Houston tops Dallas, 27-20, in the Texas Throwdown
Sunday’s slate of games kicked off with the first installment of the Texas Throwdown, as the undefeated Houston Roughnecks visited the Dallas Renegades. Houston appeared to have the game in hand, jumping out to an early 15-0, behind 2 FGs, a TD pass from PJ Walker and a 3-pt conversion. By halftime, the Renegades had added a TD, 2-pt conversion and FG of their own to claw back into the game.
Throughout the second half, the momentum went back and forth, but Dallas was never able to take the lead. A strip sack picked up by LB Edmond Robinson and ran in for a TD ended up being the deciding factor as Houston picked up their fourth straight win, 27-20. Dallas had a chance at the end, but threw another interception inside the 5 yard line, their fifth turnover of the game. Roughnecks head coach June Jones commented after the game about his team’s defensive effort: “We talk about these takeaways all the time. Our defense just kept hanging in there. We needed to score more points when we had our chances with those takeaways, but it’s a team game and did enough on each side of the ball to win and that’s gonna be the start of a pretty good rivalry.”
The real story of the day was the Dallas defense. XFL’s leading WR Cam Phillips entered the game with 324 receiving yards and 7 TDs. Today, even though QB PJ Walker threw 41 passes, only 3 of them were thrown towards Phillips. Phillips only managed 1 catch for 9 yards. Teams will be looking to use this blueprint to slow down the Roughnecks through the rest of the season. Walker still played an effective game by throwing for 239 yards and 2 TDs, along with an interception.
It appears that Philip Nelson will resume duties at the Renegades Quarterback. In his only start for the team, in Week 1, he threw for 218 yards on 42 attempts, 0 TDs and 1 INT. However, his fortunes could change as TE Donald Parham has emerged as an incredible weapon that Nelson can rely on. However, Hal Mumme’s “Air Raid Offense” is known for slinging the ball around the field, which has resulted in 9 interceptions so far this season, between Nelson and Jones. It will be up to the Dallas defense to continue to keep their team in games. The Renegades will host the New York Guardians next Saturday, while the Roughnecks will head back home to face the Seattle Dragons.
While the Roughnecks have carried momentum throughout the season, the Renegades seem to finally be finding their stride with the insertion of Landry Jones at QB. However, a knee injury late in the 4th quarter could sideline the QB for most of the season. It is believed to be the same type of injury Jones suffered in training camp. The coaching staff believes he will be back but how effective will he be late in the season.
DC Drops 2nd Straight Game to Winless Team
As positively as the conversations started out about QB Cardale Jones and the high-powered DC Defenders, those have quickly turned into doubts. Last week, DC went on the road for the first time and were blown out by the winless LA Wildcats. This week, different stadium but same result. The Tampa Bay Vipers pick up their first win of the season as they shut out the Defenders 25-0.
The Vipers have looked like their putting the pieces together over the last two weeks on both sides of the ball. On the other side, the Defenders look to be falling apart. Cardale Jones only threw for 72 yards and an interception in this game, giving him 5 total INTs over the last two weeks with 0 TDs. The Defenders offense was held to 107 total yards in the game, their lowest output of the season. DC was also held out of the red zone and goal to go situations for the first time all season. This is certainly an anomaly when you look at the track record of DC head coach Pep Hamilton. An offensive guru being shut down two weeks in a row, is a credit to great defensive preparation and a will to get that first win.
The Vipers relied heavily on the rushing attack in this game and the duo of De’Von Smith and Jacques Patrick delievered the goods. Both running backs topped the 100 yard mark, which is the first time that total has been eclipsed in the XFL this season. QB Taylor Cornelius also added 36 yards and a rushing TD to the team’s total. Cornelius also threw for 211 yards, a TD and an interception in this game.
Vipers head coach Mark Trestman had this to say following the win: “I’m just happy for our players and our coaches. They are a resilient bunch. Our players have a sense of how good we can be. We said it all along, there’s a sign of a good team in there. We are going to enjoy the win, but there’s a lot of different ways we can get better. We know that.”
The Vipers will head to Los Angeles to play the red-hot Wildcats on Sunday evening, while DC looks to stop it’s losing streak as they return home to host the leaders of the East, the St. Louis Battlehawks.