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Dallas Renegades vs Los Angeles Wildcats Odds & Picks

David Golokhov

by David Golokhov in XFL

Updated Mar 26, 2020 · 1:47 PM PDT

Dignity Health Sports Park
The LA Wildcats will be playing their home games out of Dignity Sports Park in Carson, California. Photo from Wiki Commons.
  • The Dallas Renegades visit the Los Angeles Wildcats on Sunday and are posted as 4.5-point favorites.
  • Dallas entered the year tied for the shortest odds to win the XFL Championship but had a discouraging loss in Week 1. Can they rebound in Week 2?
  • Get the odds, analysis and best bet for this weekend’s XFL Week 2 game below

Week 2 of the XFL season is upon us, and the matchup between the Dallas Renegades and Los Angeles Wildcats will pit two winless teams against each other.

Dallas is a 4.5-point road favorite but the key to this game might be the Wildcats quarterback situation, as we don’t know if they’ll have Josh Johnson in the lineup or not.

Dallas vs Los Angeles XFL Week 2 Odds

Team Spread Moneyline Odds
Dallas Renegades -4.5 (-105) -177 48.0 (-110)
Los Angeles Wildcats +4.5 (-115) +157 48.0 (-110)

Odds taken Feb. 13th

Wildcats Already Chasing After Week 1

The Wildcats were a wildcard heading into the season as some people were bullish on them while some were bearish. It seems like the pessimists were right as the team already looks like a mess after just one week of action. Not only did they lose 37-17 in Week 1, they already fired defensive coordinator Pepper Johnson after just one game.

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The concern here is two-fold: first off, they need quarterback Josh Johnson to get healthy and secondly, defense was supposed to be their strength. Starting with the defense, Houston’s P.J. Walker carved them up to the tune of 272 yards and four touchdowns and they gave up one more on the ground.

Sure, you can fire the defensive coordinator but maybe this unit just isn’t very good. The other issue is the team needs Johnson in the fold. Backup Chad Kanoff was just okay with 214 yards passing, a touchdown and a pick. Johnson has played in the NFL and could be a star in the XFL. With him out, though, this offense isn’t very good.

Renegades Struggle in Week 1

The first week of action wasn’t a good one for the teams who were expected to do well. Dallas, who entered the year tied with the shortest odds to win the XFL Championship, ended up losing at home 15-9 to the St. Louis BattleHawks.

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It wasn’t a pretty day for the Dallas defense as St. Louis ran right through them. They finished the game with 191 rushing yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Jordan Ta’amu didn’t have to do much but he was still an efficient 20-of-27 for 209 yards and a touchdown.

Dallas was supposed to be better than this – especially with former NFLers on the roster like Lance Dunbar and Cameron Artis-Payne. They didn’t do much as the offensive line gave up four sacks on the day while quarterback Philip Nelson threw no touchdowns but had one pick.

What’s the Best Bet?

You really have to keep an eye on the Wildcats quarterback situation because that will have a big impact on this game. The latest news is that Johnson was upgraded to “limited”, which maybe puts him on track to play but he wasn’t a full participant. It’s getting late in the week, so that’s a concern.

Adding to the props is that Kanoff popped up as a DNP (did not practice) on Thursday. He apparently has a shoulder and head injury. In short, we could see the Wildcats situation go from getting Johnson back and having their starter lead the way to the team being forced into using their third-stringer, Jalan McClendon.

If Johnson plays, I like the over in this game, which sits at 48. The Dallas run defense has proven to have some issues and Johnson is a mobile quarterback. If Johnson can’t go and Los Angeles is down to a second or third-stringer, then I’d lay the points with Dallas. They would have a big edge at that point.

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