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XFL Week 6 Fantasy POV: St. Louis-Tampa Bay could go either way

By Darwin (Deni) Martin

CARSON, CA - MARCH 08: Taylor Cornelius #4 of the Tampa Bay Vipers passes the ball against the LA Wildcats at Dignity Health Sports Park during an XFL game on March 8, 2020 in Carson, California. L.A. won 41-34. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)
CARSON, CA - MARCH 08: Taylor Cornelius #4 of the Tampa Bay Vipers passes the ball against the LA Wildcats at Dignity Health Sports Park during an XFL game on March 8, 2020 in Carson, California. L.A. won 41-34. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images) /
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Point of view (POV) articles assess the strengths and weaknesses of two opponents and pick a winner.  The problem is despite their differences in records, the St. Louis BattleHawks (3-2) and the Tampa Bay Vipers (1-4) are equally matched going into Saturday night’s name.  The edge belongs to the BattleHawks who need to win to stay atop the XFL East.

Take a look at the St. Louis BattleHawks.  Their typically impressive offense is held to two fields goals in a 15-6 loss to the D.C. Defenders (3-2) in week 5.  St. Louis quarterback Jordan Ta’amu has his worst game of the season as he scores just 10.1 fantasy football points.  (Going into the game, Ta’amu was averaging 21.4 points per game.)

Though St. Louis’ running attack wracked up 170 yards, they failed to score a touchdown and the biggest offensive contributor was wide receiver L’Damian Washington who caught 5 passes for 114 yards.  Who would have expected a game between St. Louis and D.C. would feature one touchdown and 5 field goals?

If you can get excited about a 1-4 team, then the Tampa Bay Vipers are your team.  The big difference is the installation of Taylor Cornelius as the starting quarterback.  Here is one assessment of Cornelius’ impact on the VIpers as noted in the FanSided article Fantasy POV: Top 20 scorers at XFL midseason:  “It is unusual for Cornelius to climb up the scoring chart so quickly since taking the helm of the Vipers’ offense.”  (He is currently No. 4 overall in the XFL with 75.7 fantasy football points.)

The 6′ 6″quarterback is well suited for head coach Marc Trestman’s run-oriented offense.  Though it has not led to multiple victories, the Vipers have the No. 1 and No. 3 running backs in rushing yardage in DeVeon Smith and Jacques Patrick respectively.  Though Cornelius is also No. 4 in passing yardage with 858 yards, he has  run for 117 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Defensively, they are almost an even match.  Tampa Bay leads the league in fewest yards allowed (258.8) per game and St. Louis is No. 2 with 260.2.  The Vipers’ weakness is they have the fewest number  of sacks (5) in the league.

Here are the DFS recommendations for this game:

  • START St. Louis quarterback Jordan Ta’amu
  • START Tampa Bay quarterback Taylor Cornelius
  • SLEEPER is St. Louis running back Matt Jones
  • SIT any Tampa Bay wide receiver except L’Damian Washington
  • EXPECT the St. Louis BattlwHawks to win by 1 with the total points not exceeding 33

The game will be played on:

  • Saturday, March 14, 5:00 p.m. EST at Raymond James Stadium  in Tampa, FL
  • TV Channel: FS2 and Live Stream:  fuboTV

Next. XFL game preview: New York vs. Houston. dark

Saturday’s first game has the Houston Roughnecks  (5-0) facing off against the Guardians (3-2) in New York.  Sunday’s first game is between the Dallas Renegades (2-3) who are headed to Washington D.C. to play the Defenders (3-2).  Sunday’s second game features the L.A. Wildcats (2-3) playing the Dragons (1-4) in Seattle.

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