May 163 min read

Playoff Drive: Brahmas to Face UFL's Best Quarterback

San Antonio Brahmas head coach Wade Phillips looks on in the first half against the DC Defenders at The Alamodome. — © Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports

The San Antonio Brahmas (5-2) and Arlington Renegades (1-6) are both coming off thrilling victories in Week 7. While the Brahmas continue their march to the playoffs, the Renegades have only their pride to play for at this point in the UFL season.

Will the Brahmas extend their record to 3-0 against the two other UFL teams in Texas? Or will the Renegades find a way to double their win total? Let's review the key players for each team and make a prediction for the Week 8 game on Saturday.

What Is at Stake?

The Brahmas are tied for first place in the XFL Conference at 5-2 with the St. Louis Battlehawks. The game against the 1-6 Renegades is an excellent opportunity for the Brahmas to take sole possession of first place as the Battlehawks have a tough matchup against the D.C. Defenders (3-4) at home. With upcoming games against the Battlehawks and the undefeated Birmingham Stallions (7-0) to finish the regular season, the road to the playoffs will get much tougher for the Brahmas after this week.

Key Players for the Brahmas

Quinten Dormady, QB: Dormady continued to play poorly in the victory over the Houston Roughnecks (1-6) and was pulled from the game in the fourth quarter. Backup quarterback Kevin Hogan led the team on an 18-play drive, taking more than 12 minutes off the clock and included a 3-point conversion to tie the game. Despite his performance against the Roughnecks (10-of-24, 142 passing yards and 1 interception), the San Antonio Express-News reported the Brahmas are sticking with Dormady as the starter this weekend. Coach Wade Phillips is expected to be less patient with Dormady, so Dormady needs to improve his performance to help the Brahmas win instead of being a liability.
Jordan Mosley, S: Mosley leads the UFL in total tackles with 58 and is tied for the league lead in fumbles recovered with two. With the recent offensive struggles, the Brahmas' defense has to find ways to give the offense a shorter field to work with. The Brahmas are currently second to last in the league in takeaways with eight, and Mosley will be relied upon to help his defense generate more turnovers.

Key Players for the Renegades

Luis Perez, QB: Unlike the Brahmas, the Renegades have received strong play from their quarterback as Perez leads the UFL in passing yards (1,626) and is tied for second in passing touchdowns (10). Perez is looking to build on his amazing performance last week against the Memphis Showboats, where he completed 27-of-32 pass attempts (84 percent) for 296 passing yards and 3 touchdowns. The passing windows, and time to throw, will shrink this week as the Brahmas are led by their second-ranked defense, which only allows 16.6 points per game.
Vic Beasley, DE: Beasley, the former first-round draft pick of the Atlanta Falcons in 2015, needs to build upon the success he has had in the past two games, recording 2 sacks and a forced fumble. Beasley currently has 4 total sacks on the year and should have plenty of opportunities to add to that total by playing against a struggling QB in Dormady.

Prediction

The Brahmas have been fortunate to win lately despite the lack of production at quarterback from Dormady. In one of the stranger stat comparisons between takeaways and victories, the Renegades are second in the league in takeaways while the Brahmas are second to last. This has all the makings of a trap game for the Brahmas with the upcoming games against the Battlehawks and Stallions. Typically, the team with the better quarterback that is generating more turnovers is going to be the winning team and look for that to be the case on Sunday. Good teams win, great teams cover the spread—look for the Renegades to do both.

Final score: Arlington Renegades 20, San Antonio Brahmas 17