New York Guardians vs St. Louis BattleHawks Odds, Picks, and Predictions

• The New York Guardians visit the St. Louis BattleHawks on Sunday, February 23rd at 3:00 p.m. EST.
• The Guardians are averaging a league-low 181.5 yards of offense per game through two games
• For St. Louis, this will be their first taste of football since the Rams left. Can they win and cover a big spread?

The New York Guardians are coming off of a disastrous showing in Week 2.

The 27-0 loss came at the hands of the DC Defenders, who are among the best teams in the XFL, so it might have just been a bad week. We’ll find out more when they visit the St. Louis BattleHawks on Sunday.

XFL Guardians vs BattleHawks Week 3 Odds

Odds taken Feb. 21

McGloin Rips Guardians In Blowout Loss

The XFL wanted to get more in-game interviews from players (to differentiate itself from the NFL) and it got exactly what it wanted in Week 2 when Guardians quarterback Matt McGloin ripped the coaching staff and game plan going into halftime.

In fairness, he was mostly right as the team lost 27-0. However, the coaching staff was livid.

On the day, the Guardians finished with just 137 yards of offense, with a total of just five first downs while McGloin was just 8-of-19 for 42 yards, no touchdowns and two picks.

Some might look back to Week 1 and think that this was an off week but it really wasn’t. This is not a good team.

In Week 1, the Guardians beat the Tampa Bay Vipers 23-3 but the Vipers are one of the worst teams in the XFL. Even in that win, the Guardians were out-gained 394-226 and 19-11 in first downs. New York has just 16 first downs on the season. Week 2 wasn’t a one-off; this is a bad unit all the way around.

BattleHawks Biggest Surprise Through Two Weeks

While the Guardians were overrated after their Week 1 performance, maybe the BattleHawks were underrated. When they beat the Dallas Renegades 15-9 in Week 1, many felt that it was more of a Dallas letdown than a St. Louis win.

In Week 2, they had a hard-fought 28-24 loss to the Houston Roughnecks, who look like one of the top teams.

It’s worth noting that the BattleHawks out-gained the Roughnecks 390-238 in Week 2 and probably lost because they lost the turnover battle 2-0. They were great in many aspects, converting 11-of-19 third downs, completing 30-of-37 passes and running nearly double the offensive plays (83-49).

I really like what I’ve seen from quarterback Jordan Ta’amu, who has now completed 50-of-64 passes on the season for 493 yards, four touchdowns and two picks. He’s also compiled 109 rushing yards so far. He’s easily been one of the top passers in the league so far and he should lead his team to a win on Sunday.

Guardians vs BattleHawks Head-to-Head

What’s the Best Bet?

I’m not going to ride with the Guardians as they look like a bad team and now have locker room issues. On the flip side, St. Louis looks like a quality team on both sides of the ball and has a competent quarterback in Jordan Ta’amu, who might be one of the more underrated players in the league.

On top of that, St. Louis is playing its first home game and remember, the St. Louis Rams moved to Los Angeles a couple of years ago. The game is a sellout, so it’s going to be a packed house on hand watching the Guardians get battered and bruised.