ST. LOUIS HAS WON A FOOTBALL GAME. Words not heard since 2015 and they could not sound sweeter.
Little late to the party posting this so here is a quick recap of the first XFL game for the St. Louis BattleHawks.
-Matt Jones Runs
-Ta’amu passes
-Defense shuts down
-Ta’amu runs
-Penalties
-Marquette King bombs punts
-Defense dominates
-BattleHawks win 15-9 over heavily favored Renegades
-Bud Light Seltzers and Uncrustables for all.
Good? Good.
Now onto week 2.
The St. Louis BattleHawks will have their hands full this Sunday as they square up with the new number one in the power rankings, the Houston Roughnecks. This game has the makings to be one of the best matchups in the extremely early part of the inaugural season of the XFL. Two powerhouses of the gridiron, one through the air the other on the ground, will be setting up to be a way too early to tell championship preview.
The BattleHawks gained a league leading 191 yards on the ground in the opener and you should look for them to continue doing much of the same. With an offensive line averaging around 310 lbs why wouldn’t you? To be able to keep the ball out of P.J. Walker’s hands is key in this one. He had 4 touchdown passes with 265 yards that led the Roughnecks to a 37-17 win last week against the LA Wildcats. Granted, that easily could have been due to the bad defense that already led to the firing of the defensive coordinator in LA, but it’s best not to take the chance in allowing him to have the ball for a repeat performance. With that said, don’t be surprised if they let Jordan Ta’amu air it out a bit more than last week. He showed the ability to throw dimes in the pocket and be on the move for 183 yards and only 7 incompletions. Make no mistake though, this is a run first offense and I’m all for it.
The defense that head coach Jonathan Hayes has implemented is a great scheme for a league that looks to throw the ball more often than not, considering only two teams have over 100 yards rushing. They held – a Landry Jones-less – Renegades team to 267 total yards and no touchdowns. The defensive backs stay back and let the team throw to check downs to come up and pop them before any big yardage is gained. Now, P.J. Walker albeit small sample size, looks far better than Philip Nelson, I still thing this strategy can work well again this week as long as the defense can secure tackles. Also, continuing the 3rd down efficiency defensively, only allowing 1 of 10 attempts versus the Renegades, should fair well for the squad. Doesn’t hurt the Roughnecks only went 3 for 10 in there first week. The true battle could be in the trenches though. With only allowing 1 sack in week 1 the big boys up front will be looking to get after Walker early and often to take his arm out of the equation.
9 Penalties for 78 yards is not what you look for in a game. That will be a huge test for this team going into week 2. Can they be more discipline with false starts and holdings on the offensive line to be able to get those big gains and keep them? Hopefully it was just first game jitters that had them amped up and ready to rip someone’s head off. While we are on discipline, don’t touch a ball on the half-yard line and take it into the end zone during one of the best punts I have ever seen in my life. I don’t care if you think it touches the opposing player. I understand you want to score but when you have an opportunity to have a punt pin a team inside the 1 just leave it until you hear a whistle, if no whistle then you could somersault all over that ball and score, just be patient for the love of Ditka.
This game has the makings of being the best of the season thus far. Look for some hard-nosed running from the BattleHawks. The Roughnecks are going to air it out and try to get P.J. Walker in a groove. As long the squad can focus on stout tackling and getting to the quarterback on defense then staying disciplined limiting penalties they should fair well in this one.
End result
Battlehawks 23
Roughnecks 17
Cracked Pavement Sports 