Final Projected Standings

Houston Roughnecks 8-2 Los Angeles Wildcats 6-4 Dallas Renegades 3-7 Seattle Dragons 2-8

Houston Roughnecks 8-2

The Roughnecks are quite clearly the best team in the league and have a complete team on both sides of the ball. Houston is the best passing team in the XFL, and although they don’t run very much, they are very efficient when they do run the ball. Their best weapon has been their defense who generates more pressure than any other team which they have converted into the most sack in the league at fifteen. This team has the best quarterback in PJ Walker and the best receiver in Cam Phillips and the combination has been deadly. This will continue to be the case throughout the rest of the season. While running back James Butler is still sixth in the league in rushing yards while averaging 4.8 yards per rush. He could easily lead the league, in my eyes, if he was on a more balanced team. I don’t believe Houston will go undefeated because it’s so rare anyway, but they are the likeliest team to win the XFL Championship at this point. The Roughnecks have proven that they can win no matter the circumstances and will do plenty of that through the rest of the season.

Opponent Score Record @ New York 27-20 W 6-0 Vs DC 10-31 W 7-0 @ Los Angeles 38-45 L 7-1 Vs Dallas 7-38 W 8-1 @ Seattle 18-21 L 8-2 The Roughnecks will extend their winning streak to seven, but will fall for the first time on the road against Los Angeles. They will lose their final game because, after beating Dallas, they will have the West clinched and not play as many starters in the final week.

Los Angeles Wildcats 6-4

At 2-3 in the West, Los Angeles has looked like the second best team in the West with Josh Johnson’s veteran leadership providing much needed relief. It has taken them a few weeks to really get the rust off and find consistency, but looked like they have it figured out after week five. The Wildcats have a solid group of receivers even with Nelson Spruce injured the last few weeks. A different guy seems to step up every game rather than just one person dominating every week which makes the offense much harder to game plan for. Josh Johnson has completed passes to thirteen different receivers to this point of the season and have four receivers in the top twenty five receivers in yardage gained. Their defense has been pretty bad all season but have been able to generate sacks and turnovers, just like Houston, and gives me a higher belief in them as a team. Even if their defense has given up the most points and second most yards. I think this offense will be flying up and down the field for the rest of the season and earn the second seed in the West.

Opponent Score Record @ Seattle 38-14 W 3-3 @ Saint Louis 27-30 L 3-4 Vs Houston 38-45 W 4-4 Vs Seattle 18-42 W 5-4 @ Dallas 29-21 W 6-4 Playing Seattle twice in the final five games should provide Los Angeles with two more wins along with an upset of Houston at Home in week eight. Josh Johnson is going to play great and make a push for XFL MVP

Dallas Renegades 3-7

The Renegades season clearly ended two weeks ago when Landry Jones blew out his knee, again, likely ending his season as well. Phillip Nelson played very good in week one completing 78% of his passes, but lacked any big plays and the team loss. In his second start, he looked much, much worse. Going forward with Nelson looks as if it will be the end of the Dallas season. He will likely get better with more experience, but it will be too late before he finds his footing. Kurt Warners are like the lottery and nothing Nelson has shown has proven that he will start dominating. He doesn’t have a big enough arm so if Dallas wants to win throughout the rest of the season they may want to commit to the run. This will be especially difficult considering this team has run an air raid all season, but Stoops’ teams were known more for running than passing for most of his career at Oklahoma. So if anyone can do it, it’s him. I just don’t like the Renegades chances going down the stretch with an unproven guy in the position of quarterback.

Opponent Score Record @ DC 12-24 L 2-4 @ Tampa Bay 10-27 L 2-5 Vs Seattle 15-17 W 3-5 @ Houston 7-38 L 3-6 Vs Los Angeles 29-21 L 3-7 Dallas will lose four of their final five games with the only win coming at home against the Seattle Dragons. The Renegades are going to struggle to score points the rest of the way without Landry Jones and better luck next year.

Seattle Dragons 2-8

The Seattle Dragons lost their season when they decided that Brandon Silvers was a professional starting quarterback before the season even started. At least for me, when I compared the two quarterbacks with what they did in college as well as their pro day stats and watching film, it was clear that BJ Daniels has the higher upside. Silvers is a classic pocket passes, but doesn’t have the frame that a Rothelisberger or Cam Newton has nor the scrambling ability. Also, Silvers had a tendency to throw off of his back foot against pressure which is a terrible habit for a quarterback that’s hard to break. Daniels is able to scramble and extend plays for bigger plays to happen which is a higher upside with the exact same passing ability. Seattle would have a better projection if their defense wasn’t last in the XFL in total yards and second to last in points given up. Jim Zorn isn’t exactly the best at evaluating talent when it comes to quarterbacks, so it should be no surprise that this team has struggled.

Opponent Score Record Vs Los Angeles 38-14 L 1-5 Vs New York 14-12 L 1-6 @ Dallas 15-17 L 1-7 @ Los Angeles 18-45 L 1-8 Vs Houston 18-21 W 2-8 Seattle will continue their losing streak until week ten when they edge by the Roughneck’s backups. The Dragons lose in the trenches on both sides of the ball almost every week and it’s hard to win that way which the resulting projection predicts.

XFL West Conference Final

Los Angeles Wildcats 41 @ Houston Roughnecks 38

PJ Walker has been amazing and will win the MVP, but will not be able to overtake veteran Josh Johnson and the Wildcats. I think the Roughnecks have the better team overall in a position by position breakdown, but the two main positions are quarterback and head coach. I like the Wildcats quarterback and coaching staff to overcome the Roughnecks on the road with an in sync Johnson leading the way. This game will come down to which defense gets more turnovers and pressure on the quarterbacks which is what both teams do well on that side of the ball. This will be the game of the year after they split the season series one to one. You wont want to miss what’s going to be high level football.

XFL Championship I

Los Angeles Wildcats 34 Vs Saint Louis Battlehawks 38

In this game, I will take the team that has the most balanced attack on offense and the best defense in the league. This wont be a trendy pick, but I don’t care what you fare-weather fans think. The Wildcats defense and lack of a running game will be their downfall in this one and will only make it close with a couple of late scores to make it closer than it is. On the other side, it will be the Battlehawks defense and running game that win it for them. Heck, I may be wrong, but at least I have the balls to put it down and post it out to the world.

Championship MVP: M. Jones 25 carries 155 yards TD 5 rec 35 yards TD