XFL Week 10 Recap: Let the Games Begin

For the first time since the XFL's original debut in 2001, we have a completed season. The 10th and final week of the XFL season took place with a lot to decide in regards to this year's playoffs. Saturday's action began with a playoff relevant matchup between the St. Louis BattleHawks and the Orlando Guardians, with the BattleHawks looking to nab the North Division's second spot. The Hawks and the Seattle Sea Dragons were vying for that position, with one of them getting it with a win and a loss from the other team. If both teams lost, the Hawks would get in, but both teams winning would need tiebreakers to be determined.

The BattleHawks did their part, winning 53-28, but they would have to play the waiting game. As for later in the day, the San Antonio Brahmas hosted the DC Defenders, and while DC had nothing else to play for, the Brahmas still had a playoff pulse. They needed to win, but unfortunately for Hines Ward's squad, they came up just short. The Defenders squeaked one out, 29-28, and as a result, San Antonio's inaugural season was over. The Brahmas struggled all season, resulting in a 3-7 campaign, but despite this, they stayed above ground up until the final week. I'm proud of the job Ward's done with this team, and who knows? Next season could see some improvements.

As a result of this, the Arlington Renegades are in the playoffs by default (the "two sweetest words in the English language," according to Homer Simpson). They will face the Houston Roughnecks in the XFL's South Division Championship, but if they were looking to show the world that they could have a chance to take down the big bad Roughnecks, they did a bad job of it. The Renegades were soundly defeated in their home finale by a score of 25-9, meaning that we already have a sub-.500 playoff team, as the Renegades finished with a 4-6 record.

The 40th and final game of the regular season was between the Seattle Sea Dragons and the Vegas Vipers. Now, the BattleHawks won earlier in the week, so St. Louis was hopeful that Vegas would pull off the upset. As for Seattle, well, they needed to score...repeatedly. A win would tie them with the BattleHawks, and they would need to go deep in the tiebreaker pool to get the edge. In order to do so, they would need to score 34 points and win to get in. If the Dragons scored more than 34, they had to hold Vegas to under 34. All of this would clinch the 4th or 5th tiebreakers, but if they scored less than 34, then tiebreaker #6 would be involved.

Amazingly, that's what took place. Seattle won 28-9, and that score gave them a point differential of +66, which was higher than St. Louis' +47. So the Sea Dragons are headed to DC. Oh, in case you're wondering, there are eight tiebreakers in the XFL. The seventh is net touchdowns, and the eighth? A coin toss.

So that's that, the XFL regular season has come to a close, and now, it's playoff time. The Division Championship games will actually take place on different days; the South game between the Houston Roughnecks and the Arlington Renegades will take place on Saturday, April 29, while the North game between the DC Defenders and the Seattle Sea Dragons will take place on Sunday, April 30. The winners will head to San Antonio on May 13 and play for the XFL Championship, which has only been won by the long-defunct Los Angeles Xtreme in 2001.

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