The XFL’s 40-game common season — 4 video games per week for 10 weeks — ends Sunday evening, and it will take all 40 to determine which workforce will get the fourth and last playoff berth.
Three groups have clinched: The D.C. Defenders are the North Division champs, whereas the Houston Roughnecks gained the South Division and the Arlington Renegades completed second within the South. With the highest two groups from every division getting within the playoffs, the one remaining query is who’ll end second within the North: The St. Louis Battlehawks or Seattle Sea Dragons?
The Battlehawks gained on Saturday due to an absolute monster day from A.J. McCarron (extra on that beneath), that means the Sea Dragons have to win their sport in opposition to the Vegas Vipers that kicks off at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday to maintain tempo and match St. Louis’ 7-3 file. So, who will get in in the event that they tie at 7-3? We’ll get to that beneath as effectively (trace: the ultimate berth hasn’t been determined but).
Before we break issues down (take a look at the XFL standings right here) this is a take a look at the Week 10 scores up to now.
Saturday
St. Louis Battlehawks 53, Orlando Guardians 28
D.C. Defenders 29, San Antonio Brahmas 28
Sunday
Houston Roughnecks at Arlington Renegades | 3 p.m. ET on ESPN
Vegas Vipers at Seattle Sea Dragons | 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2
McCarron units XFL’s all-time TD file
A.J. McCarron could not have been an NFL star, however he is been an absolute beast within the XFL. The Battlehawks quarterback threw SIX landing passes on Saturday, going 28 of 35 for 420 yards. McCarron seems to be the frontrunner for XFL MVP. In a sport with a playoff berth doubtlessly on the road, all St. Louis did was rating 53 factors.
Granted, it got here in opposition to the Orlando Guardians, who’ve gained one sport all season — inexplicably handing the D.C. Defenders their one and solely loss.
McCarron’s six TDs gave him 24 for the yr. It’s essentially the most any XFL quarterback has thrown in any of the league’s three seasons — the opposite two have been the 2020 season that was canceled after 5 video games as a result of COVID-19, and the unique a technique again in 2001, when Tommy Maddox threw 18 landing passes.
The query for McCarron is: Could he return to the NFL? The fifth-round choose of the Bengals in 2014 — he additionally performed briefly with 4 different groups, totaling 6 TD passes and three INTs within the NFL — can be eligible to take action.
The query for his Battlehawks: Do they attain the playoffs? Here’s a breakdown.
Do Battlehawks or Sea Dragons make playoffs if Seattle wins?
If the Sea Dragons lose Sunday evening within the last regular-season sport, St. Louis is in. But with a Seattle win, the groups would tie at 7-3, and that is the place it will get tough. Here are the XFL’s playoff tiebreakers:
Head-to-headBest win/loss proportion in division video gamesStrength of victory in all video games – mixed file of opponents in winsBest mixed rating amongst division groups in factors scored and factors allowed in all gamesBest mixed rating amongst all groups in factors scored and factors allowed in all gamesBest web factors in all gamesBest web touchdowns in all gamesCoin toss
According to the league’s website, with a Seattle win, it’d seemingly come all the way down to No. 4, and this is how that works: “You take the 4 divisional opponents and rank them in two classes: factors scored and factors allowed. The greatest workforce is awarded a 1, the second-best is awarded a 2 and so forth for every class. Of the 2 groups making an attempt to make the playoffs, the one with the decrease mixed rating rating wins the tiebreaker.”
After all that? Adding these factors up reveals that the Sea Dragons would get in with a Week 10 win, in line with the XFL web site.
Who’s already in
D.C. Defenders Houston Roughnecks Arlington Renegades
The house owners of the XFL’s greatest file, D.C. (9-1) will host the North Division Championship on Sunday, April 30, at 3 p.m. ET (ESPN) in opposition to both the Battlehawks or Sea Dragons. The Defenders gained one other nail-biter this previous weekend, beating the San Antonio Brahmas 29-28.
The Brahmas’ loss knocked them out of playoff competition, which suggests the Arlington Renegades are in — regardless of a 4-5 file and permitting extra factors than they’d scored heading into Sunday’s regular-season finale. The Renegades and Roughnecks not solely play within the regular-season finale for every workforce on Sunday, they will additionally match up once more within the playoffs subsequent Saturday, April 29 (7 p.m. ET on ESPN2) within the South Division championship — in case you would like to look at some soccer because the third and last day of the NFL Draft involves an in depth.
Who’s out
Las Vegas VipersOrlando GuardiansSan Antonio Brahmas
The Vipers can play spoiler in opposition to the Sea Dragons on Sunday evening. Vegas was extra aggressive through the second half of the season. Rod Woodson’s workforce picked up its second win over the season in convincing trend over the Brahmas again in Week 7, and adopted up that efficiency with shut losses in opposition to St. Louis and Houston.
A giant purpose for the Vipers’ latest success has been the play of quarterback Jalan McClendon, who in three video games has accomplished 67% of his passes with 5 touchdowns and no picks. The Sea Dragons, in the meantime, have gone 6-1 since dropping their first two video games.
