New York Guardians vs. Dallas Renegades XFL live blog

Final update: Perez led New York to a 3-2 record in his second start of the season, and he got a lot of help along the way. The signal caller was 16-of-30 for 229 yards with a score and an interception. His best play came on the 80-yard touchdown pass he threw to Pearson, who finished with a game-high 95 receiving yards on five receptions. Darius Victor lead all rushers is 58 yards on 15 carries. The Guardians’ defense chipped in by notching two interceptions and returning one of those for a touchdown. They also recorded three sacks in the contest and made things tough on Nelson down the stretch. Perez has given New York life and should continue to start over McGloin moving forward.

Nelson finished the game 28-of-49 for 210 yards with two interceptions and no scores. Both Parham and Artis-Payne had slow games. Parham finished with 34 receiving yards on four receptions while Artis-Payne totaled 25 rushing yards on six carries. Dallas only touchdown on the night came on a 92-yard kickoff return. The rest of its scoring came from two field goals from MacGinnis. The Renegades might be counting the days until their preferred starter can return, as they have little time to turn things around in the back half of the season.

7:56 p.m. Dallas offensive lineman Alex Balducci appears to have suffered a leg injury in the closing two minutes of the contest.

7:45 p.m. Nelson attempted to find Parham in the middle of the field but had his pass batted and eventually picked off by Toby Johnson.

7:32 p.m. MacGinnis improved to a perfect 3-for-3 by kicking his third field goal of the night and pushing New York to a 30-12 lead.

7:27 p.m. Flynn Nagel muffed a punt and gave the ball back to New York.

BIG PLAY: 7:14 p.m. Dallas’ Austin Walter returned a kickoff for 92 yards and a score in response to the Guardians two-touchdown run. It was the XFL’s second return for a touchdown all year and brought the score to 27-12 in New York’s favor.

BIG PLAY: 7:11 p.m. Nelson through a pick six to defensive end Ryan Mueller. The conversion following his return put New York up 27-6.

BIG PLAY: 7:07 p.m. Colby Pearson broke lose and hauled 80-yard catch from Perez and broke a pair of tackles en route to the end zone to put New York up 18-6 with 3:17 left in the third quarter. The Guardians then completed a two point conversion to make the score 20-6. Pearson’s reception was the Guardian’s longest play of the season, and they’re beginning to pull away.

6:55 p.m. Perez had an errant throw to McKay bobbled and picked off by the Renegades’ Josh Hawkins. The aftermath of the play resulted in a scuffle, which resulted in Jarron Jones and Gerald Rivers being ejected.

6:42 p.m. New York subbed Perez out for Marquise Williams at the end of its first drive of the third quarter. Williams scored a touchdown on one-yard run after Perez drove down the field by completing three passes for 55 yards. The Guardians failed their conversion attempt but lead 12-6.

Halftime update: The score is tied at 6-6 and neither side has a standout player. Perez hasn’t been nearly as efficient as he was in Week 4. He’s 6-of-16 for 59 yards with a 48.7 passer rating. No receiver has caught more than one pass, but Teo Redding and Mekale McKay lead the Guardians with 23 and 22 yards through the air, respectively. Justin Stockton has provided a spark on the ground. The running back leads all players with 40 rushing yards on four carries.

Nelson is 16-of-25 for 120 yards while filling in for the injured Landry Jones, and his ability to make big plays down the field is still questionable. Freddie Martino leads all receivers with 36 yards, as Nelson has only completed on pass to the dynamic Donald Parham for 24 yards. Cameron Artis-Payne has had limited opportunities as well. The running back only has 12 rushing yards on four carries and only three receiving yards on three catches. Dallas needs to get the ball into the hands of its playmakers moving forward.

5:54 p.m. Perez started to pick up steam in the second quarter. He completed three passes for 50 yards on his first drive of the quarter, but fizzled out in the red zone. New York ended up settling with a field goal and claimed a 6-3 lead.

5:41 p.m. The score is 3-3 and neither offense has been able to find footing. Nelson is 9-of-13 for 63 yards while Perez has completed one pass and has zero passing yards. things should pick up in time, but both sides are stagnant at the moment.

5:31 p.m. Right guard John Kling, who entered this game battling a shoulder injury, appears to have suffered a right leg injury with just under three minutes remaining in the first quarter.

5:21 p.m. Perez didn’t do much in his first drive, but Stockton’s kickoff return helped Matthew McCrane get in position to make a 46-yard field goal to knot the game up at 3-3.

BIG PLAY: New York’s Justin Stockton bobbled a kickoff but gathered himself for a huge return to put the Guardians in good field positions for their first drive.

5:13 p.m. Dallas opened the game by ending its first drive with a 23-yard field goal from Austin MacGinnis, who is a perfect 9-for-9 on the year. Philip Nelson is 3-of-6 for 45 yards while Freddie Martino leads all players with 32 receiving yards.

Update, 5:07 p.m. ET: It appears like Perez will get the start. He gave a pregame pep talk to the team ahead of kickoff, but whether he’s under center for New York’s first drive remains to be seen.

Update, 4:28 p.m. ET: It’s unclear whether Matt McGloin or Luis Perez will start for New York, but the Guardians are having a little fun by trolling us ahead of game time via Twitter. The final decision on who will get the nod could be made at the last minute.

Update, 4:14 p.m. ET: New York updated its list of inactives for Saturday’s matchup an hour before kickoff. These are the additional players who won’t be suiting up for the Guardians in Week 5:

WR Tanner Gentry, CB Terrence Alexander, RB Matt Colburn, DE Charles Wright, OC Tony Adams, TE Keenen Brown.

Update, March 7, 3:46 p.m. ET: Dallas’ deactivation report has grown ahead of kickoff. Six new players are listed as inactive for Saturday’s contest. Wideout Armanti Edwards (hip) was downgraded from probable to out. Here are the other inactive players you should know about:

RB Marquis Young, DB D’Montre Wade, LB Jesse Aniebonam, OL Darius James, QB Eric Dungey (Emergency QB)

Welcome to our Week 5 XFL live blog of the New York Guardians vs. the Dallas Renegades. The game starts at 5:00 pm ET in Globe Life Park in Arlington. You can watch on FOX or stream it on FOX Sports Live. Additionally, follow along through the evening as we break down the game.

Heading into kickoff, the Renegades are a six-point favorite, with the over/under set at 37 at DraftKings Sportsbook. Dallas is -265 on the money line, while New York is +210. On the DFS side, injuries have shaken up the opportunities. Dallas QB Landry Jones is the highest priced player in this game at $9,500 at DK, but he is out with a knee injury and Philip Nelson ($7,500) will start in his place. For New York, QB Matt McGloin tops the list at $8,000, but Luis Perez could play in place of him at $7,900.

Both teams are 2-2 and looking to find some kind of footing as the XFL’s debut season reaches the halfway mark. Dallas looked like they were in good shape through three weeks at 2-1, but Landry Jones injured his knee and his status is uncertain for the back half of the season. The Renegades Air Raid offense looked considerably better with Jones than with Nelson.

New York is trying to figure out their quarterback situation between Matt McGloin and Luis Perez. McGloin has struggled to do much of anything, while Perez impressed in place of the injured McGloin. We’ll wait for heard before kickoff as to who will get the start between those two.

The Renegades have scored 78 total points while allowing 72 on the season, which is the third lowest points allowed. Dallas is third in the league averaging 344.0 yards per game. On defense, Dallas is third in the league, allowing 308 total yards per game.

The Guardians have scored a league-low 49 points, and given up 73 on the season. New York is dead last on offense, averaging 230.0 yards per game. New York’s defense is also dead last in the league, allowing 347.2 total yards per game.

New York injury report

Probable: TE E.J. Bibbs (knee), WR Austin Duke (ankle), OL John Kling (shoulder), QB Matt McGloin (thorax), OL Ian Silberman (neck), OL Avery Young (shoulder)

Questionable: DB Andrew Soroh (head/knee)

Dallas injury report

Probable: DT Frank Alexander (ankle), DT Winston Craig (knee), DT Tony Guerad (shoulder), TE Donald Parham (hand)

Questionable: WR Armanti Edwards (hip)

Out: QB Landry Jones (knee), OG Salesi Uhatafe (N/A)

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