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Welcome to Week 2 of the XFL!
I hope everyone enjoyed Week 1. I will be handicapping the XFL every single week of the season.
I went 2-2 last week for a profit due to a 2u play on the DC Defenders.
I took the DC Defenders -7.5 as I quickly identified them as possibly the best team in the XFL. They delivered and looked excellent.
I also won with Battlehawks +9.5. No crystal ball necessary there – when I heard Landry Jones wasn’t likely to play I was happy to bet against the Renegades there.
I lost with Vipers/Guardians over 52.5. The loss of Callaway was bigger than expected for the Vipers. I also had Wildcats +5.5 and that looked good for awhile but Houston eventually took over.
Today we have two games as the DC Defenders host the NY Guardians and the Seattle Dragons host the Tampa Bay Vipers.
Let’s jump right in:
Guardians vs Defenders Betting Tips:
The line for this one is -7. I thought Seattle looked pretty good but the DC Defenders just looked fantastic. Some great individual skills there and that’s what will help in the early weeks of the XFL season. Some nice little plays including that double flea-flicker.
The big question is if the Guardians defense can stand tall against this offense. Personally while the Guardians held the Vipers I really felt it was more the Vipers offense that was the issue in that one. Murray at QB got brutalized with 3 interceptions and 5 sacks.
My takeaway from that one though was it was more about the Vipers offense than the Guardians defense. Cardale Jones is gonna be quite the step up from Murray that’s for sure. And I think we will see more of Donnell Pumphrey.
I’m not ready to give the DC Defenders the status of the Apollos yet, however based on Week 1 they look like the team to beat. DC did have two pick sixes that helped but I think their offense is good enough.
3u on DC Defenders -7
Vipers vs Dragons Betting Tips:
I said above that I believed the Guardians solid defensive performance was more due to a woeful Tampa Bay Vipers offense.
So with that I’m pretty happy to take Seattle Dragons +1.5 for 1u. Vipers have a different QB in due to Murray getting injured which is tough. Quinton Flowers did look solid enough in the second half but I don’t think that is enough.
When you look at the metrics from last week, Seattle actually performed very well. They had more yardage and more first downs. They also have a new option at WR with SJ Green in there which is big.
I like what I saw from Seattle and while I think we will see a better performance from the Vipers this week, I don’t think it will be enough. This is more than a winnable game for the Seattle Dragons.
