Inside the UFL

by Fran Stuchbury
April 10, 2025 - United Football League (UFL)

Through two weeks of the United Football League season, three undefeated teams remain in the XFL Division with the St. Louis Battlehawks, Arlington Renegades, and D.C. Defenders each with a pair of victories.

Outside of St. Louis, UFL offenses are struggling with league contests averaging 32 points per game, down a whopping 11 points from 2024.

No quarterback in the UFL has averaged 200 passing yards per game. Only St. Louis' Manny Wilkins and Arlington's Luis Perez have completed 75 percent of their pass attempts. In eight games, no passer has thrown for more than 211 yards.

The most effective offense has been 2-0 Battlehawks, a run-heavy team with 435 rushing yards compared to 342 passing yards. Experienced QB A.J McCarron held the reins last season, but this year's starter, Manny Wilkins, likes to run the football and has gained 101 yards thus far.

Second in the UFL in rushing yards with 283 is the Arlington Renegades. Luis Perez has put up 375 passing yards.

The lowest scoring game of the weekend featured the Arlington Renegades holding on for an 11-9 victory over the Houston Roughnecks.

"Three times we crossed the 50 yard line, starting to get into scoring territory," Arlington Head Coach Bob Stoops said. "We have too many penalties, get a sack, a lot of self-inflicted miscues. We have to play cleaner and smarter overall."

When Arlington was up 3-0 near the end of the first half, ESPN's Mark Jones joked that the under total was dropping just like his 401k is now.

The third remaining undefeated team, the D.C. Defenders, have been dominant on defense. After taking care of Birmingham with eight sacks in week one, they held Memphis to a dozen points in a 17-12 win.

"Offensively we are going to keep chipping at it until we get caught up with the defense," interim D.C. head coach Shannon Harris said.

With so much of the action on the ground, UFL teams teams have been very conservative on offense. Downfield passing has been limited.

While the NFL has tweaked its rules for decades in order to increase scoring and encourage the passing game, even the UFL's double pass has yet to be utilized this season. The UFL has resisted any additional rules changes that could help open up the offenses.

One possibility is found in 2019's short-lived Alliance of American Football in which defenses were forbidden from advancing ("rushing") more than five players on or across the line of scrimmage, and no defensive player could cross the line of scrimmage from more than two yards outside the offensive tackles. The rule effectively slowed down the pass rush, allowing quarterbacks additional time to find open receivers.

UFL Top 10 Plays From Week 2

Every Touchdown of Week 2

Week 3 Games

Friday April 11th

Arlington Renegades at Birmingham Stallions - 8 pm est. FOX

Saturday April 12th

Houston Roughnecks at Memphis Showboats - 2:30 pm est. ESPN

Sunday April 13th

San Antonio Brahmas at Michigan Panthers - 12 pm est. ABC

D.C Defenders at St. Louis Battlehawks - 3 pm est. ABC

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