Harry Breaks Down the XFL Odds for Week 3 and Gives His XFL Best Bet
The XFL in Week 2 had from all accounts another solid week of action on the field and in the review booth. When I say review booth, I witnessed three times in the first three games that they had a review of a questionable play and not only do you get to see what they are reviewing but you get to hear it as well? ARE YOU LISTENING, NFL!!! All three review officials made the right call and through two weeks the officiating, reviewing of challenges and overall play has been pretty good in my book.
In terms of wagering, again, the broadcasters are promoting betting on the XFL in a way that draws a drastic difference to the NFL. I even witnessed that, at halftime of the New York/DC game, ABC posted on television what the betting line of the game was for the second half, which was a beautiful sight to my eyes. Speaking of betting, here are the betting trends for each category in terms of numbers.
4-4 Home Teams vs Spread
4-4 Favorites vs Spread
6-2 Unders Hitting
The Unders are 6-2 mainly because teams seem to start very slow in the first quarters. These coaches are playing conservative until they get a feel for how the game is going and sometimes they don’t loosen up the play calling until midway through the second quarter. A perfect example comes from last week’s game between Dallas and Los Angeles. The Wildcats kicked a last second field goal before halftime to make it 3-3… then in the second half, the offenses finally got going and scored a total of 37 points.
XFL Odds, XFL Spreads for Week 3 and Harry’s XFL Picks for Week 3
Houston Roughnecks -6 at Tampa Bay Vipers (Over/Under: 47)
As of right now, Houston possesses the league’s MVP in quarterback PJ Walker who has seven touchdowns. Walker has seven and while the Vipers have zero offensive TDs through two games. The Vipers have also killed themselves with stupid penalties and turnovers. This is Tampa Bay’s home opener and I expect them to play tough, but it would not be smart to go against the best player in the league.
The Prediction:
23 Houston Roughnecks
13 Tampa Bay Vipers
[table id=1947 /]
[table id=1948 /]
Dallas Renegades -4.5 at Seattle Dragons (Over/Under: 44.5)
Seattle was fortunate to win as they pulled out their first W as a franchise against the toothless Vipers. It took a full half for Renegades’ QB Landry Jones to get rolling and I expect him to do much better this week against Seattle’s shaky secondary.
The Prediction:
27 Dallas Renegades
16 Seattle Dragons
New York Guardians at St. Louis BattleHawks –9.5 (Over/Under: 41)
[table id=1951 /]
[table id=1953 /]
New York has issues on the offensive side of the ball, meanwhile BattleHawks QB Jordan Ta’amu is completing 78% of his passes and can run as well, chipping in for 6.4 yards a rush after two weeks. St Louis safety Will Hill will be licking his chops with some of those awful passes Guardians QB Matt McGloin made last week versus the Defenders. The BattleHawks will win this one in a blowout.
The Prediction:
10 New York Guardians
29 St Louis BattleHawks
DC Defenders -8 at Los Angeles Wildcats (Over/Under: 44)
[table id=1954 /]
[table id=1955 /]
This is another situation like the Houston game where you have to play the better QB until they prove you wrong. Defenders QB Cardale Jones has been the second–best QB and second–best player in the league behind Walker of Houston. The Defenders defense pitched a shutout last week versus New York and are playing a winless Wildcats squad. Los Angeles will score in this one but not enough to keep up with the Defenders.
The Prediction:
32 DC Defenders
21 Los Angeles Wildcats
Harry Gagnon spent 14 years as a Vegas Sportsbook Supervisor and holds a Communications degree from SUNY-Oswego. You might know him better as part of the Degenerate Trifecta on the award nominated betting podcast “Against All odds with Cousin Sal” on the Ringer Podcast Network. Feel free to find him on Twitter (@AAOHarry) and tweet him a message if you want to talk casinos, sports, or just shoot the breeze about betting in general cause, hey, that’s what Twitter is for, right?