The XFL heads into Week 4 with a highlight battle on tap between the Houston Roughnecks and Dallas Renegades in the Big D.
The Roughnecks will roll
Gonna go with P.J. Walker and Cam Phillips over Landry Jones and Bob Stoops. The Roughnecks have not been contained in the first three weeks and while Stoops may have some answers he won’t have enough to deal Houston its first defeat.
Guardians will damage the Wildcats
Just about everything that can go wrong for Kevin Gilbride has gone wrong since an opening win. That opening win was at home and after two games on the road, both losses, the Guardians return to MetLife and catch a Wildcat team that could be overconfident after it pounded the DC Defenders in LA in Week 3. A tepid nod to the home team.
Vipers’ season will evaporate
Going 0-4 in any football league is usually cause for despair. In the XFL’s short season, it is ruination. Marc Trestman and the Tampa Bay Vipers catch the DC Defenders coming off one of the worst performances by any team in thus far. Look for Cardale Jones and the Defenders to bounce back against a team that is headed for the worst record in the league.
Don’t envy the Dragons
Seattle heads into the hottest home crowd in the league, St. Louis. The BattleHawks are 2-1 and appear playoff-bound. They have scored nine TDs while allowing only five in three games. Jordan Ta’Amu is a bright light at quarterback. Kenny Robinson is playing well on defense the Hayes Bros. have this team headed in the right direction. The Dragons have not provided much excitement in their 1-2 liftoff.
P.J. Walker will crack the 1,000-yard mark
The XFL has not seen many explosive games when it comes to offensive stats. Still, the Roughnecks’ P.J. Walker has been the MVP to this point and leads the league with 748 yards passing. Look for the former Indianapolis Colts practice squad player to continue his rise to stardom by throwing for more than 250 yards against Dallas.
No one is in a rush to build a running game
While there have been some quarterbacks gain attention with their performances, no one has wowed as a running back. The top performer to date is St. Louis’ Matt Jones with 224 yards. Cameron Artis-Payne of the Renegades has 179 of his 185 yards in his last two games. However, he only has 27 carries over that time. This week would be a wise time for Bob Stoops to feed the ball to the former Carolina Panther. The best way to give yourself a chance against Houston is to keep its offense on the sidelines.
Parham will strike paydirt
Donald Parham of Dallas is a challenge to cover, at 6-foot-8 and playing tight end. He has 14 catches in three games and a trio of TD grabs in the last two. Houston will present a challenge as has been stated. However, the challenge of covering Parham will be testing for the Roughnecks, who won’t keep the former Stetson player out of the end zone.
