Week 9 UFL 2024 Power Rankings (2024)

Week 9's loss, the Stallions' first in 16 games, may be a blessing in disguise for Birmingham. Firstly, there's a chance that Skip Holtz's squad could meet up again with San Antonio in the UFL Championship game. They should be highly motivated and better prepared for the Brahmas in a potential rematch. Secondly, the pressure of going unbeaten and staying perfect would have been a heavy burden. And lastly, a wakeup call could be a good thing for Birmingham. After all, there would've been a danger of being overconfident heading into the postseason.

The surprising element to Birmingham's lone defeat of 2024 to San Antonio was how much they struggled offensively, scoring only nine points. MVP Front Runner Adrian Martinez had his worst game of the season. The Stallions were also unable to push San Antonio around upfront like they have other teams this season.

Birmingham is in a bit of a dilemma heading into Week 10. Although the No. 1 seed in the USFL is still technically up for grabs against conference championship opponent Michigan. The Stallions stay home at Protective Stadium the following week, even if they lose. So that begs the question, should Birmingham treat Week 10 against the Panthers as an exhibition, not play their hand a week too early and pull key starters to avoid injury? Or should the Stallions go all out to ensure they don't walk into the playoffs on a two-game losing streak?

The crazy thing is that according to coach Wade Phillips, his Brahmas team knew before Week 9's game that thanks to Arlington's upset of St. Louis, nothing was at stake for them in conference seeding, win or lose to Birmingham. But that didn't stop San Antonio from putting forth a spirited effort against the Stallions at home. The Brahmas were highly motivated to be the first team to knock off Birmingham this season.

San Antonio's defense has stood out all season, but Saturday against the Stallions was their shining moment of 2024. They completely shut down Birmingham's potent attack. The combination of the Brahmas defense, elite special teams, and the return of Chase Garbers from injury makes SA a legit contender to win it all.

However, to better their chances, the Brahmas need to go in St. Louis this Saturday and stun Battlehawks nation by redirecting the XFL conference championship game to San Antonio. The goal is to play in St. Louis twice, but for the second trip to being the league title game.

The Panthers keep finding ways to win games. Against one-win Houston, Michigan trailed by two scores late but found a way, thanks to the continued dynamic play of Bryce Perkins, to win their fifth straight game.

Now comes the hard part for Mike Nolan's squad: Taking down the Birmingham Stallions. Symbolically, beating Skip Holtz's squad in Week 10 and claiming the top seed, even though the reward isn't a home game in Michigan, would be a tremendous psychological boost. However, what's more critical is beating Birmingham the following week. Doing it two weeks in a row on the road seems like a very tall task.

As a result, the tact for Michigan in Week 10 could be resting star players and playing a vanilla game against Birmingham. The Panthers, on paper, don't have the Stallions' cache, but they hung tough with them earlier this season in a narrow defeat. To conquer the monster, they may need to lay and wait for the best course to strike.

If it's any consolation for St. Louis, a victory over Arlington in Week 9 wouldn't have sewn up a home playoff game because of the Brahmas victory. The bottom line is for the Battlehawks to get to a UFL Championship Game in their stadium, they will have to beat San Antonio to get there.

The question now becomes will Anthony Becht's bunch have to do it on the road instead of home. One thing is evident after Week 9: St. Louis won't get to the promised land without A.J. McCarron. Manny Wilkins has done an admirable job but McCarron provides a higher level of play at quarterback. The Battlehawks need him back.

No one in the UFL's hierarchy will say it publicly, but they would love to see St. Louis play at home in the next three weeks. The likelihood is that those three games would, at the bare minimum, eclipse over 100,000 fans in attendance. A loss in Week 10 to San Antonio might mean that the Battlehawks could be playing their final game at home this season.

The Memphis defense was the cure for what has ailed D.C.'s offense this season. It was a breakout performance on that side of the ball for D.C. Fred Kaiss' unit amassed more than 400 yards, 168 on the ground. It was a 2023-like effort in that respect.

The Defenders could look a lot different in 2025, but in 2024, they have a chance to close out their campaign on a positive note at home against Arlington on Sunday.

A year ago, Bob Stoops' Renegades disrupted the order of things by winning the XFL championship after finishing the regular season with a losing record. This past weekend, a night after finally being gifted championship rings, Arlington again defied convention, severely outplaying championship favorite St. Louis.

Despite its poor overall record, Arlington's weekly effort and performance haven't reflected that of a downtrodden team. Luis Perez, in particular, is having the best season of his pro career, and debunking the overused wins-is-a-QB-stat argument. The Spring King leads the UFL in pass yards and completion percentage, and is at the top in the touchdown-to-interception ratio. If Sunday's game at D.C. is Perez's swan song in spring pro football, he is going out on a great note.

To its credit, Houston was once again involved in a one-score game. If nothing else, C.J. Johnson's team plays hard. But as has been the case all season, the Roughnecks have mastered the art of squandering late leads and losing.

Houston will get a chance to close their 2024 campaign on a positive note in Memphis, against a team it should've beaten in Week 1.

Before an announced attendance of just more than 6,000 fans, the Memphis Showboats dropped their eight straight game, losing by 15 to D.C.

Memphis' poor performance on the field and in the box office has led many to speculate about the Showboats being an offseason relocation candidate. To that end, Daryl “Moose” Johnston, the UFL’s executive vice president of football operations, stated last week that the Boat's future in Memphis for next season is "likely safe."

Nevertheless, what shouldn't be safe, based on the team's lack of competitiveness, is the job security of coach John DeFilippo and his entire staff. It's hard to justify bringing this crew back together in 2025.

The Showboats get one last chance to stop what appears to be a never-ending skid Sunday against the only team they have beaten this season, Houston.