#29 Seattle Sea Dragons Brendan Knox prepares to hit the field. (Twitter)
When: Thursday, February 23rd, at 9:00 pm ET (6:00 PM PT)
Where: Lumen Field, Seattle, WA
TV: FX, ESPN+
Broadcast Team: Lowell Galindo, Sam Acho, Ian Fitzsimmons & Taylor McGregor
Week 2 of the XFL season kicks off on Thursday with a prime time matchup between the Battlehawks and the Sea Dragons.
Squaring off for the first time this season, all eyes will turn toward a wintery Lumen Field on a Thursday night. The XFL didn’t do the Sea Dragons any favors by scheduling their home opener on the same night the Seattle Kraken are hosting the Boston Bruins, the NHL’s top-ranked team just down the road at Climate Pledge Arena. We all know the XFL will be counting the fans in the seats on this one. Hopefully it is impressive.
St. Louis is coming off a road win in the Alamodome where they beat the San Antonio Brahmas in a come from behind victory. The Battlehawks offence eventually got going after doing virtually nothing for the first 57 minutes of the game, scoring two touchdowns (and a three-point conversion) on the game’s final two drives with the help of the XFL’s new onside kick option. Although quarterback A.J. McCarron’s stats for the game (18-for-26, 190 yards, and two touchdowns) were lackluster, he made the right plays at the right time to win the game.
In the first week of the season, Seattle lost to the D.C. Defenders on the road. Unable to hold onto two different leads, the Sea Dragons got off to a fantastic start, leading 9-0 after one quarter and 18-8 after three, but the Defenders scored the final 14 points. Moving the ball wasn’t a problem as Seattle outgained D.C. 331-177 yards, with quarterback Ben DiNucci of the Sea Dragons turning in a good performance. In addition to making three turnovers, the former Dallas Cowboy completed 35 of 54 passes for 282 yards and a touchdown. His first of two interceptions was returned for a touchdown, his second set up what ultimately proved to be the game-winning score, and his fumble occurred on a quarterback draw from the D.C. 1-yard line late in the fourth quarter. Each of these errors proved costly. The turnovers undermined Seattle’s solid defensive performance, which limited the Defenders to 177 total yards (3.3 per play).
Points to Watch
In week two, Anthony Becht’s offence must play clean football in all three phases; however, this is especially important on the offensive side of the ball. They cannot have their defense on the field for the majority of every game, so maintaining possession with continuous drives is crucial. St. Louis should not count on being able to come back and win the game late, and A.J. McCarron and the offence must get out to a better start.
The Battlehawks should be aware of how Seattle restrained D.C., as the majority of the Defenders’ scoring came from Sea Dragon errors. St. Louis could use their ground game better this week after only getting 68 yards on 15 carries in Week 1. With just six attempts, Brian Hill gained 55 of those yards, with the most of the damage coming on a single 40-yard gain. D.C. was held to only 84 rushing yards on 33 carries (2.5 ypc) by the Sea Dragons, with 11 of those yards coming on just one carry.
Usually a team will win if they only surrender 177 total yards. Last week, with the exception of one lengthy drive in the second quarter that ended in a touchdown, the Sea Dragons managed to contain D.C.’s offense. Emmanuel Smith led the club in tackles with seven, including one for a loss. Seattle recorded four tackles for a loss and one interception despite not recording a sack. McCarron, who isn’t known for his mobility, went down five times last week as St. Louis coped with multiple injuries to its offensive line. We should anticipate the Sea Dragons getting to McCarron.
With both offenses sputtering in the red zone in week one, whichever team is able to effectively end drives with touchdowns will have a huge edge. The Battlehawks need to keep feeding the ball to Hill, or they must use play-action throws to impede the Seattle pass rush. For the Sea Dragons, wide receiver Josh Gordan may be the key to their ability to finish drives.
Given that the doesn’t appear to be a huge gap between these two teams, this may be a competitive game. Thanks to its defense and playing in front of a home crowd, Seattle will keep the game close, although McCarron may outperform DiNucci on offense.
