With 5 weeks in the books for the XFL III, and football scheduled this weekend, it looks like the league will last longer than the 2020 reboot who lasted only 5 weeks. It was the pandemic that took out the XFL reboot. Things should be good this weekend unless players caught the Irish flu at the St.Patrick’s Day celebrations last weekend. In our latest version of the XFL power rankings, the Defenders are flying high right now.

The Roughnecks blow an oil gasket.

We are rearranging the furniture in week six and starts with the top of the food chain.

#8. ORLANDO GUARDIANS (0-5) FOREVER IN THE SAME SPOT

Would week 5 be Terrell Buckley’s above coming out party? The Guardians versus Vipers in the XFL Classic Toilet Bowl I. The Guardians had some good, bad, and as usual… just ugly moments in this game between two winless teams. The good or maybe just lucky, as Quinton Dormady came of the bench after being suspended this season and looked, kept the Guardians in the game with a chance to win late.

Dormady was accused of giving away plays to the opposing team and was kicked off the team & then reinstated. What would Buckley’s play book be?? A pop-up book with Disney characters. Dormady went 22-25 for 256 yards with two touchdown passes. As a team, the Guardians scored the most points in a game this season with 32. At the end, with a chance to win, the Guardians get derailed by penalties at which they had another game over ten of them. This Guardian team has no discipline and bad coaching decisions. They had a chance at the end but took a sack and then two false starts keeps their perfect record intact.

#7. VEGAS VIPERS (1-4) SAME SPOT LAST WEEK

The Vipers prevailed in the Classic XFL Toilet Bowl game winning their first game of the season versus a Guardian team that took them to the brink of the game. The Vipers have played teams tough this season as I was shocked to see the Guardians making this showdown a close game. The Vipers won this game because the Guardians shot themselves in the foot at the very end of the game with the ball on the Vipers’ doorstep to take the lead. Former Pittsburgh Steeler great, Rod Woodson, gets his first victory as a head coach as he tied former teammate, Hines Ward, who is head coach of the Brahmas in San Antonio. Quietly, the King of Spring Fling, Luis Perez, is one of the top quarterbacks in the XFL. Perez in 4 games for the Vipers has 8 touchdowns. This Viper team will not make the playoffs but could play the role of spoiler to another team’s playoff hopes.

#6. SAN ANTONIO BRAHMAS (1-4) DROPPED ONE SPOT FROM LAST WEEK

Only ten points versus the Renegades as they scored just 12 to beat you. The problem with the Brahmas is the offense, offense, and the offense. MIA!!! The Brahmas defense has kept them, in every game, one of the better units. Head Coach Hines Ward has changed his offensive coordinator, which did not. Ward even changed his quarterback that did not work as Reid Sinnett did not set the league on fire passing for 97 yards. Sinnett threw 19 passes & completed 13 for the shortest of the short of passing games, averaging 5.1 yards a pass play. The Brahmas go home next week and quickly have a rematch versus the same division rival, the Renegades, who could take the bull by the horns and end San Antonio’s playoff hopes of sweeping the series. When is the Steeler Bowl?

Hines’ Brahma’s versus Rod Woodson’s Vipers. Might be better than the toilet bowl between the Vipers and Guardians.

#5. ARLINGTON RENEGADES (3-2) MOVED UP ONE SPOT FROM LAST WEEK

The Renegades are like the Brahmas with a great defense and non-existent offense. However, the Renegades have 3 wins as they are just doing enough to get by as they scored 12 to beat the Brahmas who only scored 10. The Renegades play in the same division as the Guardians and face the Brahmas in a rematch this weekend. If Bob Stoops’ Renegades prevail in San Antonio, they would have swept the Brahmas and improved their record to 4-2. The Brahmas would drop to 1-5 with 4 games left. The Renegades would have that 2nd place spot wrapped up in the division and a ticket to the post-season play.

The Renegades linebacker, Donald Payne, is one of the cogs that make the Renegades defense one of the best. Payne is second in the XFL in tackles. Payne played for the Houston Gamblers in the USFL last Spring and was one of the leading tacklers in that league. Payne, like most of these guys, is trying to get back to the NFL. A post-season appearance by the Renegades could help Payne’s case if he can thrive in big game moments and take control of the game for his Arlington team.

#4. ST. LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS (3-2) DROPPED ONE SPOT FROM LAST WEEK

I thought the St. Louis Battlehawks would be undefeated at home. With those packed houses and the Battlehawks playing some good football. The Defenders waltz in to St.Louis and beat the Battlehawks for the second time this season to sweep the series. Only two losses the BattleHawks have are against DC. My problem with the Battlehawks is they find themselves behind in the second half and have to try these immaculate comebacks to win games. The Battlehawks won their first two on the road with impressive comebacks. A.J McCarron once again made things interesting hitting on 50 yard touchdown strike to make the game 28-20 with 4 minutes left against the Defenders. The Battlehawk defense then stopped the Defenders on the next possession, forcing them to punt.

Carson Wells, linebacker for the Battlehawks defense, one of my favorite defenders in the league. He’s always in on a tackle or making a big play. The Battlehawks would get the ball back and McCarron throws an interception on the potential game winning drive as the Defenders hold on and stay undefeated.

Battlehawks end up losing once again to their former quarterback of of 2020 in the XFL first reboot, Jordan Ta’amu.

#3. HOUSTON ROUGHNECKS (4-1) DROPPED TWO SPOTS FROM LAST WEEK

Do the 1972 Dolphins use the Roughnecks loss as an excuse to go out & hoist a few drinks to salute the only perfect season in pro football history? The Roughnecks were having a perfect season until the pandemic shut things down in the XFL reboot in 2020. This year the streak is over at the midway point of the season.The first loss ever for the Roughnecks game looked close, but it could have been a blow out by Seattle who kept shooting themselves in the foot to keep Houston in the game. The Roughnecks have two wins versus the Guardians, which is not saying much. In games besides the Guardian, the offense of the Roughnecks has disappeared for half the game. The offense was shut out in the first half last week versus the Sea Dragons. Is that a concern? We will find out how the Roughnecks do against the Defenders on the XFL’S first Monday night game in week 6. Would have been cool to see if the Defenders and Roughnecks were facing each other undefeated. A Roughnecks win could catapult them back to the top of the power ranking mountain.

#2. SEATTLE SEA DRAGONS (3-2) MOVED UP 2 SPACES FROM LAST WEEK

The Sea Dragons give the Roughnecks their first blemish of all-time and first loss this season in the standings. Seattle has now won 3 games in a row and have the scariest quarterback in the league. Ben DiNucci can beat you with his arm and use his legs to get important yards. DiNucci leads the XFL in many of the passing stats like yards and touchdown passes. I felt like the Sea Dragons should have killed the Roughnecks 40-0. But DiNucci makes too many mistakes as he has 7 interceptions this season in 5 games. Roughnecks had some late scores to make the game look close at 21-14. It was a game Seattle dominated. The Sea Dragons offense has the most weapons in the XFL and has a good quarterback, but thanks to Ron Zook’s defense, they overcame DiNucci’s mistakes.

It was defensive line man Niko Lalos that came up with the interception to end any Roughnecks’ comeback. Houston’s quarterback did not look comfortable most of the game as Zook’s defense had a nice game plan to shut out the Houston’s squad in the first half. The Sea Dragons lost their first two games in close games and now are finding ways to win close games.

#1. DC DEFENDERS (5-0) MOVED UP ONE SPACE FROM LAST WEEK

The Defenders finally found that deluxe apartment in the sky of the XFL power rankings. I told you it would take Houston losing a game to move the Roughnecks off the top peg of the power rankings. Houston finally lost and the Defenders now are the last of the remaining undefeated teams in the XFL. The Defenders went off the road and came out of St. Louis with a victory. The Defenders had their work cut out for them as they had to deal with 35,000 screaming fans and beat a very good St. Louis team. Plus, the Defenders beat St. Louis twice and swept the series as the first one ended in a rumble in DC in a hard fought game. It seems like the Defenders have a different unsung hero every week on a well-rounded team on all aspects of the game.

The Defenders used that talented offensive line they assembled and opened up holes for running back Abraham Smith. He torched the Battlehawks defense for three rushing touchdowns and ran for 218 games. Smith had a monster game and now leads the XFL in rushing. In 5 games, Smith has averaged 5.1 yards per carry, has 4 rushing touchdowns, and has compiled up 432 yards. 218 of those 432 yards were last week against a pretty good Battlehawk defense.