We had 2 weeks between the Battlehawks’ first and second matchup with the Defenders. Once again the XFL schedulers aren’t doing us any favor because now there have only been 2 weeks between the Battlehawks’ first and second matchup with the Vipers. Luckily, Vegas is giving us something by doing a BIG retool at quarterback.
After the Battlehawks wrecked the Vipers the first time, Vegas traded their starting quarterback Luis Perez to the Renegades in exchange for a linebacker. Initially, I thought that was kind of a wild very very dumb move. As it turns out, I might be the dummy here because their new starting quarterback, Jalan McClendon is pretty fun to watch.
I don’t have a whole lot to cover here as far as new things to watch for with the Battlehawks' offense against the Vipers’ defense, so I’m going to mostly cover the Battlehawks’ defense against the Vipers’ offense.
Las Vegas Vipers (2-5) @ St. Louis Battlehawks (5-2)
Saturyay 4/8, 12 pm Central, ESPN
Battlehawks’ Defense v. Vipers’ Offense
Here’s the deal: Jalan McClendon has only started 2 games since he graduated high school. So it’s not that he has a lackluster playing pedigree, it’s that his playing pedigree is non-existent. We only have the film from last week’s game against the San Antonio Brahmas, and the Brahmas are a particularly bad team. So everything that we saw has to be taken with a big ol’ grain of salt.
If you remember the first game against the Vipers, Luis Perez was a guy who was almost too willing to stay in the pocket; he was kind of a statue back there.
Jalan McClendon?
Nah, dude. That’s not him.
Jalan is very mobile and it’s going to be tough to get him down in the backfield. Fortunately, the Battlehawks’ defense is seemingly more built around pressures rather than sacks. These pass rushers are going to find more success getting in Jalan’s face and forcing him to make bad decisions. He’s young and inexperienced and that’s going to show when he gets in trouble, which is something he was hardly in against the Brahmas.
The Vipers did a good job with running an offense that plays to a green quarterback last week. They did a lot of quick passes for not a whole lot of yards. It started early and kept going the whole game. The Vipers marched down the field on their first drive against the Brahmas. The Battlehawks’ defensive backs are good at coming down on those short routes and stopping them before they develop into something bigger. If they can force incompletions on those high-percentage throws early on, it’ll pay off dividends against a quarterback trying to build his confidence.
The Vipers used the success of those short throws to open up intermediate routes a handful of times. Jalan was then able to hit those and they kind of just rinsed and repeated that “short to intermediate” formula with little resistance and won the game fairly easily. The only trouble they had was self-inflicted. Sometimes it was penalties, but sometimes it was Jalan missing his mark wide or throwing the ball low and getting it tipped at the line.
We’ve seen the Battlehawks’ DBs have trouble with those intermediate routes all season so that pass rush is going to be very important when it comes to making sure those 10-15 yard throws don’t hit their mark.
The more interesting thing to me was the 2 or 3 plays when Jalan went to throw deep. It looked like he lost all pocket presence and turned into that Luis Perez-esque statue. There was one BIG BOI sack when he got absolutely hammered before he even brought the ball back to throw. Those opportunities are going to be there for this defense and they need to be able to capitalize when the Vipers get behind the sticks. Make McClendon test his arm and hit him when he tries.
As far as non-playing factors go, it’s clear that McClendon doesn’t completely know this offense. He was making incorrect checks at the line, taking a very long time to get the offense set up, and that led to a handful of delay-of-game penalties and timeouts that Vegas would’ve probably liked to hold on to. I think Jalan making his second professional start against a big and aggressive home crowd is going to certainly affect a few drives.
Even though he has very clear weaknesses that can be exaggerated by a good defensive scheme, Jalan McClendon is a big shot of adrenaline to Vegas’ offense. Last week they played with authority when they had the chance to, and I’m sure that the offense is going to come into this week 8 game with a lot of confidence that they deservedly earned in their double-digit win against San Antonio.
The Vipers do have a run game, but that’s just because they have to. It stinks baby. Their designed runs have been bad. Yeah, maybe another week of practice for McClendon will add a QB run element to what they have, but I don’t think it’ll be a game-changer. If there are going to be consistently successful runs, it would come from McClendon bailing on a pass play and tucking it. Plays that he would be able to roll out and then tuck and run are going to be plays where Jalan is going to be throwing long, so that means tucking and running won’t get him to the sticks.
The defensive key to this game is to make Jalan McClendon uncomfortable. Put him on the ground when you can and eventually make him take deep shots. Jeff Badet is the Vipers’ best receiver, and he leads the XFL in touchdown catches. Well, he’s out with a thigh thing. The Battlehawks are going to have the advantage in the throwing game. These safeties can be ball hawks and if they get the opportunity to get picks, they need to come down with the ball.
Make a rookie QB make plays.
Bada bing, bada boom.
Battlehawks’ Offense v. Vipers’ Defense
Again, not much to add here from the last Vipers game. The Battlehawks’ offensive line is still going to have their hands full with Maximilian Roberts and Pita Taumoepenu. Those guys working together are a sack machine. A couple of weeks ago the offensive line had their best pass protection game of the year, then they followed it up last week with another good showing. Yeah, they still allowed 3 sacks in each of those games, but it looks like they’re starting to put together some good performances. Except, ya know, for the sacks.
Marcell Ateman didn’t play in the first game, so I’m excited to see how he gets used this week. Remember how AJ went 19/19 at one point last time? I remember that. I don’t think he’ll get quite that much of a streak this week, but 18/18 seems doable. Getting a big-bodied Marcell Ateman in the mix is only going to make the passing game more potent.
This offense is going to be able to score the points to win if they don’t lose the turnover battle. We’ve seen Brian Hill have ball security issues recently. Those aren’t really something that just goes away. If a defense sees a guy fumbling on film, they’re going to hunt for that ball because they know it can come out.
Other than that? Psssh.
The Battlehawks put up 29 points 2 weeks ago. I think 4 touchdowns are in the mix this week too.
Prediction:
The last time these teams played I said the Vipers would beat themselves because that’s what they do. Then the Battlehawks dominated that whole game and left no doubt. I was wrong. Normally the Vipers get all kinds of penalties and give the game away. Last week the Vipers had 12 penalties for 158 yards, which is NUTS. Only a few of those were presnap penalties. I expect that they’ll have a lot more pre-snap penalties and probably about the same amount of other penalties.
This time… THIS time…. This time I’m going to be right.
Maybe the Vipers don’t necessarily beat themselves, but they’re going to hurt themselves when they have a chance to get back into a game that they shouldn’t be. They have an injury report that’s 6 feet long headlined by their best receiver being out, and their quarterback is getting thrown into the flames by having to play in a tough stadium. Not a great combination for an offense.
Don’t look now, but the Battlehawks are getting hot. It’s not a must-win game for them, but winning will help them get into a spot where they control their own destiny.
27-17 Battlehawks win.
See ya at the game.