COLUMN: A three-week XFL season for St. Louis awaits

There are only three weeks left in the XFL season.

For the St. Louis Battlehawks, it might as well be an entire season in itself.

The Battlehawks have played five of their first seven games on the road. That was just a series of rehearsals. The real performance is in these final three games, which will all be at home, and head coach Anthony Becht is chomping at the bit to see The Dome filled to the brim.

"We need to fill the Dome up," Becht said during a recent press conference. "I need all the seats sold. I need all the upper deck sold. I need more seats, more sections opened. The only way that happens is if we sell out those tickets."

If nothing else, the XFL is working in St. Louis. The city supported the Battlehawks in 2020, setting the league attendance mark with 29,554, four years after losing the Rams, the city's second NFL team, to Los Angeles. That support continued in the Dwayne Johnson-led incarnation of the XFL. The home opener set attendance records (38,310 fans) and followed it up with 35,868 (including 1 Scott City basketball player) the week after.

A trip to the playoffs would be a proper reward for the fan's dedication which is clearly unique to the rest of the league. There have been three games with attendance numbers over 20,000 so far this season, the Battlehawks' two home games and the season opener at San Antonio.

The Battlehawks are in second place of the North Divison, behind the D.C. Defenders, who have swept them. It would take St. Louis to win out and D.C. lose out to make winning the division possible, though unlikely.

The biggest game to look forward to during these next three weeks is the rematch between the Battlehawks and Seattle Sea Dragons on Sunday, April 16. Both teams are 5-2 with the tiebreaker currently going to St. Louis after winning the first game

For that game to continue to matter, the Battlehawks will need to prevent the Vegas Vipers from successfully playing the role of spoiler on Saturday.

It helps to have one of the best quarterbacks in the league in A.J. McCarron. The Alabama alum threw for three touchdowns without an interception for the second straight week, completing 26-for-34 with 222 passing yards in the win over the Houston Roughnecks. He has five straight games with at least 200 yards and is second in the league with 157 completions and 1,544 passing yards for the season, behind only Seattle's Ben DiNucci (167/1,771).

It also helps to have arguably the best kicker in the league in Donny Hageman, who kicked the longest field goal in XFL history (59 yards) last week in Houston.

Battlehawks linebacker Mike Rose is a prime example of what the XFL could mean to football on a macro level.

Rose came out of Iowa State with a Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year award under his belt. He went through the NFL Draft ringer and with the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent.

His NFL dreams were stopped short when he was waived by the eventual Super Bowl champions late in training camp. Before this year, that would be it for him. He would either be bouncing around from practice squad to practice squad or call it quits.

The XFL has offered players like Rose an opportunity to keep playing and build a resume and the linebacker has taken full advantage of it, racking up 31 tackles (15 solo), which is among the lead leaders.

Rose is not only one of St. Louis' most productive defensive players but also their youngest at age 22. There’s still time for him to make another attempt at the NFL after this season.

“He’s a quality player with a very high football IQ,” Battlehawks head coach Anthony Becht said. “He’s extremely coachable, and I’m hopeful that his experience in the XFL will lead to another opportunity in the NFL.”