The St. Louis Battlehawks (1-0) play a second straight road game to open their inaugural XFL season, as they visit the Houston Roughnecks (1-0) at TDECU Stadium for a 5 p.m. ET kickoff to wrap up Week 2. Below, we breakdown the Battlehawks-Roughnecks Week 2 matchup, with XFL betting picks and tips.
Also See – XFL Futures Betting: 2020 Championship odds, picks and best bets
Battlehawks at Roughnecks: XFL Week 2 preview, betting trends and notes
- The Roughnecks beat the Los Angeles Wildcats 37-17 at home in Week 1. They scored more points than any other team in the league’s opening week and matched the New York Guardians for the largest margin of victory at 20 points.
- St. Louis was the only road team to win in Week 1. The Battlehawks beat the Dallas Renegades 15-9 to cover a +9.5-point spread as underdogs.
- Roughnecks QB P.J. Walker completed 23 of his 38 pass attempts for 272 yards and four touchdowns against one interception. Two of his touchdown passes were at least 39 yards.
- Battlehawks QB Jordan Ta’amu completed 20 of 27 attempts for 209 yards and a single touchdown in his team’s Week 1 upset.
- The Roughnecks totaled just 50 rushing yards as a team with one touchdown in Week 1. The Battlehawks combined for 191 rushing yards. RB Keith Ford scored the lone touchdown on the ground.
- The Battlehawks racked up 78 penalty yards in Week 1. The Roughnecks were charged 69 yards.
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Battlehawks at Roughnecks: Key injuries
Battlehawks
- DL Will Clarke (calf) questionable
- RB Keith Ford (knee) questionable
- WR Brandon Reilly (back) questionable
- DB David Rivers (head) questionable
- DL Dewayne Hendrix (ankle) questionable
- RB Matt Jones (knee) questionable
Roughnecks
- RB De’Angelo Henderson (shoulder) questionable
- DL Caushaud Lyons (knee) questionable
- WR Sam Mosley (hip) questionable
- RB Andre Williams (wrist) questionable
Battlehawks at Roughnecks: Odds, betting lines and prediction
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at Friday at 12:15 p.m. ET.
Prediction
Roughnecks 28, Battlehawks 18
Moneyline (?)
The Battlehawks (+240) are the biggest underdogs of Week 2 in the XFL as they stay on the road for a second straight game to open the season. There is no value in backing the Roughnecks (-304), even though they showed last week they’re now a team to beat en route to the April 26 championship game.
PASS and look to the spread for better odds on either side.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the favored Roughnecks to win the Week 2 game returns a profit of just $3.29.
Against the Spread (?)
Back the ROUGHNECKS (-8.5, +110) to win by at least nine points at home for the second week in a row. Walker looked like the much better quarterback in Week 1 and the Battlehawks’ top two running backs are both battling injuries. Don’t expect this to be another 20-point blowout, but Houston will win by double digits.
Over/Under (?)
UNDER 50.5 (-128) is the play. The Roughnecks put up more points than any other team in Week 1 (37) while the Battlehawks’ 15 points were the fewest of any winning team in the season-opener. This will fall well short of the projection.
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Esten’s XFL betting record: 1-4
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