The XFL has completed a regular season and will move on to try to determine a championship in this football Spring league on its third attempt to establish itself. Only thing stopping the XFL post-season would be the apocalypse.

The last time the XFL declared a champion of any kind, you’d have to go back to 2001when the Extreme played the Demons.

Tommy Maddox led the LA Extreme over the San Francisco Demons as the XFL looked like a one year wonder and actually were, until the league popped back up in 2020 and was derailed by the Corona virus.

2023 XFL PLAYOFFS

THE SOUTH DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP

#2. ARLINGTON RENEGADES (4-6) AT #1.HOUSTON ROUGHNECKS (7-3)

This is the rematch of last week’s final regular season game from both teams. The Roughnecks swept the Renegades in both match ups during the regular season. Can the Roughnecks beat the same team for the third time in one season? Which is hard to do because teams know each other’s intangibles.

QUARTERBACK PLAY

Both quarterbacks for both teams in the South are full bred Spring football quarterbacks. Brandon Silvers for the Roughnecks has played in XFL 2020 with Seattle and before that, the American Alliance Football League. Then Luis Perez, the King of Spring Fling, has done the American Alliance Football League, XFL both reboots, and the USFL. Perez is on his second team of the year as he started with the Vipers. Both Perez and Silvers are tier two quarterbacks in the XFL in which tier one would be AJ McCarron of St.Louis and Ben DiNucci of Seattle. Both Silvers and Perez can be streaky and are always prone to make a mistake that can put their team at risk at any point of the games.

THE SKINNY

Luis Perez, since arriving in town after the trade from the Vipers to the Renegades in Arlington, has scored more points per game. The Renegades passing game starts out with their tight end Sal Cannella who has caught 42 balls. On the ground, the Renegades running back DeVeon Smith has 7 rushing touchdowns which is tied for the most in the league. On defense, the Renegades have been solid most of the year. Early on, most of the scoring came from the Renegade defense. Defensive back Joe Powell is second in the XFL in interceptions.

The Roughnecks passing game is Deontay Burnett who has six receiving touchdowns which is tied for second most in the XFL. The Roughnecks defense has been stingy at times this season. In the trenches, Trent Harris leads the XFL with the most sacks with 9.5. Now that’s getting to the quarterback in ten regular season games. Then Roughnecks defensive back, Ajene Harris, has the most picks in the XFL.

THE VERDICT

PREDICTION ROUGHNECKS

The Roughnecks feed off their own division opponents.

Houston has dominated the teams in their own division and had problems with teams in the North. I like the Roughnecks double barrel action in the running game with Max Borghi and Brycen Alleyne. They’re getting the job done of the offense side of the ball instead of relying on Brandon Silvers making a costly mistake. Houston Defense has looked rejuvenated after they finally snapped their mid-season losing streak. I think the Roughnecks will force Luis Perez into some costly turnovers that decide the faith of the Renegades for this season.

THE NORTH DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP

#2.SEATTLE SEA DRAGONS (7-3) AT #1.DC DEFENDERS (9-1)

The North Championship in my opinion is the XFL Championship. Either Seattle or DC will able to handle anything coming out of the Texas division. The Defenders swept the Sea Dragons in both games they played each other during the regular season. I will ask one question like I did in the South Championship match up. Can the Defenders beat the Sea Dragons for the third time this season? The last meeting, the Defenders won by one point.

QUARTERBACK PLAY

When it comes to quarterback play, Seattle has the edge with Ben DiNucci behind center as he has led the league in passing yards, touchdown passes, and interceptions. He has limited those mistakes the last few games closing out regular season. Jordan Ta’amu stat wise is the second best quarterback in the XFL this season. The Defenders play duel quarterbacks every game. Ta’amu started off slowly but his game has picked up half way through the season and does not make mistakes throwing picks like DiNucci does for Seattle. Both quarterbacks in this North Championship are duel threats and get positive yardage with their legs.

THE SKINNY

The Defenders average 29.8 points per game which is most in the XFL. The Defenders have the top running back in the game in Abraham Smith who gained 791 yards on the ground. Jordan Ta’amu has an arsenal of pass catchers as Lucky Jackson has the most receptions of 20 yards or more receptions with ten. The Defenders have Michael Joseph, a play maker on defense, who is a ball hawk with 4 interceptions. Two of those interceptions were pick sixes.

The Sea Dragons have one of the top offenses in the league. Jecour Peterson has the most receiving yards in the league with 670 and catches with 60. Juwan Green had 6 touchdown catches which is second most in the XFL this season. Let’s not forget Josh Gordan who demands attention and can make defenders look silly by grabbing balls that are uncatchable to most receivers.

THE VERDICT

PREDICTION: SEA DRAGONS

Sea Dragons can win on the road as they won in St.Louis in front of a full capacity crowd. The Sea Dragons can find a way to beat down the beer snake and flying lemons in DC. Ben DiNucci has carried this team on his back the last few weeks. What happened to the Defenders solid defense? The Guardians scored points on them to give the Defenders their only loss of the year. Even the poor Renegades offense who could not score points in a whore house on free hump day, scored their most points of the season versus DC.

Again it’s hard to beat a team three times, so this will favor Seattle.