The XFL has made some major changes to the on-field rules, including significantly changing kickoffs and points after touchdown. But another significant change, off the field, has been largely overlooked: The XFL does standings differently.
Now that a full week of the XFL season is in the books, the official standings are out, and to break ties, the XFL is using touchdown differential as the first tiebreaker.
That means in the XFL East, where the New York Guardians, St. Louis BattleHawks and DC Defenders are all 1-0, the Guardians are in first place because they’ve scored three more touchdowns than they’ve allowed. The BattleHawks are second because they’ve scored two more touchdowns than they’ve allowed, and the Defenders are third because they’ve scored one more touchdown than they’ve allowed.
In the XFL West, the Seattle Dragons, Dallas Renegades and LA Wildcats are all 0-1, but the Wildcats are last because they’ve allowed three more touchdowns than they’ve scored. The Dragons have allowed one more touchdown than they’ve scored and the Renegades have allowed two more touchdowns than they’ve scored.
It’s an interesting way to emphasize touchdowns, and perhaps incentivize teams to go for it on fourth downs in an attempt to score touchdowns rather than settle for field goals. Whether it proves meaningful remains to be seen, but like a lot of things the XFL is trying, it’s worth watching.