# 2022 X League season

The 2022 X League season was the inaugural season of the Extreme Football League (commonly known as the X League) in the United States. It began in June and concluded in September with the Chicago Blitz winning the inaugural "X Cup" championship game. The league had most recently operated in 2019, branded as the Legends Football League (LFL).

## Season summary

The inaugural X-League season was shortened, with each team's regular season reduced from four games to two. The truncated season kicked off on June 10, with a match between the Chicago Blitz and Kansas City Force. Preferring a matchup between two capable teams instead of a one-sided contest between a more-established team (the Blitz succeeded the Chicago Bliss, four-time LFL champions) and a team of rookies (the Force were created after the Nashville Knights were suspended from the league), the league decided to replace the Force roster with coaches and players from the Atlanta Empire; Chicago won and Kansas City was assessed the loss while Atlanta personnel returned to the Empire.
However, the next two matchups weren't as evenly matched. The Los Angeles Black Storm (formerly the Los Angeles Temptations) played the Austin Sound (formerly the Austin Acoustics) and lost, 19–50. The seemingly one-sided matchup was much like the next game against the Denver Rush (formerly the Denver Dream, a rookie team that has started over every season and played in only 4 season of the LFL and only 3 seasons back to back) and the Seattle Thunder (formerly the Seattle Mist and three-time LFL Champions). Denver lost to Seattle, 84–26. Denver played the more-established Atlanta Empire next in their two-game season and lost, 0-28.
The Arizona Red Devils, another new team in the league, suspended operations in June without playing any games. Their scheduled contest against Kansas City was canceled, and a squad from Mexico took their place in a contest against the Los Angeles Black Storm; Los Angeles won, 48–8, in the final game of the regular season on August 13.
The season saw two major upsets as the Empire defeated the top-ranked Austin Sound on July 9, 50–34, and the Chicago Blitz upset the Seattle Thunder (successors to the 2019 LFL champion Seattle Mist) on August 6, 34–28.

### Postseason

The playoffs saw Atlanta (2–0) seeded first, Chicago (2–0) second, Seattle (1–1) third, and Austin (1–1) fourth; point differential was used as a tie-breaker. On August 27, Atlanta survived Austin, 34–32, while Chicago held off Seattle, 34–33. The season concluded on September 10 with the newly restructured league's first-ever "X Cup" ending in a 19–12 victory for the Chicago Blitz over the Atlanta Empire.

## Schedule
### Regular season

| Week | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Venue |
| 1 | Friday, June 10 | Chicago Blitz | 40–34 (OT) | Kansas City Force | Cable Dahmer Arena, Independence, Missouri |
| 2 | Saturday, June 18 | Los Angeles Black Storm | 19–50 | Austin Sound | H-E-B Center, Cedar Park, Texas |
| 3 | Saturday, June 25 | Denver Rush | 26–84 | Seattle Thunder | accesso ShoWare Center, Kent, Washington |
| 4 | Saturday, July 9 | Austin Sound | 34–50 | Atlanta Empire | Gas South Arena, Duluth, Georgia |
| 5 | Friday, July 15 | Kansas City Force | N/C | Arizona Red Devils | Bell Bank Park, Mesa, Arizona |
| 6 | Friday, July 22 | Atlanta Empire | 28–0 | Denver Rush | Budweiser Events Center, Loveland, Colorado |
| 7 | Saturday, July 30 | Bye Week | Bye Week | Bye Week | |
| 8 | Saturday, August 6 | Seattle Thunder | 28–34 | Chicago Blitz | BMO Harris Bank Center, Rockford, Illinois |
| 9 | Saturday, August 13 | Mexico National All-Stars | 8–48 | Los Angeles Black Storm | Championship Soccer Stadium, Irvine, California |
Notes:
* In week 1, Kansas City was represented by players from the Atlanta Empire.
* In week 9, Arizona was originally scheduled to face Los Angeles.
Source:

### Standings

At completion of the regular season
| Rank | Team | Record (Win pct.) | PF | PA | Diff. |
| 1† | Atlanta Empire | 2–0 (1.000) | 78 | 34 | +44 |
| 2† | Chicago Blitz | 2–0 (1.000) | 74 | 62 | +12 |
| 3† | Seattle Thunder | 1–1 (.500) | 112 | 60 | +52 |
| 4† | Austin Sound | 1–1 (.500) | 84 | 69 | +15 |
| 5 | Los Angeles Black Storm | 1–1 (.500) | 67 | 58 | +9 |
| 6 | Arizona Red Devils | 0–0 (–) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Kansas City Force | 0–1 (.000) | 34 | 40 | -6 |
| — | Mexico National All-Stars | 0–1 (.000) | 8 | 48 | -40 |
| 8 | Denver Rush | 0–2 (.000) | 26 | 112 | -86 |
† Team qualified for postseason
Source:

### Post-season

| Round | Date | Lower seed | Score | Higher seed | Venue |
| Semi-final | Saturday, August 27 | (No. 3) Seattle Thunder | 33–34 | (No. 2) Chicago Blitz | accesso ShoWare Center, Kent, Washington |
| Semi-final | Saturday, August 27 | (No. 4) Austin Sound | 32–34 | (No. 1) Atlanta Empire | accesso ShoWare Center, Kent, Washington |
| Final | Saturday, September 10 | (No. 2) Chicago Blitz | 19–12 | (No. 1) Atlanta Empire | H-E-B Center, Cedar Park, Texas |
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Chicago Blitz | 0 | 13 | 0 | 6 | 19 |
| Atlanta Empire | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 12 |
at H-E-B Center • Cedar Park, Texas
* Date: Saturday, September 10, 2022
* Game time: 8:00 p.m. EST
* Recap MVP: Jade Austin (S, Chicago)