St. Louis Battlehawks at DC Defenders 3/8/20 - XFL Picks & Predictions

The St. Louis Battlehawks travel on the road to our nation’s capital to take on the DC Defenders in a battle of the two teams at the top of the XFL East. St. Louis won their last time out, beating the Seattle Dragons 23-16 on their home field to improve their record on the season to 23-16. DC was dominated by a bad Tampa Bay Vipers team, losing 25-0 to drop their record to 2-2 on the season. 

At the helm for the DC Defenders is former Ohio State graduate Cardale Jones who has completed 55% of his passes and thrown for 4 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Cardale got off to a hot start in the season, but the Defenders offense really struggled against a bad Tampa Bay team. The run game for the Defenders has been less than exceptional as the leading rusher in Donnel Pumphrey who has carried the ball 31 times for 131 yards and 0 touchdowns. Both wins for the Defenders came at home, while both losses came on the road and DC will look to get back on trackback on their home field. 

St. Louis starting quarterback Jordan Ta’amu has been very solid this year completing over 75% of his passes for 876 yards, 5 touchdowns, and just two interceptions. His quarterback rating is 105.9 which ranks second in the XFL. Ta’amu does it with his arm and his legs as he is second the Battlehawks in rushing yards with 186 yards on 36 carries. Leading rusher Matt Jones has received a heavy workload, leading the XFL in attempts with 67 and gaining 244 yards and a touchdown.

The Battlehawks defense has been stout all season long, allowing only 7 touchdowns this season which leads the XFL. The struggling offense of DC their last time out will be rejuvenated at home, but will that be enough to get past one of the best teams in the XFL? The Defenders defense allowed the Tampa Bay Vipers to run the ball all over them as the Defenders allowed 477 total yards, 266 of them on the ground. DC has allowed a league’s worst twelve touchdowns this season.