Questions I Need Answers To This Weekend

Before the XFL Weekend kicks-off today at 2 PM ET, I wanted to list out all the questions I need to be answered this weekend. It will go a long way in moving teams up or down in my Power Rankings.

First and foremost, the one thing that has frustrated me all week. Is Coach Zorn really not going to start BJ Daniels? If he starts Silver, I guarantee they lose this game. But that's just my own opinion. What if Zorn is right about Silvers and he is way better than how he has played, goes out and puts on a show, knocking off the unbeaten Roughnecks? Zorn wouldn't look so foolish then, would he? But I see not starting Daniels as the reason that absolutely loses this game. It seems the more realistic of the two. I have the Dragons at #5. I've seen a lot of Power Rankings that have them dead last. I don't understand that at all. They beat the, now #4, Vipers in Week 2. And after giving up 11 unanswered points in the 1st quarter to the #2 team in the league, they outscored them 16-12 the rest of the way, lead by BJ Daniels. so how on earth could Seattle be dead last? If BJ was starting I was picking Seattle to win this one, that's how much I was won over by how Daniels ran the offense. One way or another, these questions will be answered.

The New York Guardians are #7 in my Power Rankings. They are as high as #5 in other rankings I have seen this week. I don't know what they are seeing, but I clearly don't think they are deserving of anything higher, right now. They are 2-2. but realistically they should be 1-3 if LA didn't play as bad as they did last week. I honestly felt NY gave LA every chance to win that game and their offense just couldn't execute. But regardless of how I feel, they are 2-2. So the question is, how good are they really? If they go out against #3 Dallas and make it a real close game, even if they lose, then I can see them in a better light. However, if Dallas comes out and crushes them like they were in Weeks 2 & 3, then my eye test was right. I wouldn't be extremely surprised if NY made it a game, or possibly won. But I just can't see it happening.

On the other side of that, Dallas needs to give me some answers as well. As I said before, if they just ran the ball more, like I have been pleading with them to do, they would possibly be 3-1 right now. They get away from their run game ALL THE TIME and it drives me nuts. It is what they do best, in my opinion. They have two good backs, inside the 5-yard line, against the undefeated Roughnecks, with a chance to win the game, and they throw it. Leads to a pick, game over. Similar to the Seahawks not giving it to Lynch to win the Super Bowl, but this is obviously on a much less important scale. I didn't think they were all that great. I had them at #4 simply because I didn't have any SOLID reason to put them below other teams. I didn't think their passing game was any good, I felt their running game was very good, but knew they just want to pass instead, and I didn't know what to think of their defense. Dallas proved to me that their defense is a lot better than I thought they were. Much better. And proved that I was right about their run game being very good. But most importantly, they gave my extreme criticism of how bad their pass game, game-planing, and playcalling is, real validity. I want to see if they learned from that huge mistake last week, or are they just too stubborn to go with what works and keep forcing the pass, for another 5 picks this week.

I know the Battlehawks are good. My eye test tells me nothing of what I should be skeptical about. That obviously can't be said about DC. I keep driving this stat into the ground, but it just shows you how bad DC has been the past 2 weeks. Outscored 64-9 in two games, against teams who were previously winless. Now they are going up against the #2 team in the league and am I to believe that they are going to come out and make this a game? Am I supposed to believe that they could actually pull off a HUGE upset? Of all the games this week, I can realistically see the Dragons upset the Roughnecks and the Guardians upsetting the Renegades. It's not out of the realm of possibility. But I can not, under any thought process available to me, see how the Defenders can come out and beat the Battehawks. I just can't. DC is the #8 team in my Power Rankings. Dead last. For good reason. But even being outscored 64-9 in two games, some people still have them as high as #4 and #5. What?! So I want to see if there is anything DC can show me. Is there some essence of a good football team somewhere in there, or are they exactly who I think they are. The worst team in the league.

Finally, the two teams who blew out DC. #6 LA Wildcats who beat them 39-9, and #4 TB Vipers who beat them 25-0. Both teams are 1-3. The 2 most notable games for TB are a close loss to the #1 Houston, and stomping of now #8 DC. For LA, it was the stomping of #8 DC and the 17-14 L to the struggling, then #8, NY team who gave them every chance to win the game. As the rankings suggest, I feel the Vipers are the better team, but many questions are still unanswered for both teams. How good are they actually? Is John Johnson really as good as he looked against DC? Or is his performance against NY his real abilities? Is new starting Vipers QB Taylor Cornelius the real answer? Or did he look good just because they played a bad DC team? The Vipers D let up 34 points in 2 games (obviously shutting out DC), while LA let up 23 (against the two worst teams at the moment). Who's defense is actually legit? LA flew all the way across the country after their home game win against DC, to NY. Maybe that is why they struggled. I know that has some validity to it. Out of all the teams in the league, these two are the ones I have yet to truly get a feeling for. This is obviously a HUGE game for both of them. Going 1-4 will pretty much end any postseason life. 2-3, you're heart is still at least beating, for now. Someone is going to step up. I just don't know who.

- Scott Summers