Wade Phillips gets territorial triumph
After Week 2 of the XFL season, three teams remain undefeated. Two of those teams – the St. Louis Battlehawks and San Antonio Brahmas – will face off this coming weekend.
But let’s break down Week 2 before we get ahead of ourselves.
The unbeaten BattleHawks pulled off a wild, fourth-quarter rally en route to a dramatic win. Meanwhile, the Houston Roughnecks prevailed in a territorial battle against the Arlington Renegades.
Elsewhere, the Brahmas took care of the Orlando Guardians, while the Vegas Vipers experienced a slip-up.
Winners and losers from Week 2.
The cardiac kids from St. Louis
BattleHawks games are turning into must-see TV.
Last week, the BattleHawks pulled off a frenzied late fourth-quarter rally by scoring 15 points in the final minute and a half of an 18-15 win over the Brahmas. That comeback was made possible by the XFL giving teams the option to go for three-point conversions after TDs.
On Thursday, the BattleHawks won another thriller, a 20-18 victory over the Seattle Sea Dragons at Lumen Field. Quarterback AJ McCarron, who led Alabama to back-to-back college football national championships, deftly put his team into position for the winning field goal. A 9-yard pass to Austin Proehl – son of former NFL receiver Ricky Proehl (who happens to be the BattleHawks receivers coach) – set up Donny Hageman for a 44-yard game-winning field goal as time expired.
McCarron might have found his happy place in the XFL.
“Ever since I came out of college, I’ve been counted out a little bit,” McCarron said in a postgame interview with ESPN. “It’s just fun to come out here and play. I miss playing. Not always just being a backup, and that’s a great living. It really is, and I absolutely love it. I love playing. This is special and I can’t thank the XFL enough. It’s been awesome.”
Territorial triumph
Former NFL coach Wade Phillips and the Roughnecks emerged victorious from an intra-state tussle with the Renegades on Sunday in Texas.
The game featured a healthy amount of trash talk and bragging rights stakes – as evidenced by the live mics on the field – but Houston kept its head down in the second half to keep Arlington in the rearview mirror.
After an Arlington end-zone interception was reversed due to illegal contact, Houston took advantage of the second chance and hit paydirt to build a nine-point lead. The Renegades’ lastditch effort fell short, giving the Roughnecks a 23-14 win and moving them to 2-0.
Both teams got familiar with each other during the preseason due to the relatively close proximity of the cities, and it feels as though the bad blood isn’t going away soon.
The unbeaten Defenders
The DC Defenders improved to 2-0 with an 18-6 road comeback win against the Vipers. Quarterbacks Jordan Ta’amu and D’Eriq King, along with running backs Abram Smith and Ryquell Armstead, ran for a combined 231 yards and two touchdowns on 42 carries. Smith turned in an individual effort of 69 yards on 11 carries.
The Defenders pitched a second-half shutout of the Vipers and scored all 18 of their points after the break. Playing through wet and slippery conditions, the Defenders took advantage of Vegas’ missed opportunities and did just enough to move to the top of the North division standings.
The Defenders match up against the BattleHawks (2-0) in a showdown of unbeaten squads on Sunday (1 p.m. ET on FX).
A Winning(ham) play
The Central Arkansas product and former Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver had a prolific sequence in the first half of Sunday’s game between the Renegades and Roughnecks.
Winningham forced a fumble on special teams and caught a touchdown pass on the subsequent possession, giving the Renegades a huge push of momentum into the half.
The 24-year-old was an undrafted signing by the Jaguars prior to the 2022 season but was waived in August.
Winningham had 53 receptions for 840 yards and five touchdowns in his final nine games at Central Arkansas last season, and he’s making a big impact on Arlington in the XFL season.
LOSERS Woeful Guardians
The Renegades have endured two blowout losses, and Orlando head coach Terrell Buckley was not having it.
During Sunday’s 30-12 defeat against the Brahmas, Buckley was visibly frustrated with his team’s play (or lack thereof) throughout the contest. Much of it was caught on his hot mic. During an in-game interview with ESPN, Buckley further berated his players.
“We got guys out there who are not competing, not making plays,” Buckley said. “So, we got to get people in there who want to play, who want to compete and make plays.”
Buckley’s Guardians team features two former NFL first-round draft picks (quarterback Paxton Lynch and safety Matt Elam) and a second-round NFL pick (wide receiver Cody Latimer).
Turnover-prone Ben DiNucci
Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Ben DiNucci made one NFL start, a 23-9 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Nov. 1, 2020. In that game, he lost two fumbles.
His turnover trend has continued into his XFL gig with the Sea Dragons.
In Week 1, DiNucci fumbled the ball on a 2nd-and-goal situation with 19 seconds remaining and the Defenders won the game 22-18. That wasn’t the only turnover for DiNucci against D.C. He also threw two interceptions, including a pick-six.
Against the BattleHawks on Thursday and facing a 3rd-and-1 at the opponent’s 18-yard line, DiNucci fumbled the ball on what appeared to be an attempted quarterback sneak. The turnover spoiled a potential opportunity to score points.
DiNucci did put his team in a position to win the game, throwing a fourthdown touchdown pass to Jordan Veasy with under a minute and a half to play. The moment was spoiled when Donny Hageman made the winning field goal for St. Louis in the final seconds.
Bad slips in Las Vegas
En route to a second loss in two weeks, the Vipers were victimized by poor playing conditions on their home field in Las Vegas.
Rainy weather produced a slippery surface at Cashman Field that felled Vipers kicker Bailey Griffin, who lost his footing on a 23-yard field-goal attempt.
Las Vegas is one of the driest major cities in the country, so it seems unlikely the Vipers will be regularly contending with a wet field.
Still, it didn’t help their chances on Saturday.
Vegas went on to lose 18-6, falling to 0-2.