If you’re looking for Week 8 XFL Seattle Sea Dragons vs. DC Defenders odds, picks, and predictions for this pivotal Sunday matchup, then you’ve come to the right place. We’ve analyzed each team’s highest-probability game scripts to assess the most likely outcomes, including which players are in line to thrive more than anticipated or fall short of expectations.
Sea Dragons vs. Defenders Week 8 Odds and Betting Lines
The following odds and betting lines for the Sea Dragons vs. Defenders are as of Friday, April 7, and come from DraftKings Sportsbook. Clearly, they’re subject to change. That said, barring an unforeseen injury to a significant starter, we should assume that these lines will remain largely intact.
- Point Spread: Sea Dragons (-2)
- Moneyline: Sea Dragons (-130), Defenders (+110)
- Over/Under: 46.5 (-110)
Sea Dragons vs. Defenders Picks and Predictions
Full disclosure, as always. I had my worst performance of the season last weekend, going 1-3 on point spreads and moneylines, as well as 2-2 on over/unders. I had been 23-9 on combined point spreads and moneylines since Week 3. No excuses. Week 7 upended my thinking on a lot of these teams, forcing me to challenge long-held assumptions as we near the end of the regular season.
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And what an end this will be. Three weeks remain. Seven of the eight teams are still fighting for a playoff spot. And perhaps no game has greater postseason implications than this one.
The Sea Dragons have won five straight, yet are still technically in third place in the North division. In other words, if the season ended today, this 5-2 club would miss the playoffs.
Every team has its share of what-if moments. For Seattle, nothing looms larger than Ben DiNucci’s Week 1 fumble at the Defenders’ 2-yard line with 19 seconds remaining. It was a surefire victory . . . until it wasn’t.
As a result, despite their 5-2 record, Seattle losing this week — combined with a St. Louis victory — would put them in serious jeopardy, setting up a must-win game against the Battlehawks next week. And even that might not be enough to compete beyond the regular season.
Making matters more difficult for Seattle, they’ll be without standout RB Morgan Ellison. This week, they made what might be either a savvy or desperation signing, adding Phillip Lindsay to a backfield that’s just plain hurting. They began the season with Brenden Knox and Ellison.
But with Darius Bradwell scuffling en route to 2.2 yards per carry, the Sea Dragons needed more firepower and are hoping the nearly 29-year-old Lindsay can still move the chains. “Still” is the keyword. In his final two NFL campaigns, Lindsay struggled after playing stellar football the two years before.
Which Lindsay will we see? He’s probably the X-factor in this one. Because any marginal improvement in the running game would help elevate DiNucci, Jahcour Pearson, Josh Gordon, Blake Jackson, and the rest of this massive-ceiling passing attack.
Of course, Seattle isn’t the only team facing the heat. DC was riding high at 6-0 and facing the only winless team, the Guardians. A few hours later, Orlando prevailed in what arguably was the XFL’s most exciting contest of the season, featuring a level of play that should draw NFL scouts’ attention.
Now DC is 6-1, only a game up on Seattle and St. Louis in the North. Fortunately for them, they’d win a tiebreaker over the Battlehawks, having beaten them twice. And DC’s final two matchups are against Arlington and San Antonio — both entirely winnable games.
However, the Guardians did DC a disservice by showing the rest of the league how to beat them. Yes, easier said than done. But . . . Seattle has the firepower to replicate the game plan.
Because Seattle’s defense is notably better than Orlando’s, which defeated DC despite playing some of the worst defense we’ve seen in this league all season. The Defenders had their way on offense, rushing for 195 yards on 6.5 yards per carry. Jordan Ta’amu threw for 285 yards and three touchdowns while taking only one sack and playing interception-free.
But a costly fumble didn’t help. Neither did an offensive time-of-possession differential that favored Orlando by nearly 10 minutes.
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The Guardians methodically counterpunched against DC like no other team has. And they did it largely through the air, netting only 2.8 yards per carry.
Ta’amu and Abram Smith will continue to be the focal points for an offense that has no clear equal on any given week, and Lucky Jackson will continue to lead the way through the air.
However, if Seattle can do more damage on the ground than Orlando did, their passing game and defense should be able to do the rest. The Sea Dragons nearly won on the road in the opening weekend. They’ve learned a lot since then. We should see a better result for Seattle on Sunday.
- Recommended Point-Spread Bet: Sea Dragons (-2)
- Recommended Moneyline Bet: Sea Dragons (-130)
- Over/Under: Over 46.5 (-110)