellison (Seattle) with 103 yards against Vegas. With Darrington’s recent success, the Guardians will be surely running the ball.
The Battlehawks missed a chance to clinch a spot in the XFL North Championship with a 30-12 loss last Sunday to the Seattle Sea Dragons. With Seattle opening the scoring, St. Louis climbed back from an 8-0 deficit to take a 9-8 lead with 9:15 left in the second quarter when QB A.J. McCarron found WR Darrious Shepherd for a 42-yard touchdown pass. The Sea Dragons scored a touchdown of their own on their ensuing drive and took a 14-9 lead into halftime. Seattle extended the lead to 20-9 with a TD on its first drive after halftime. St. Louis kicker Donny Hageman managed to draw St. Louis within eight points with his second field goal of the game with 3:24 left in the third quarter, but they could do no more, eventually allowing the Sea Dragons to score the final 10 points of the game all in the final 4 minutes of regulation, which led to their downfall. This week, the Battlehawks need to be prepared to finish the game strong.
The Battlehawks need a win, and they have the players to get it done. Quarterback A.J. McCarron leads the XFL with 18 touchdown passes, and his 19 total touchdowns are tied for 1st in the league with Seattle QB Ben DiNucci. McCarron has an 18-6 touchdown/interception ratio, and his 67.3 percent completion rate ranks third in the league (min. 20 pass attempts). McCarron also sits second in the league with 175 completions and 1,730 passing yards, behind only DiNucci (216/2,332). Last week, McCarron was coming off a shoulder injury and his play was affected. Hopefully, he is closer to 100% for this week’s game.
Wide receiver Darrius Shepherd leads the league with 775 kick return yards. If anyone is going to break a kickoff return for a major this week, it will likely be Shepherd. He is also tied for 3rd in the XFL alongside teammate WR Hakeem Butler with 42 receptions. Butler is tied for the league lead with six touchdown catches, while Shepherd is one behind with five. Also, wide receiver Gary Jennings ranks fourth in the league with a 17.8 yards/reception mark (min. 3 catches), and three of his six receptions this season have gone for touchdowns. His 22.20 mph max running velocity as tracked by Catapult was the fastest in the XFL through the first seven weeks.
The St. Louis defensive corps ranks second in the league with 399 tackles on the year. LB Willie Harvey leads the team with
53 tackles, which are the sixth most in the XFL. The Battlehawks rank third in the XFL with 18 takeaways, including a league-high 10 via fumble this season. DL Kevin Atkins, DB Ben DeLuca and LB Travis Feeney are all tied for second in the league with two fumble recoveries on the season. Feeney is tied for 2nd in the league with three forced fumbles, while DT LaCale London is tied for 6 with two. DBs Lavert Hill and Nate Meadors are T-5th in the league with a team-high two interceptions each. The Battlehawks have forced multiple turnovers in six of their nine games and hold an 18-16 turnover margin for the season.
The Battlehawks have the weapons on both offense and defense. If they can properly wield these weapons in front of their final home audience of the season they should be the victors.
Conclusion
With the Battlehawks as 9-point favorites it might be a stretch to put your hard-earned cash on St. Louis, especially if you have seen how the Guardians have played against teams deemed to be stronger than them.
The Battlehawks are playing in front of a hearty home audience, and they should get some energy from the fans. Although, it did not work for them last week when they fell to the Seattle Sea Dragons. One would think the Battlehawks have addressed those issues and are ready to put it all on the line against the lame duck Guardians.
An O/U of 47.5 may be reached in this matchup, as both teams should have an active offensive output.
