Tag: xfl 2020

Watch: P.J. Walker-Cam Phillips connection strikes for 2 TDs as Houston goes to 5-0

Cam Phillips caught a couple of TD passes from P.J. Walker in Week 5 of the XFL season for the Houston Roughnecks

After a quiet Week 4, the Houston Roughnecks’ classy combo is back on track.

P.J. Walker and Cam Phillips connected for a pair of touchdowns Saturday against the Seattle Dragons. The Roughnecks rebounded from a pair of significant deficits to take a 32-23 lead in the fourth quarter after the second touchdown pass, which was the ninth connection between the tandem of the season.

The score held up and Houston improved to 5-0, remaining the lone undefeated team in the XFL.

First, Walker found Phillips for five yards that turned a 23-20 deficit into a 26-23 advantage in a game that saw Houston fall behind 14-0 and 23-14.

Then, Walker and Phillips combined on an 11-yard scoring play to make it 32-23.

On the day, Phillips had 10 catches for 122 yards and the two scores. This came a week after he was limited to one catch for nine yards.

Walker had an up-and-down game but you couldn’t tell strictly from his stat line, which was 27-of-38 for 351 yards with three TD passes. However, the front-runner for league MVP also had two picks and lost a fumble.

All this in front of Seattle Seahawks scouts, according to Steve Levy who did play-by-play for ABC/ESPN.

 

Watch: Officials make stunning gaffe at end of Seattle-Houston game

The officials committed a huge gaffe at the end of the Seattle-Houston XFL game Saturday.

It’s over before it is over. That is what the officials apparently believed Saturday as the Houston Roughnecks played host to the Seattle Dragons.

The officials left the field after P.J. Walker took a knee with the clock running down in the fourth quarter. It was fourth down and Houston led 32-23. The big issue: the clock showed two seconds were left and Seattle should have had the football with a chance to tie from the Houston 23.

Seattle should have had the ball with a chance to score a touchdown and try for a three-point conversion to tie the game.

The replay official told ABC the game was over and there was nothing they could do about it, somehow. “The game is over,” Wes Booker, officiating supervisor, told the network.

“It can’t happen,” ABC analyst Greg McElroy said. “It absolutely can’t happen. It is inexcusable.”

What would XFL boss Vince McMahon say to the officiating crew?

Renegades’ OC Hal Mumme coached on sidelines after breaking leg

Dallas Renegades coach Hal Mumme kept calling plays after suffering a broken leg Sunday in an XFL game.

A broken leg wasn’t enough to make longtime coach Hal Mumme throw in the towel during an XFL game Sunday.

The Dallas Renegades faced the Houston Roughnecks in the Texas Throwdown. In the second quarter, offensive coordinator Hal Mumme was sent tumbling after being hit by Dallas RB Cameron Artis-Payne on the sidelines.

Mumme got up and called plays for the remaining 2 1/2 quarters … with a broken leg. One of the brains behind the Air Raid offense made sure everyone knows he’s not soft on Twitter.

 

Mumme is 67 and is known for the trademark towel around his neck as well as offensive genius. When Dallas plays the New York Guardians Saturday, Mumme will call plays from the safety of the press box, the team announced.

On another leg front for the Renegades, starting quarterback Landry Jones, who was injured on a quarterback sneak in the loss to the Roughnecks, will be out for two weeks after aggravating a knee injury he suffered on the first day of XFL training camp.

Patrick Mahomes sends best wishes to injured Landry Jones

Patrick Mahomes must have felt a twinge when he saw Landry Jones injured on a quarterback sneak.

It was far from the best of Sundays for Landry Jones.

First, the Dallas Renegades quarterback threw a trifecta of interceptions in the first quarter of the Texas Throwdown loss to the Houston Roughnecks. Then, the former Pittsburgh Steeler lost the ball on a sack and it became a Houston touchdown.

Then, on a drive that could have tied or won the game in the final quarter, Jones tried a quarterback sneak, looking for a first down. He got the needed yardage but also suffered a knee injury. It was to the same left knee that was hurt during Dallas’ first practice and caused him to miss the first game of the XFL season.

Another quarterback, who has experienced the danger of the quarterback sneak, Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl-winner Patrick Mahomes must have been taking in some XFL because he wished Jones well via a tweet.

Mahomes suffered a dislocated kneecap in the 2019 regular season on a QB sneak.

Andy Reid was questioned on his call against the Denver Broncos. “Probably shouldn’t have called it, that what you’re saying?” was his response to a reporter after the game.

 

Watch: Spectacular turnover saves Houston’s perfect season

DeMarquis Gates showed a great set of hands to keep the Houston Roughnecks perfect in the XFL.

The Dallas Renegades were poised for a score late in the fourth quarter of the Texas Throwdown. They had the ball inside the Houston Roughnecks five-yard line Sunday. And then, DeMarquis Gates showed a great pair of hands for the undefeated visitors.

Backup QB Philip Nelson threw a quick pass that Flynn Nagel wasn’t able to handle. The ball deflected forward and there was Gates making a diving, one-handed stab to stop Dallas and move Houston to 4-0 with a 27-20 victory.

The turnover was the fifth by the Roughnecks. The first four were courtesy of  Landry Jones, who went out of the game on the drive after getting a first down on a quarterback sneak and suffering a knee injury on the play. Jones threw three picks and was stripped of the football on a sack that turned into a Houston touchdown.

Patrick Mahomes, who knows something about how a QB can be injured on a sneak, wished Jones well via social media.

Watch: Strip-sack of Landry Jones becomes Houston Roughnecks touchdown

A strip-sack of Landry Jones turned into a Houston touchdown in the Texas Throwdown.

Landry Jones appeared to have found the groove for the Dallas Renegades after a first quarter Sunday that saw him throw a trio of interceptions. He had brought the Renegades within 21-20 on the Houston Roughnecks when XFL disaster struck in the fourth quarter.

Here’s the fourth turnover of the game by the former Pittsburgh Steelers’ QB. He is sacked, has the ball stripped and Edmond Robinson, who played college ball at Newberry, picked it up and took it 12 yards to the house. The touchdown in the Texas Throwdown gave Houston a 27-20 lead.

The Roughnecks came into the game leading the XFL in sacks. Their first of the day in Week 4 came at the most opportune of times.

 

Watch: P.J. Walker continues to add to his XFL highlight reel

P.J. Walker is the star of the XFL. The Houston Roughnecks’ quarterback keeps making highlight-reel plays.

P.J. Walker has been the breakout start of the XFL in its infancy. The Houston Roughnecks quarterback added to his resume in Week 4 that must have NFL scouts awaiting a chance to sign him.

He can run and hit opponents. Watch this shot delivered in the third quarter to a Dallas Renegade:

Check out this incredible touch on a pass to Nick Holley:

Oh, and this one to finish the drive. A TD pass from Walker to Blake Jackson that covered 19 yards.

All of that happened on one 84-yard drive.

He wasn’t able to get the three-point conversion on the drive that gave Houston a 21-11 lead. However, Walker displayed some amazing moves on one earlier in the Texas Throwdown.

 

Watch: Security guard gets clobbered on XFL sidelines

A security guard for the Guardians was blindsided by the Wildcats’ Kermit Whitfield.

An XFL running play by the LA Wildcats turned into the hit of the day. However, it wasn’t by a New York Guardian making a tackle on wide receiver Kermit Whitfield.

Rather, the security guy was doing his job, watching the fans with his backed turned to the play and former Florida State player decleated him.

Check out this shot:

He popped right back up and went back to work.

Watch: XFL Wildcats come up big after coach Winston Moss’ gamble

Winston Moss of the LA Wildcats took a risk and wound up with a huge reward in the XFL.

Winston Moss was not safe for television after he tried to fire up his LA Wildcats Saturday against the New York Guardians at halftime.

Following, the expletive-laced pep talk, Moss decided to take a huge risk and go for it on fourth-and-two from the Wildcats’ 28 in the third quarter trailing 14-6.

A 31-yard pass interference penalty kept the drive going and a play later Josh Johnson found Saeed Blacknall, who played at Penn State, with a 42-yard pass for a score. The two-point conversion worked and the game was tied at 14.

A piece of Moss’ halftime motivation:

Watch: Guardians’ Dravon Askew-Henry throws penalty flag at official

The New York Guardians’ Dravon Askew-Henry was flagged twice on one play, once for throwing the marker at the official.

The New York Guardians have had trouble keeping their composure this XFL season. First, quarterback Matt McGloin threw a vintage fit on the sidelines in Week 2. In Week 3, center Ian Silberman got into it with an opponent, was flagged and benched. And Saturday, against the LA Wildcats, DB Dravon Askew-Henry was flagged twice after throwing the flag at an official.

Askew-Henry was called for holding on the pass pattern. The official threw the penalty flag and it wound up being caught by Askew-Henry, who was none to happy about the call. The West Virginia product took the flag and winged it back at the official who threw it his way first. The official didn’t have a flag to throw so he gestured to a fellow official to throw his, which the other official did.

The result was a five-yard holding penalty and a 15-yard unsportsmanklike conduct call.

That was an XFL first as was having a game between teams that each have female presidents.