XFL Football Betting -- Roughnecks Pose Rough Challenge to Vipers

  • In Charles Jay
  • Sat, Feb 22nd, 2020 11:08:37 am
  • By Charles Jay - Exclusive to OSGA


The Tampa Bay Vipers will look for their first offensive touchdown and first win as they face the unbeaten Houston Roughnecks on Saturday afternoon.

Preview and pick for Roughnecks at Vipers

At this point the Houston Roughnecks are considered to be a favorite to eventually get to the XFL Championship Game, which, incidentally, will be hosted at their own stadium. They are going to try to stay undefeated as they take on the Tampa Bay Vipers in a game that is slated to get underway at 2 PM ET at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

If you are signed up for an account with BetAnySports, you can watch the game on ABC and place wagers on it in real time using what is available through Sports Betting Ultra.

The Roughnecks are one of those teams that appear to have it "together" more than most other XFL squads. That's a testament to how prepared June Jones was when he was give the reins. With his Run 'N Shoot offense - something he learned at the feet of the master, Mouse Davis, Jones knew that he had to have a quarterback who could execute things properly.

Roughnecks Vipers free pickAnd while he had Connor Cook, who had fashioned a big career at Michigan State and also had NFL playoff experience, he also had someone who had wowed him when he was the head coach at SMU. Phillip Walker was then the freshman quarterback for the Houston Cougars, and he had the Mustangs on the ropes for while, with a 21-point lead that was later blown by his stop unit, which allowed 59 points. He accounted for 385 yards of total offense, and Jones surely remembered.

Now Walker is considered to be a top XFL signal-caller and front-runner for the MVP award. He's got seven touchdown passes already, and has completed 62.3% of his passes.

But he's also had a lot of help, because his team is +4 in the turnover category. Houston has only gained 553 yards from scrimmage. Is that the kind of thing that could catch up to them? Maybe, but Tampa Bay comes off as the type of team that might be willing to help them out.

In the XFL football betting odds that have been posted on this game by the people at BetAnySports, the Roughnecks are laying considerable points on the road:

Houston Roughnecks -7
Tampa Bay Vipers     +7

Over 45 points -110
Under 45 points -110

Truth be told, Tampa Bay is a mess on the offensive side of things, failing to dent the end zone. And it has not necessarily been an accident. They lost their most experienced quarterback, Aaron Murray, to a foot injury, and he will remain out for the second straight week. It was expected that Quinton Flowers, who went to school locally (South Florida) would be named starter last week, but instead it was Taylor Cornelius (Oklahoma State), who had his ups and downs to say the least (16 of 27, 154 yards and two INT's). Flowers should see some action behind center, but this is still a situation that frustrates coach Marc Trestman.

XFL free playAnd the most reliable pass-catcher, tight end Nick Truesdell, is out of action this week. Here is a team that has turned the ball over eight times already and has yet to covert on any red zone opportunity. Will a week of practice be enough to clean all of this up?

We haven't been impressed all that much in Houston's defense, but they did limit St. Louis, a ground-and-pound team, to just 2.9 yards per carry in last week's 28-24 win. We don't expect that Tampa Bay, which may have to get a ground game going, to exploit them all that much. And we are noticing that because of the XFL trend toward failure in extra point situations, point totals are lower than we had originally expected. And we will look for a low-scoring game here. UNDER.

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