The Vegas Vipers now have their 1st win of the season and will look to try and keep the momentum going against a pretty good Battlehawks team. Vegas will finally have decent weather on gameday with the high being 57 degrees with cloudy skies. A beautiful day to play football could result in a great game between these 2 teams.
St. Louis Battlehawks (3-2) @ Vegas Vipers (1-4)
Start (Kickoff): Saturday, Mar. 25th/ 7PM E.T.
Location: Cashman Field, Las Vegas, Nevada
Channel: FX
Injury Reports & Roster Moves
Releases & Reserve List Moves
Vegas Vipers: Isaiah Williams (OG) was activated off the reserve list and Mister Harriel (Safety) was released to make room for Isaiah.
St. Louis Battlehawks: Activated Jaryd Jones-Smith (OT) was activated off the reserve list. Following the Battlehawks activating Jaryd they went on to release RB Pooka Williams. On Friday (3/24) ben DeLuca was placed on the reserve list.
Injury Report For Saturday’s Game
St. Louis Battlehawks (3-2) @ Vegas Vipers (1-4) Preview & Prediction
This game could be a nail biter up until the very end. The Vipers looked well rounded on both sides of the ball last game and could try to carry the same attitude for this weekends game. Battlehawks on the other hand had to face a tough DC team last weekend but ultimately lost in a close game 28 to 20. 1 team just got done winning and the other just lost, the Vipers if they wanna try the playoffs need to win this game and capitalize on every opportunity they get.
Offensive Preview
Vegas finally did it! The offense looked great last weekend and Luis Perez did amazing!
Notable Viper Performances In Last Saturdays Game Against Orlando:
Luis Perez: 20-28/ 269 Pass YDs/ 3 Pass TDs/ Wasn’t Sacked At All
Rod Smith: 18 Rush ATTs/ 62 Rush YDs/ 2 Rush TDs
Jeff Badet: 5 Catches/ 80 Rec YDs/ 2 Rec TDs (3rd In Rec YDs/ 1st In Rec TDs In The League)
John Lovett, Geronimo Allison, and Sean Price also all played a huge role in Saturdays game. The whole offense was on fire from start to finish and didn’t miss a beat. Although a close game the Vipers did well with holding on to the lead without turning the ball over more than once. If they keep this going the Vipers could win this game with ease with the kind of firepower they have on offense.
The Battlehawks fell short after A.J. McCarron threw a game losing pick to Michael Joseph from the Defenders in last Saturdays game. A.J. did well all game up until that moment which led to their 2nd loss on the season but the offense wasn’t that bad.
Hakeem Butler who has been on a wrecking spree dominated receptions and targets. Hakeem went for 9 catches with 86 receiving yards but no touchdowns. Although the loss the Battlehawks are dangerous on offense so the Vipers can’t slip up otherwise it could end up being bad.
Defensive Preview
Pita Taumoepenu (LB) is all I have to say. A breakout game from the linebacker led to a game winning sack on Dormandy from the Guardians. The former NFL linebacker (5 Different Teams) finally got to show what he could do and had the best game we have seen from 1 lone linebacker in the XFL.
Pita Taumoepenu against the Guardians: 3 Sacks/ 4 TFL’s/ 1 Forced Fumble/ 5 Total Tackles
Marwin Evans (8 Totals Tackles) and Maximillian Roberts (1 Sack/ 6 Total Tackles/ 1 TFL) were also a big part of the Vipers win against the Guardians. Max is 3rd in the league for sacks and has been amazing on the pass rush and is borderline unstoppable when blitzing the offense.
Willie Harvey (LB) is a great tackler which is why he is tied for 3rd most total tackles in the league. Willie along with all his other defensive teammates are 2nd in most tackles (228 Total Tackles) in the league behind the Vipers (252 Total Tackles). The Battlehawks in every other stat besides forced fumbles is bottom 4 and aren’t as good as they could be but are a good defense in the run game.
Final Score Prediction:
St. Louis Battlehawks: 24
Vegas Vipers: 29
The Vipers seriously have to come out guns a blazing to win this game because the Battlehawks won’t back down from any tough challenge. Last weeks game against the Defenders is a great example of why this Saturdays game could be bad for the Vipers. To win this game against St Louis the Vipers need to put all the pressure they can against A.J. McCarron which means blitzing as often as possible.
Pita Taumoepenu and Max Roberts need to do exactly do what they did last Saturday, no interceptions in the last 2 games since Adam Sparks caught one on the Sea Dragons. This game could be decided by a FG but no matter what expect a good game between these teams.
Unleash the Action: Sign up for XFL Insider and Fuel Your Passion for Football!
