Identity crisis in Dallas
With a 24-12 win away to Seattle, Dallas now sit at 2-1, with Landry Jones unbeaten as a starter. Yet contrary to expectations, these wins have relied on the success of their running game. The team starts their games with a clear committed to running Hal Mumme’s pass-heavy Air Raid offense, but they look like a completely different (and much better) team when they start running the ball.
Despite their running game helping them to victory last week, they focused once again on attacking through the air in the first half. They ran the ball just four times for nine yards and went into halftime down 12-6, with Landry Jones passing for just 113 yards and two picks. They switched things up after the break, utilising split-back sets with a focus on runs and screen passes. They put up 18 unanswered points and finished the game with 4.9 yards per carry, with their two backs combining for a further 86 receiving yards.
With a tough game next weekend against Houston it will be interesting to see what approach the Renegades take. They are averaging a league-high 5.5 yards per carry, but whether or not they remain wedded to their pass-heavy offense in Week 4 and beyond remains to be seen.
Houston’s defense could be a problem
With the Defenders collapsing against LA, Houston are left as the only unbeaten team in the XFL. P.J. Walker continued his MVP calibre season at quarterback as he added 3 touchdown passes to give him a league-high 10 on the season. Yet it wasn’t all plain sailing for them in Week 3 and concerns about their defense are growing.
They allowed 27 points against a Tampa Bay side that had scored only 12 all season and who had not had a single offensive touchdown prior to this game. Their defense has now allowed 68 points across their first three games and there will be real concerns about this moving forward. P.J. Walker is bound to have an off game at some point and in those situations they will need to rely on their defense to secure a win. Giving up this amount of points is just not sustainable and they will need to improve in their Week 4 game against an in-form Dallas side if they are going to continue their unbeaten record.
Dysfunction in New York
Considering how spectacularly the Guardians collapsed in Week 2, few saw them doing the same thing all over again in Week 3, but their 29-9 loss against the BattleHawks was another showcase of a team in crisis. Matt McGloin left the game with an injury and his replacement Marquise Williams was eventually benched for their third-string quarterback after completing just 47 per cent of his passes for 94 yards. Things were so bad that they even benched their center Ian Silberman after tempers flaired and he was threatened with ejection.
Their fourth quarter touchdown was their first in 27 possessions and they have managed a paltry 12 points across the past two games. Their inability to move the ball was epitomised in their 3 for 21 record on third down conversions across their past two games and there were no signs in this game that there is any light at the end of the tunnel for the Guardians. With a Week 4 game against an LA Wildcats side fresh off a dominant performance against the Defenders, it looks like it could get worse before it gets better.
DC offense falls apart
Coming into the weekend, the Defenders were widely regarded as the most complete team in the XFL. Their defense had forced six turnovers and Cardale Jones had thrown for a league-high 511 yards passing across the first two games. Fast forward to the end of Sunday’s blowout 39-9 loss to the Wildcats and there are lots of unanswered questions for Pep Hamilton and his team.
Cardale Jones threw for just 103 yards and four interceptions before being benched in the fourth quarter, with the Wildcats adding a fifth turnover on a blocked punt. They were 2 for 13 on third downs and averaged just four yards per play, the worst across the league in Week 3. Their hitherto dominant defense failed all game to get to Josh Johnson and allowed six touchdowns and 39 points, both an XFL record.
It remains to be seen whether or not this game was just an anomaly, but the Defenders are perhaps not as good as everyone assumed. They will be hopeful of bouncing back against a winless Tampa Bay next weekend but another performance like this will really begin to amplify these concerns.
