Tommy Jones and Jesse Dyess 
image Courtesy Orlandoweekly.com
Week 6 of the XFL is set to kick off Saturday, with some great games on the docket. DC plays Houston on Monday night in a game featuring the best teams in each division. St. Louis takes on Las Vegas, which could be interesting since Las Vegas has looked much improved. Arlington and San Antonio give us what should be an old school, one score should be enough to take it home style game. Finally, Orlando and Seattle meet in what on paper should be a very one-sided game. Here with me to help preview this game is Seattle correspondent Tommy Jones.
Offense
Orlando -Jesse
Orlando’s offense to this point in the season has been abysmal. Paxton Lynch’s quarterback play has been suspect at best. The offensive line has to this point been terrible, surrendering more sacks and committing more penalties than any other team in the league. However, A glimpse of hope was shown Saturday night in Las Vegas. Quinten Dormady took the field and many of the passing game issues seemed to disappear. In the second half, the running game was also fairing much better.
Martin and Darrington got to the second level, and Darrington had a Touchdown. Charleston Rambo and Cody Latimer have also seemed to benefit from the switch at quarterback. It may not be enough, as Orlando is going against one of the league’s best teams. However, if we are able to take advantage of potential Seattle miscues, this could get very interesting
Seattle- Tommy
This year Seattle’s offense has been a bit of a rollercoaster. Ben Dinucci has been Jekyll and hyde this season, racking up an impressive 1328 passing yards. Those passing yards have also unfortunately come with 7 interceptions. Jahcour Pearson (438) and Josh Gordon (297) both lead the way for a very potent passing attack. If there was a game for DiNucci and Gordon to get back on the same page, it would be this week against the league’s worst defense.
Advantage: Seattle
Defense
Orlando- Jesse
In the first few weeks, it looked like Orlando’s defense just inherited bad situations from their offense. This is definitely true to an extent, but the last two weeks have exposed them. Houston seemed to be able to throw the ball to wide-open receivers any time they wanted to. This past week against Vegas, Luis Perez seemed to have no problem finding the open man, and they were able to run the ball pretty effectively. This defense also has the bad habit of not forcing turnovers, and extending drives with penalties. If Orlando stands any chance of slowing down Seattle, eliminating unnecessary penalties and shoring up their secondary is a must.
Seattle- Tommy
Seattle’s Defense has dramatically improved since week one. They played exceptionally against Houston, holding a once dominant offense scoreless for 3 quarters. No quarterback has been safe from linebacker Tuzar Skipper, recording 4 sacks and 7 tackles for losses this season. If Seattle is able to work on their pass coverage and force more turnovers, this could be a dominant unit.
Advantage: Seattle
Scenarios
Orlando will win if:
They are able to put points up in bunches. Against one of the league’s best Offenses, I expect the defense to struggle. For Orlando to win, they must take advantage of every Seattle miscue. That’s how DC and St.Louis were eventually able to beat them. The offensive line is going to have to shore up their pass blocking and play more disciplined. The defense, while expected to give up points, needs to force turnovers and at least come up with the occasional stop. This is a tall task for a team that hasn’t shown many of these traits as of yet
Seattle will win if:
Ben DiNucci limits his mistakes, the offense is able to get third-leading rusher Morgan Ellison going, and the defense is able to keep Dormady uncomfortable. If Orlando is able to hang around and make a game of it, it more than likely is because Seattle made too many mistakes.
Betting Line
Seattle is currently an 8.5-point favorite. At this point, both Tommy and I agree that taking Seattle to cover feels like a smart move. Orlando has struggled mightily in both games against Houston, and we definitely see the potential for this to happen again. The over/under for this game is set at 42.5. Tommy and I both agree that the over feels like a good play. Seattle and Orlando both have the potential to put up points and at this point, Orlando’s defense has given up the most points in the league.
