Jesse Dyess and Drew Wells 
With the start of week four upon us, It only seems appropriate to put week 3 to bed. Renegades writer Drew Wells and I are here to give you the shake-ups in the Week 3 power rankings. There were definitely some unexpected shake-ups. Some teams are starting to cement their potential as playoff teams. Others are still trying to find their way. Two teams are still looking for their first wins. Without any further ado, let’s dive right in.
1)
Jesse
Houston Roughnecks
No change here. A strong performance against a San Antonio team coming off their first win. Houston’s defense stymied San Antonio’s offense, holding them to 162 total yards. Brandon Silvers continues to shine with three first-half touchdowns. With a dominant defense and a potent offense, they may be atop the rankings for the foreseeable future.
Drew
Houston Roughnecks
It’s hard to place anyone else at number 1 until they are well and truly challenged. Even in their two close games against the Renegades and Brahmas, the Roughnecks have not seemed to be in danger of actually losing. With the best defensive line in the league and a top 3 defensive unit as a whole, Houston seems to be the most balanced team between offense and defense in the XFL.
2)
Jesse
DC Defenders
The DC defenders jump to number 2 after a wild game against the Battlehawks. The Defenders picked off A.J. Mccarron Twice, once resulting in a pick-six, and sacked him four times. A strong defense combined with 140 yards on the ground was enough for DC to take the number 2 spot from the St. Louis Battlehawks.
Drew
DC Defenders
In last week’s rankings, St. Louis was number 2 and D.C. number 3. As fate would have it, that was deemed to be backward as D.C. dominated early, and won the back-and-forth leading up to the ending. It finally seemed like they struck a balance between quarterbacks Jordan Ta’amu and D’eriq King. Pair that with a punishing scoring defense, and D.C. is the first to lay any sort of claim to being the best team in the league (not named Houston) within the first three weeks of the season.
3
Jesse
St.Louis BattleHawks
The heart attack hawks ran out of last-second magic this week, and fall to the defenders. Too many mistakes from the Battlehawks resulted in a narrow loss in hostile territory. The Battlehawks still look like a playoff team, with a strong receiver core, and a quarterback who threw for 4 touchdowns despite being harrassed all afternoon. St. Louis should continue to be a handful for the rest of this season.
Drew
St. Louis BattleHawks
The Battlehawks fought valiantly in the nation’s capitol but fell short. A 14-point deficit early in the game proved too much to overcome, after a bad pass from A.J. McCarron turned into 6 points for D.C. All that said, St. Louis, showed teeth in its efforts and proved on the road that even when they are down, they can’t be counted out. This kind of showing against adversity only strengthens their top-3 stake in the league.
4
Jesse
San Antonio Brahmas
A loss to the Houston renegades winds up not hurting them in the power rankings. The Brahmas have a really strong defense, but their offense leaves a lot to be desired. Jack Coan has been somewhat inconsistent this year. Against the Roughnecks, he threw for a whopping 64 yards. One of the most run-heavy defenses in the league only managed 98 yards on 30 attempts. However, San Antonio’s defense has played well enough to keep them in the number 4 position.
Drew
San Antonio Brahmas
Early on against Houston, it seemed like San Antonio was clearly overmatched. Entering the half at a 22-7 deficit, they could have easily hung it up and tried again the next week. They showed their resolve, however, by essentially shutting down Houston’s offense in TDECU Stadium in the second half. With better playcalling in a critical goal-to-go situation, we could well be talking about how they took Houston to overtime (and maybe beat them). They stand pat at 4 on this list.
5)
Jesse
Seattle Seadragons
A win against the Vegas vipers keeps this team in the final position. One of the more memorable plays this season, a long touchdown pass to Josh Gordon, secured the win. Ben Dinucci has shown the ability to sling the ball as the XFL’s leading passer. The running game has started to take form with Morgan Ellison. This team has the potential to be in playoff contention at the end of the season.
Drew
Seattle Seadragons
Ben DiNucci and Josh Gordon are starting to kick away in terms of chemistry and effectiveness. A 65-yard link-up gave Seattle the 30-26 lead with 35 seconds left, and ultimately the win in a hotly contested matchup in Las Vegas. Given the nearly complete lack of defense, it is hard to place Seattle any higher on the list as those above them have shown evidence of being defensively dominant in their early games. If Seattle figures things out completely, the rest of the league needs to be on notice.
6)
Jesse
Arlington Renegades
Fall one rank after a 10-9 game against the Orlando Defenders. The offense this season has been unable to get going, at this point, the defense has one less touchdown than the offense. Arlington needed two fumbles from Jah-Maine Martin to secure the win. Right now their winning record looks like fool’s gold. They have just had the good fortune of having the easiest schedule early.
Drew
Vegas Vipers
Brett Hundley entered the fold on Saturday and transformed the Las Vegas Vipers’ offense nearly immediately. Punishing Seattle both downfield and on the run, Hundley put the offense on his shoulders and gave them life. Vegas even showed flashes on defense, but ultimately it wasn’t enough. Down the stretch, Hundley tweaked his thigh on a first-down scramble and was largely ineffective thereafter. If Hundley gets healthy, this could be a sneaky top 4 team.
7)
Jesse
Vegas Vipers
For the second time in three weeks, the Vipers managed to blow a second-half lead. They lost in rather spectacular fashion to the Seattle Seadragons. Brett Hundley seemed to provide a shot in the arm for the offense. The defense still needs some work, but this is looking like a team getting closer to getting it all together.
Drew
Arlington Renegades
Not to sound hateful, but what a waste of a jam-up defensive squad! the Renegades went as far as to make a change at quarterback, citing a lack of offensive production. If possible, it got even worse. Orlando stymied the Arlington offense for most of the game and even took a 6-point lead in the fourth quarter. A timely offensive answer really saved their skin, but it is hard to tell if it was the Arlington offense being good for a drive or the Orlando defense giving up too much in the end. With no real scoring power, the Renegades are fairly low on the totem pole.
8)
Jesse
Orlando Guardians
The Guardians cemented their spot at the bottom after losing a heartbreaker to the Arlington renegades. Once again self-inflicted mistakes cost them dearly. Jah-Maine Martin had two fumbles, one giving three points to Arlington, the other taking a potential field goal off the table. A six-point swing in a one-point game is enough to doom the defenders to the bottom of this list.
Drew
Orlando Guardians
Credit to Head Coach Terrell Buckley, it didn’t seem as though Orlando had effort questions this week. The offense couldn’t get much going until late, but the defense put on a good show against a sub-par offense at home. The last week really highlighted a lot of problems for Orlando, but it seems they are moving in the right direction. If they keep moving up (and with the signing of QB Quinton Flowers), they could actually see themselves rise from the bottom in a few weeks’ time, or sooner should they pull a miracle and defeat Houston at home this weekend.
