It was a great start to an exciting opening weekend for the XFL and their teams. The fans were entertained with three out-of-the four contests going to the very end.
After already writing about Five former NFL Stars ready to play in the 2023 XFL, it is now time to see how each player fared with their respected teams, after one weekend of competition.
Saturday, Feb 18, 2023
The season opened up with the Arlington Renegades squeaking out a 22-20 win over the Vegas Vipers. The highlighted player in this game was Vipers Wide Receiver Martavis Bryant. The former Pittsburgh Steelers and Oakland Raiders wideout hurled in 4 catches for 28 yards and had a disappointing first game.
Let’s hope Bryant and the team rebound this week as the (0-1) Vipers face the (1-0) DC Defenders at home.
Orlando Guardians @ Houston Roughnecks
The Houston Roughnecks throttled the Orlando Guardians 33-12. Safety Matt Elam was one of the bright spots for the Guardians as he picked off Roughnecks starting quarterback Brandon Silvers at the 10:32 mark of the third quarter:
“I guess I knew the quarterback was coming down,” he said. “I need to make a shoutout though, Happy Birthday big sis, baby girl that’s for you, I love yall.”
The speedy safety was super excited after the pick and was eager to wish his sister a “Happy Birthday!”
Sunday, Feb 19, 2023
Now we move onto the Sunday portion of week 1 in the XFL.
St. Louis BattleHawks @ San Antonio Brahmas
The BattleHawks came back from the jaws of defeat with a three-point conversion and a successful 4th and 15 conversion play to defeat the San Antonio Brahmas, 18-15.
BattleHawks quarterback A.J. McCarron was 18-26 for 190 yards with 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. The comeback started with an 18-yard td pass from McCarron to wide receiver Hakeem Butler to make it a 15-9 game. They decided to go for three on the conversion and it was successful, making it a 15-12 game. Rather than kicking an onside kick, St. Louis opted to try the 4th and 15 conversion and that too was money.
This one’s for you, St. Louis. pic.twitter.com/bdIJ3xcy6M
— St. Louis Battlehawks (@XFLBattlehawks) February 20, 2023
The final scoring drive was started off by a roughing the passer penalty on 1st and 10 from the BattleHawks 47-yard line by Jordan Williams that gave St. Louis another four downs to go for the win. With 0:16 left in the game, McCarron hit (WR) Austin Proehl in what turned out to be the game winning touchdown.
After the game, McCarron was very emotional in his postgame interview, and at one point he turned to his kids and started to cry. He was very ecstatic about that last series of 2:00 drills and knew his team could pull it off from the start:
“Listen, I’m just so freaking proud of these guys,” he said. “We’ve worked a ton on that 2:00 offense, these big fellas blocking their tails off, I’m just so proud.”
Seattle Sea Dragons @ D.C. Defenders
The D.C. Defenders defense carried their 22-18 comeback win as they were able to adjust and put pressure on the Seattle Sea Dragons offense.
The Sea Dragons led by quarterback Ben DiNucci were up at the half 9-8 over the Defenders and this is what he had to say about the offensive performance so far:
“Just shot ourselves in the foot a little bit, that’s all,” he said. “Get all 11 guys on the same page and keep the ball moving, we’ll be good.”
Even though the team started out on a high note in the first half, the second half went down hill for them real fast. From the Pick Six to the Interception, Turnover on downs and the Fumble in the Defenders 5-yard line, the offense fought to pick up just 51-yards on 17 carries.
Now, let’s take a look at how (WR) Josh Gordon did for the Sea Dragons.
Gordon hauled in six-receptions for 74-yds and his one touchdown was on a Josh Allen like shuffle pass from DiNucci.
It’s very early to tell what the Sea Dragons record will be after only five weeks of practice to prepare for this first game. Let’s see how they do as the Sea Dragons head home against A.J. McCarron’s St. Louis BattleHawks on Thursday at 9:00 PM ET on FX.
STAND-OUT PLAYERS
I know that it is early and only the 1st week of the season, but these are my Stand-out players for Week #1 who I thought made an immediately impact for their teams.
Offense
Houston Roughnecks (WR) Deontay Burnett; The incredible fast wide receiver caught eight passes for 90-yards including a 46-yard touchdown. He was a former wide receiver for the current Super bowl runners up Philadelphia Eagles.
Defense
Houston Roughnecks (OLB) Trent Harris; He had four of the seven sacks the defense tallied against the Guardians. In 2019-21 he played for the NY Giants.
Comeback Player
St. Louis BattleHawks (QB) A.J. McCarron; McCarron pulled off an incredible 18-15 comeback win with 16- seconds left in the game. He last played for the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL.
Final Thoughts
I had a great time watching all the games this weekend and I hope that you did too. If you are still skeptical about the league, please take a read of the well written article Will XFL Survive? (2023) by “J-Allen” to see why it should.
What are some of your thoughts from watching the 1st week of the XFL 2023 season? Please let me know.
For another XFL story, please check out:
https://gridironheroics.com/do-you-remember-these-xfl-coaches-in-the-nfl/
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