Tag: D.C. Defenders

D.C. Defenders suffer their first loss of the XFL season

The Defenders still sit atop the XFL with a 6-1 record and have a huge game next week.

The D.C. Defenders will not finish the 2023 XFL season undefeated after Saturday night’s 36-35 loss to the Orlando Guardians. It was also Orlando’s first win of the season.

Behind six touchdowns from quarterback Quinten Dormady, the Guardians held off for an upset win over the Defenders. D.C. had entered the game as massive 9.5-point favorites. The Defenders had a chance late, but kicker Matthew McCrane missed a 63-yard attempt to seal the game for Orlando.

It was the best offensive performance of the season against what had been a stingy D.C. defense led by Gregg Williams. However, Dormany passed for 328 yards and three touchdowns while also scoring three rushing touchdowns.

D.C. running back — and the XFL’s leading rusher — Abram Smith rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown. Defenders quarterback Jordan Ta’amu had one of his better games, completing 21 of 29 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns. Wide receiver Chris Blair caught five passes for 139 yards and a touchdown.

While the loss was a disappointing one for the Defenders, next week is another big week. The Defenders face the Seattle Sea Dragons, who now have the XFL’s longest winning streak at five games. Seattle sits at 5-2 on the season. It’s the second meeting of the season between the XFL’s current top teams, with D.C. opening the season with a 22-18 win over the Sea Dragons.

The game kicks off Sunday evening at 7 p.m. ET in Seattle.

XFL shocker: Previously winless Orlando Guardians deal D.C. Defenders first loss

The Guardians were winless; the Defenders undefeated. It mattered not in XFL Week 7

Anything can happen in any week of XFL play.

If you don’t believe that check out this final score: Orlando 37, D.C. 36.

The Guardians came into the game 0-6; the Defenders were 6-0.

Mattered not as Terrell Buckley’s team came up with a shocker.

The game wasn’t over until the final play when D.C. missed a 63-yard field-goal attempt.

Deddrick Thomas made a circus catch for a Guardians touchdown.

Quinten Dormady was 27-of-34 for 328 yards and 3 TD passes for the Guardians.

Cody Latimer had one TD reception and 7 catches for 93 yards overall.

The Defenders were led by Abram Smith with 127 yards rushing and Chris Blair with 139 receiving yards.

Matthew McCrane missed two field goals for the Defenders, including the possible game-winner.

D.C. Defenders improve to 5-0 with win over St. Louis

D.C.’s other professional football team remains undefeated after winning over St. Louis.

Football is alive and well in the nation’s capital. The XFL’s D.C. Defenders were 4-0 and headed to The Dome at America’s Center Saturday to play the St. Louis Battlehawks in a game to determine first place in the XFL’s North division standings.

After a sluggish start in the first quarter, the Defenders picked things up in the second quarter to go on to defeat the Battlehawks 28-20 and move to 5-0 on the season. D.C. is the XFL’s lone remaining undefeated team. The Houston Roughnecks were 4-0 until Thursday’s loss to the Seattle Sea Dragons.

St. Louis jumped on the scoreboard first when kicker Donny Hageman connected on a 36-yard field goal around six minutes into the second quarter.

That apparently caused the D.C. offense to wake up.

D.C. running back Abram Smith took the handoff and went 62 yards for the touchdown to give the Defenders a 6-3. lead. Quarterback Jordan Ta’amu found Josh Hammond on the 2-point conversion to extend the lead to 8-3.

Just before halftime, Smith again found paydirt, scoring from five yards out to extend the lead to 14-3, where it stood at halftime.

The third quarter began much like the second when Hageman made another field goal to make it a one-score game. How did D.C. answer? With Smith, of course. Smith takes the D’Eriq King handoff and goes untouched for a 70-yard touchdown.

The 2-point conversion was again no good, and the Defenders held a 20-6 lead.

The Battlehawks finally found the end zone when quarterback A.J. McCarron found wide receiver George Campbell for a five-yard touchdown. The Battlehawks failed to convert on the 2-pointer.

With it a one-score game, how would the Defenders answer?

King would score from 10 yards out, and Ta’amu would be successful on the 2-point conversion to give D.C. a 28-12 lead. McCarron led St. Louis on another touchdown drive, but it wasn’t enough, giving the Defenders a season sweep of the Battlehawks.

Next up for the Defenders are the aforementioned Roughnecks in what should be an outstanding game.

Smith had arguably the best individual performance in the XFL this season, rushing for 218 yards and three touchdowns.

Abram Smith, Defenders stomp Battlehawks in XFL 2023

A 202-yard rushing effort by Abram Smith propelled the D.C. Defenders in XFL 2023 play

When he was a youth, Abram Smith wanted to give up football because getting tackled wasn’t fun.

His mom told Smith that he should be the hammer and not the nail.

Smith went to play at Baylor and now excels for the undefeated D.C. Defenders in the XFL.

On Saturday, Smith kept hammering St. Louis as D.C. won its fifth straight, 28-20.

Smith rushed for 217 yards and 3 touchdowns. Smith had 62- and 5-yard scoring runs in the second quarter as the Defenders built a 14-3 lead.

He added a 70-yarder in the third quarter.

The Defenders went ahead 28-12 in the fourth quarter on a D’Eriq King 10-yard run.

St. Louis cut the deficit to 28-20 on a 50-yard AJ McCarron touchdown pass and 2-point conversion with 4:19 left.

The Battlehawks got a chance to tie — or win — the game with two minutes left.

On a third-and-2, McCarron was sacked and the Battlehawks faced a fourth-and-10 with 1:20 left.

McCarron found Brian Hill by the sideline and the running back ran down the sidelines before stepping out with a first down.

Hill then caught another pass for 11 yards and another first down.

However, the Battlehawks’ comeback died on the next play when Defenders DB Michael Joseph made his fourth interception of the season.

Up next for the undefeated Defenders is a home game a week from Monday against the 4-1 Houston Roughnecks.

 

XFL’s D.C. Defenders improve 3-0 on the season

The highest-scoring XFL game of the season featured a fight, and another D.C. Defenders win.

Audi Field in Washington, D.C., was the site of Sunday’s XFL battle between a pair of unbeaten teams, the D.C. Defenders and St. Louis Battlehawks.

The game didn’t disappoint.

In addition to the highest-scoring game of the XFL’s young season, we saw a fight, and somewhere, XFL founder Vince McMahon smiled. Yet, through it all, the Defenders held on to beat the Battlehawks, 34-28, and improve to 3-0 on the season.

The Defenders jumped on the scoreboard early as quarterback Jordan Ta’amu found tight Ethan Wolf for a seven-yard touchdown in the first quarter. The pair also successfully converted the two-point conversion, giving D.C. an early 8-0.

The Defenders struck again when cornerback Michael Joseph picked off his third pass of the season and took it to the house to extend D.C.’s lead to 14-0. It was Joseph’s third interception of the season.

St. Louis quarterback A.J. McCarron rebounded, leading the Battlehawks on a 73-yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass to Brian Hill to trim the lead to 14-8.

McCarron led another long St. Louis drive, capping it off with a touchdown pass to Hakeem Butler.

The two teams went back and forth in the second half before the Defenders took a 34-28 lead late in the fourth quarter, and things broke down. The Battlehawks, facing a fourth-and-15, saw their hopes evaporate when McCarron was sacked, effectively ending the game with 16 seconds remaining, and this happened:

The scuffle led to three players being ejected — two for D.C. and one for St. Louis.

Here’s another view:

These two teams meet again in 13 days from St. Louis.

Ta’amu completed 11 of 20 passes for 196 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for a touchdown.

McCarron had another excellent performance in defeat, passing for 262 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions.

The Defenders are 2-0 from Audi Field this season and remain undefeated in their home venue since 2020. D.C. hosts the Vegas Vipers next week in a rematch from Week 2; the Defenders won 18-6.

Massive brawl breaks out near end of Defenders’ win over Battlehawks in XFL 2023

A wild finish to the Defenders’ XFL win over the Battlehawks saw both teams in a fight

The XFL game between the St. Louis Battlehawks and D.C. Defenders was chippy throughout Sunday. It turned into a full-fledged WWE melee at the end of the Defenders’ 34-28 victory.

After the Battlehawks scored to close within 6, they attempted the make-it-take-it option of converting a fourth-and-15, the league’s alternative to onside kicks.

AJ McCarron of St. Louis was sacked and all hell broke loose.

Both teams were on the field. Fists were flying, and so was a helmet. Three players were ejected.

In the actual game, the Battlehawks erased a double-digit deficit for the third straight game but four turnovers proved their undoing.

Jordan Ta’amu ran for a touchdown and threw for one as the Defenders remained undefeated.

McCarron passed for 262 yards and 4 touchdowns. He also threw 2 picks.

XFL’s D.C. Defenders announce beer snake code of conduct

The D.C. Defenders have set beer snake rules for Audi Field. Seriously.

The beer snake has won at Audi Field.

After a controversy in the D.C. Defenders’ first home game, the XFL team has set up rules to allow the tradition to continue … in sections 136 and 137.

The crowd’s unruliness will be tested on Sunday when the undefeated St. Louis Battlehawks visit the Defenders.

D.C. Defenders douse Vegas Vipers in XFL 2023 play

The Defenders improved to 2-0 in XFL 2023 play

The D.C. Defenders upped their XFL 2023 record to 2-0 with an 18-6 victory over the Vipers in Las Vegas on Saturday.

The Defenders scored all the points in the second half to erase a 6-0 deficit at the break.

They cut the deficit in half with a field goal in the third quarter and scored 15 points in the final 15 minutes.

Deriq King had 4 rushes for 32 yards and a TD. Abram Smith carried 11 times for 71 yards and a score.

D.C. rushed for 229 yards on 42 carries, which was more than enough to offset Jordan Ta’amu’s lackluster evening at QB, throwing for 93 yards.

The winless Vipers saw Brett Hundley replace Luis Perez at QB. They were a combined 12 of 23 for 98 yards.

The Vipers had less than 100 yards rushing and didn’t hit the century mark passing.

XFL’s D.C. Defenders improve to 2-0 on the season

It was another dominant performance from Gregg Williams’ defense.

The D.C. Defenders capped off the opening weekend of XFL 3.0 last weekend with a come-from-behind win over the Seattle Sea Dragons at Audi Field.

This weekend, the Defenders were on the road with a trip to Las Vegas to face the Vegas Vipers. And, much like last week, the opponent jumped on the Defenders early, but Gregg Williams’ defense took over and led D.C. to an 18-6 win over Vegas.

The Vipers scored in the first quarter when, after a Defenders’ fumble, running back DeAndre Torrey plunged in from two yards out. Vegas missed the PAT conversion and held a 6-0 lead.

The Defenders’ offense did nothing the rest of the first half and went into halftime trailing 6-0.

The second half was a different story.

The Defenders got their first points when kicker Matthew McCrane connected on a 47-yard field to cut the Vegas lead to 6-3.

The D.C. defense continued to dominate, holding the Vipers scoreless in the second half. The Defenders’ offense finally got things going, as quarterback D’Eriq King scored from 12 yards out to give D.C. its first lead. The Defenders converted on the PAT to extend their lead to 10-6.

After a Vegas fumble, running back Abram Smith took the King handoff and scored from nine yards out. D.C. went for two and converted as King found tight end Ethan Wolf in the end zone for the conversion.

D.C. quarterback Jordan Ta’amu completed 11 of 23 passes for 98 yards and also rushed for 68 yards on 12 attempts. King came in and rushed for 32 yards and a touchdown. His only pass attempt was the 2-point conversion to Wolf.

As a team, the Defenders rushed for 229 yards and two touchdowns. They averaged 5.5 yards per attempt.

The Defenders held the Vipers to 178 total yards.

Next up for the 2-0 Defenders is a return home to host the St. Louis Battlehawks.

Hazardous field conditions caused an XFL kicker to slip and miss a 23-yard field goal attempt

Somebody needs to go put a tarp down or something.

It’s one thing to say a game gets sloppy, but the latest XFL game between the Vegas Vipers and D.C. Defenders took that to a whole other level.

The rain was pouring at Cashman Field in Las Vegas on Saturday night, causing unusually slippery conditions for the Vipers and Defenders.

It got so bad that Vegas kicker Bailey Giffen literally slipped while attempting a field goal from 23 yards out. When we say slipped, we mean “banana peel in a cartoon” slipped. It was ugly.

Of course, the kick went to the side, and the Defenders celebrated the whiff. Although, the terrible field conditions were much, much more to blame than Giffen’s kicking. Justin Tucker couldn’t have hit that.

The Vegas Vipers are surely going to have to do something else to their home field to prevent hazardous conditions like this from popping up again anytime else this season.

The XFL is working out the kinks during its 2023 revamp, and it seems like making sure kickers don’t slip in the grass when it rains will be high on the list of things to iron out.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN.