The Los Angeles Wildcats recently got their first franchise victory with an underdog blowout win against the DC Defenders thanks to an amazing performance by QB Josh Johnson. The veteran QB outplayed one of the best QB’s in the league, Cardale Jones, and kept the Wildcats season alive with the much-needed win. On the other side of the ball, the Wildcats defense was just as good as they showed up to play on Sunday. Los Angeles had a season-high five takeaways and did not allow the Defenders to get anywhere near the endzone until the last minutes of the game. Even though the Wildcats defense stepped up ten-fold on Sunday, is there a cause for concern on the Wildcats rush defense?
Ever since the departure of defensive coordinator Pepper Johnson and Anthony Johnson, the rush defense has been near the bottom of the league. During the 25-18 week two defeat against the Dallas Renegades, it was the Artis-Payne show as the Wildcats allowed 154 rushing yards. Now flip to week three where the Wildcats absolutely destroyed the DC Defenders by the final score of 39-9, Los Angeles allowed even more rushing yards compared to the week two loss.
— DC Defenders (@XFLDefenders) February 24, 2020
Of course, taking down one of the best offensives in the league was the biggest checkmark for the Wildcats defense, but their rush defense is currently being circled as an area that could be a problem heading down the midway point in the XFL 2020 season. Los Angeles gave up a total of 290 yards to the Defenders with 200 of those yards coming on the ground. Yes, the Wildcats also played in a more prevent defense late in the game with multiple backups getting the nod in the 4th quarter, but this definitely needs to be addressed in practice this week. Does the departure of Peppers and Johnson play a role in this? Remember week one the Wildcats only allowed 50 rushing yards.
Luckily for the Wildcats rush defense, they are taking one of the worst XFL rushing teams in the New York Guardians. At the moment, the Guardians are averaging around 68 rushing yards per game as the Wildcats could test out a new defensive scheme to stop the run. Are you concerned about the Wildcats rush defense? Let me know!
