The XFL is scratching the itch of football fans far and wide. Here’s everything you need to know about the Week 4 XFL games today, including start times, channels, live stream options, and more.
XFL Games Today: Is There Football on This Weekend?
The first three weeks of the 2023 XFL season saw some teams look like title contenders and others look like … well, not quite title contenders. Here’s where you can watch this weekend’s action, as well as some insights on what we might expect from each team.
Orlando Guardians (0-3) vs. Houston Roughnecks (3-0)
- Date: Saturday, March 11
- Start Time: 7 p.m. ET
- TV Channel & Live Stream Options: FX and fuboTV
The betting lines assume a blowout, and realistically, that might happen. The Roughnecks are one of the league’s best teams on offense and defense, while Orlando has struggled on both sides of the ball.
Keep a close eye on Houston’s D, which has limited opponents to 3.5 yards per carry while generating 13 sacks. Paxton Lynch should struggle more often than not. To keep pace, he’ll need to operate aggressively — building off of his impressive 12-52-1 rushing line — while getting the underutilized Christian Rambo more involved.
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Although Cody Latimer has (deservedly) ascended to the Guardians’ No. 1 receiver role, Rambo was their first-round selection in November’s “offensive skills” portion of the draft. For context, Latimer went in the 11th and final round.
That doesn’t mean Rambo deserves more looks. After all, half of the first-round picks objectively have been complete busts this far; one was even cut before the season started.
But talent is talent, and Rambo has shown hints of breaking out. If he gets going, Lynch should have enough firepower to kick this offense into another gear.
Seattle Sea Dragons (1-2) vs. San Antonio Brahmas (1-2)
- Date: Saturday, March 11
- Start Time: 10 p.m. ET
- TV Channel & Live Stream Options: FX and fuboTV
The winner will be squarely in the playoff hunt. The loser will have their work cut out for them in the final six weeks.
Seattle was one of my two preseason picks (along with St. Louis) to win the championship. I believed in their passing game, featuring Ben DiNucci, Josh Gordon, Jahcour Pearson, and Blake Jackson. And their RB duo of Brenden Knox and Morgan Ellison looked underrated.
Their 1-2 record is irrelevant from my perspective. The Sea Dragons’ offense is elite — plain and simple. DiNucci leads all XFL quarterbacks in passing yards. Running recently in place of an injured Knox, Ellison leads the league in rushing yards. And Pearson and Gordon are No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in receiving yards.
They had the misfortune of facing DC and St. Louis in the first two weeks — arguably the toughest opener for any XFL team.
However, they’ve earned only four sacks and one interception on defense. And San Antonio has enough playmakers to sustain drives against a relatively beatable D.
One question is whether Jack Coan is “the answer” for the Brahmas at QB. I’ve had my doubts since Week 1, and it doesn’t help that de facto No. 1 receiver Jalen Tolliver has been hobbled, forcing guys like Alize Mack and T.J. Vasher to step up.
The other question concerns the backfield, which pairs the slow Jacques Patrick with the plodding Kalen Ballage. I wrote last month that I’d be shocked if the Brahmas didn’t sign another RB before the end of the season. These two have combined for a whopping 72 carries for a not-so-whopping 233 yards. That’s 3.2 yards per carry. That won’t get it done against Seattle.
St. Louis Battlehawks (2-1) vs. Arlington Renegades (2-1)
- Date: Sunday, March 12
- Start Time: 4 p.m. ET
- TV Channel & Live Stream Options: ESPN2 and fuboTV
If you live in a world where daylight savings time is a thing, then remember to set your clocks forward one hour Sunday morning. Or sooner if you want to one-up your friends.
While Saturday’s nightcap is between a great 1-2 team and a deserving 1-2 team, Sunday’s opening contest can be characterized as a great 2-1 team vs. an overrated 2-1 team.
What do I mean? As alluded to above, I’ve been big on the Battlehawks all year. Next to Houston, they’re probably the most complete team (yes, even more complete than DC). AJ McCarron has all the weapons he needs in the passing game, and his backfield should continue to hum with Brian Hill at the helm.
I’m not hung up on their questionable defense, which coincidentally has the same number of sacks (four) and interceptions (one) as the Sea Dragons. St. Louis has played three tough games to start the season, including traveling to San Antonio for a Sunday Week 1 tilt and then to Seattle for another game four days later.
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They won both because they’re a dang good team. I expect McCarron to connect early and often with Hakeem Butler, Austin Proehl, and Darrius Shepherd. Anything they get from their first-round pick, Marcell Ateman, will be gravy.
Why am I down on Arlington? Well, they have two narrow victories over the winless Vipers and winless Guardians. While their run defense has been phenomenal (2.7 yards per carry), they don’t have enough offensive playmakers to keep pace with teams like St. Louis.
Longtime readers know how high I’ve been on TE Sal Cannella. The last tight end head coach Bob Stoops had in college was Mark Andrews. This team knew what they were doing when they selected Cannella in the first round of the “offensive skills” portion of the draft.
The problem is that the rest of their offense has looked underwhelming. Kyle Sloter seemed to officially replace Drew Plitt last weekend at QB. We’ll see if that helps. But the running game remains anemic, with De’Veon Smith and Keith Ford collectively accruing 142 rushing yards on 55 carries (2.6 ypc).
DC Defenders (3-0) vs. Vegas Vipers (0-3)
- Date: Sunday, March 12
- Start Time: 7 p.m. ET
- TV Channel & Live Stream Options: ESPN2 and fuboTV
Another struggling team, another newly installed quarterback. The Vipers’ Brett Hundley is the X factor in this one, which no doubt should go DC’s way. However, we cannot discount how Hundley’s abilities might translate in the XFL.
After all, he excelled in the running game at UCLA, averaging a 12-54 rushing line and 21 rushing scores in his final two seasons. Yet, he wasn’t freed up to operate as a true dual-threat QB in the NFL, where in nine career starts he averaged 30 rushing yards on just under four carries. The efficiency was there, but not the volume. He could do so much more.
Rod Smith, John Lovett, and Jeff Badet form a solid nucleus for a team that doesn’t entirely deserve to be 0-3 at this stage. I would argue that if Hundley had been the starter beginning in Week 1, they could have beaten Arlington in the opener (instead of losing by two).
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Still, DC is well positioned to move to 4-0. Their running game is beyond elite in this league, as they boast three of the XFL’s seven top rushers — including electric QB Jordan Ta’amu.
However, the Defenders’ passing game is still suspect. They might not need it on Sunday. But if they do, can Ta’amu improve on his meek 48% completion rate? At some point, a team will be good enough to force Ta’amu to win through the air. Until that happens, I remain skeptical about DC’s chances of winning the title.