IFL Week 3 Picks
- Trey
- 4 minutes ago
- 4 min read
The football gods giveth, the football gods taketh away. Week 2 was a fun one where we saw five teams make their debuts, and we dove into that on this past week's episode of OTW. Green Bay might be a wagon, Quad City seems to be getting into form and the East is shaping up to be the gauntlet that we expected before the season starts.
Let's look at last week's picks.
IFL Week 2 Review
Quad City -5.5 - Winner
Quad City wins & covers 46-25
Fishers -2.5 - Loser
Green Bay wins outright, 51-42
Orlando -5.5 - Loser
Orlando wins 41-38, New Mexico covers
NAZ-SD Over 77.5 - Winner
Combined for 82 points
2-2. Not bad, but we can do better. The Saturday games were pretty much in hand by the end of the first half, for good or bad. Orlando had multiple opportunities to blow the game open and cover, but just didn't.
While NAZ scored a touchdown with less than 10 seconds left to hit the Over and salvage the weekend at .500. 4-2 record on the year and we are getting the rest of the West in the mix this weekend!
LET'S FIND SOME WINNERS!
2026 IFL Record: 4-2
San Diego Strike Force @ Arizona Rattlers (Saturday 3/28 @ 5:00PM ET)
The Play: Over 83.5
What a great season opener. Tip of the cap to the IFL schedule makers for putting this one on the books, as this exact matchup in this exact location 7 months ago was the scene of The Incident that spurred an all-time rant from the legendary Kevin Guy and had a plethora of Rattlers fans tweeting through their feelings all week afterwards.
We get San Diego coming off a short week and a bit of a nail biter against NAZ, where the offense had a lot room for improvement and the defense was able to make just enough plays to hold for the win. Arizona, meanwhile, is in their season opener with a re-tooled offense that features 2025 IFL MVP Max Meylor & RB Kimo Clarke coming from Green Bay, with key pieces in RB Ron Brown Jr & WR Corey Reed Jr also coming back.
Coach Guy seems to always have his guys ready for Week 1, and this San Diego offense should improve drastically in this one. I think we see a LOT of points in this one. I think we see the century mark broken for the first time this season in a big time back and forth battle.
Prediction: 53-49 San Diego
Jacksonville Sharks @ Northern Arizona Wranglers (Saturday 3/28 @ 9:00PM ET)
The Play: Northern Arizona +3.5
Quite the opening game for Jacksonville in this one. Traveling 2000+ miles with a new QB, O-line & a slew of offensive weapons that feels like they will be dynamic eventually..
But I think it's gonna take a little time. I like what this offense can be, but I need to see some things before I can fully buy in. Will James Cahoon be able to protect the ball better this year than he did in Iowa? How will the offense work with Cahoon being a little more of a pocket passer than what the Sharks have hadd in the past.
Meanwhile in Northern Arizona, they looked decent on offense with some very avoidable mistakes that prevented them from upsetting San Diego last week. Ramone Atkins-Frazier will have to avoid another 3 INT game for them to have a shot in this one, but I think having a game under their belt will work out in their favor.
Plus, Jacksonville is 5-7 in the past two seasons in games played outside of the Eastern time zone -- and usually the offense has some trouble getting started. Gimme the Wranglers!
Prediction: 45-40 Wranglers
Tulsa Oilers @ San Antonio Gunslingers (Sunday 3/29 @ 4:00PM ET)
The Play: Tulsa Oilers +1.5
While you take a moment to mentally recover from that gif, this one is pretty simple for me:
If you give me TJ Edwards plus the points, I am taking TJ Edwards plus the points. Tulsa feels like one of the least talked about teams this offseason (hand up, I am a part of that problem) and they have a pretty dang good roster.
Both teams making their debuts in this one, but I think the difference will come down to coaching in this one. Head Coach Marvin Jones has increased this team's win total by +4 every year and had this defense ready to roll in 2025. They are bringing in Billy Back at OC, who brings a wealth of experience and championship pedigree on the offensive side of the ball. San Antonio has some great pieces, but this is a tough draw for first year head coach Jonathan Bane to be making his debut with the Gunslingers. Oilers by a touchdown plus.
Prediction: 47-38 Tulsa
Vegas Knight Hawks @ Tucson Sugar Skulls (Sunday 3/29 @ 7:30PM ET)
The Play: Vegas Knight Hawks -5.5
Vegas is coming off of a bye week and a tough Week 1 loss to the white hot Green Bay Blizzard in which the Knight Hawks offense found a variety of ways to shoot themselves in the foot -- but still nearly won the game despite themselves. This feels like a bounce back spot for Vegas against a Tucson team that should be improved from last year with new Head Coach Rayshaun Kizer, but the question mark looms at the quarterback position for me. QB Dreylin Ellis is looking like he is gonna be the guy, but making your first IFL start against a Mike Davis defense is a tough task. Plus, the last time the Knight Hawks were in Vegas, they walked away pretty happy.
Vegas wins and covers.
Prediction: 49-40 Vegas
Are you riding or fading? What are your favorite plays this week? Follow Off The Wall on Twitter/X, Instagram, TikTok & BlueSky and let me know!