In what was the most exciting game of the short XFL season, the St. Louis BattleHawks fell to the Houston Roughnecks 28-24. The loss brings the BattleHawks record to 1-1. The BattleHawks started the game slow and got caught chasing early in the first half before making a decent attempt to comeback in this one. There is definitely some work to be done but to see the heart in this team, to come out at half and turn the game around shows much promise that they can play with the best teams in the league.
The first half was less than ideal, aside from the first offensive drive of the game where the BattleHawks gained 71 yards that resulted in a Matt Jones 24-yard touchdown reception. The BattleHawks only gained 61 yards the rest of the half, and we saw Jordan Ta’amu’s first interception of the season. P.J Walker was able to evade everything the defense threw at him as well. It seemed as though it was going to a rough game all around going into half down 21-6.
Then the second half got on the way. The offense found its groove scoring on the first two drives of the half with a De’Mornay Pierson-El touchdown reception and a Jordan Ta’amu run. The next drive, however, led to one of the worst missed calls since the Rams (Screw you Kroenke)-Saints championship game. When a linebacker clearly without a doubt goes offside right before the snap and does not make it back in time there has to be a flag no excuse. It led to Ta’amu thinking it was a free play and going for a big play down the field and throwing an interception. With that said, you can’t give up on the play after it happens when no whistles have been blown. That led to the Roughnecks returning the interception to the six-yard line setting up the third touchdown pass from P.J. Walker to Cam Phillips. That touchdown was in no way at fault of the defense that, in the second half, shut down Houston and only gave up those 7 points in the half.
Defensively the BattleHawks played a stout game. They figured out a way to slow P.J. Walker down enough to let the team fight back in this one and make it competitive. They were consistently getting pressure on Walker, but only amounted one sack. Which showcased the elusiveness in his game, something that slowed down once the BattleHawks put a spy on Walker. A big positive of the game defensively was the third down efficiency yet again. For the second week in a row, the defense dominated on third down only allowing 2 conversions on 10 tries. That puts their total for the season at 3 for 20. That’s a solid rate, would just like to see more third downs in a game than just ten.
Christine Michael is alive, kind of. While his stats aren’t the flashiest they are much better than his last weeks. Although not touching the ball at all would have been better this week than last for him where he had 0 yards and a fumble. This week the first round pick totaled 60 yards, most of which came later in the game and in big moments. Michael came up huge on a third and twelve play only to step out one yard short of the first down(insert face palm emoji here). Luckily, he was able to keep the drive alive by converting on fourth down on the next play and eventually setting up a Jordan Ta’amu rushing touchdown. Let’s hope Christine can improve yet again on Sunday.
This game was a mix of emotions throughout. What came out of it was a team that showed they are never out of a game and are willing to adapt in the middle of a game for the positive. This offense can absolutely move the ball and if they can limit turnovers and, again, become more disciplined they can keep pace with any team in the league. Defensively not much more to ask for they realized how to slow a good quarterback down mid game and put pressure on throughout. Next week the BattleHawks have their first home game against the New York Guardians, and expect the “Battle”Dome to be loud and excited for the first football game there in years.
Notable Stats:
- Jordan Ta’amu: 30/37 284 yds, 2 ints, 8 car, 32 yds, 4 tot tds
- Matt Jones: 69 tot yds, 1 rec td
- L’Damian Washington: 8 rec, 77 yds, 1 rec td
- De’Mornay Pierson-El:9 rec, 50 yds, 1 rec td
- Christine Michael: 60 toto yds
Cracked Pavement Sports 