Looking at the odds for the United Bowl on DraftKings Sportsbook, check out these best bets for this week.
By Zach Thompson, DraftKings Network
The UFL Championship will be decided this Saturday at Audi Field in Washington, D.C., where the DC Defenders will look to live up to their name and defend their title against the upstart Louisville Kings, who have made it all the way to the United Bowl in the first year of the franchise. Let’s run down what to expect in this matchup with the help of some of the odds from DraftKings Sportsbook. Bookmark this UFL betting splits page and check back before kickoff to see how the public is attacking this contest, and thanks for joining us for all of DraftKings Network’s coverage of the UFL this season.
For this week’s matchup, I’m not just giving you my top pick, but three of the best bets on the board. For the big game, DraftKings has a wide variety of markets available, so be sure to check out all the different options on the board for this matchup between the Kings and Defenders. Let’s take a closer look at a few of my top plays from this matchup and the latest odds from DraftKings Sportsbook.
Deon Jackson Anytime Touchdown (+110)
The Defenders lost starting QB Jordan Ta’amu to a season-ending injury in Week 8 in a loss to the Kings. Ta’amu was the XFL’s offensive player of the year in 2023, and he was the MVP of last year’s UFL Championship Game, so replacing him was no small task. In Week 9, they started Spencer Sanders in a loss to the Orlando Storm, and then in Week 10’s rematch against Orlando, they went to Jason Bean, whom they acquired midseason in a trade from the Kings.
Bean and the Defenders lost that regular-season finale, but the team bounced back with a win over the Storm when they met for a third straight week in last week’s playoffs. With the transition at quarterback, the running game has become central to the Defenders’ offense, and Deon Jackson has had a historic season.
Jackson led the league in rushing with 449 rushing yards in his 10 games, and he set the UFL single-season rushing touchdown record with seven rushing scores in the regular season. He ran for one score in the two games he took on the Kings during the regular season, and he also found the end zone in last week’s playoff win over the Storm.
The Guardians do use a rotation in the backfield with Abram Smith and Xazavian Valladay getting some carries, but Jackson has been the go-to option near the goal line, and he has a good chance of getting a touchdown this week as the Defenders look to lean on the rushing game again this week, like they did to reach the championship.
Ian Wheeler 60 Rushing Yards (+130)
The Kings made the bold move to trade Bean the week after he led the franchise to its first-ever victory. The team started 0-3, but Bean led them to a win over the Gamblers before he was traded to the Defenders before week 5.
Chandler Rogers replaced Bean under center, and the Kings also went to a run-heavy offense, using the tandem of James Robinson and Ian Wheeler. Both running backs were effective at times this year, but Wheeler has been the better producer down the stretch and makes sense to take in this prop after his big showing last week against the Battlehawks, who were the top-ranked rushing defense during the regular season.
Wheeler starred in college at Howard University before signing on as an undrafted free agent with the Bears. He had a strong start to his rookie season but tore his ACL and was released before a short stint on the Saints’ practice squad.
In his first season in the UFL, Wheeler didn’t get much action early on. He only had six total carries through the first four weeks of the season before breaking through for 62 rushing yards against the Renegades in Week 5. He has slowly taken over more of the timeshare and has run for at least 60 yards in five of his seven games since that breakout performance. He had 64 yards on eight carries in his first game against DC and 51 yards on 11 carries in the rematch.
Last week, Wheeler broke free for a 51-yard touchdown against St. Louis and ended up with 89 rushing yards on just seven carries. He doesn’t need a ton of work to get to this total, but since he’s trending up, the Kings could ride the hot hand and let him take on more work with Robinson in more of a short-yardage role this week.
Louisville Kings Moneyline (-105)
The overall matchup for the United Bowl should be a fun and extremely close contest. The Defenders are slight 1.5-point favorites since they’ll be playing at home as they try to claim their second straight title. The one thing that concerns me, though, is their QB play without Ta’amu. While Bean did enough to get them the win last week, I think ultimately, they won’t have what it takes to keep the Kings from taking their throne this week.
The Kings came into the playoffs as one of the hottest teams in the league, and they kept right on rolling last week in the postseason. After trading Bean, they finished the regular season on a four-game winning streak after allowing Rogers to grow into the starting role. That four-game finishing kick included a pair of wins over the DC Defenders.
In Week 7, they went to Audi Field and won, 30-13, in one of the biggest upsets of the season to that point. That was a huge statement win that the Kings were a legit threat, and they followed it up with another win the next week in Week 8 at home against the Defenders. That was the game in which Ta’amu was lost for the year.
The Kings went on to finish the season with two more wins and visited the Battledome in the first round of the playoffs. St. Louis is always a tough road environment, but the defense and Rogers both stepped up. The Kings also got a big performance from kicker Tanner Brown, who became the first kicker to convert two four-point field goals in the same game by hitting long kicks of 60 and 63 yards.
Louisville’s coach, Chris Redman, is a local legend, and he has added to that legend by helping this team turn things around and go on this impressive run. He has the running game, the defense, and the special teams units all playing at a high level, and Rogers has taken enough deep shots and made enough big plays to keep the team on track. The Kings have a good chance to complete their Cinderella run and claim the UFL Championship as the culmination of their first season as a franchise.
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