Cardale Jones threw for 291 yards and two touchdowns while the special teams and defense each produced touchdowns to lead the Defenders to their first win.
Eli Rogers led the receivers with six catches for seventy-three yards for D.C.
Jonathan Celestin recovered a punt blocked by Elijah Campbell in the end zone in the second quarter and Bradley Sylve intercepted a Brandon Silvers pass in the fourth quarter and raced 69 yards for the backbreaking touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The 1-0 Defenders will host New York, who plays their first game tomorrow, next Saturday at Audi Field.
Defensive Deflections
1) Cardale Jones was excellent and his throws were generally on the money.
I'm not saying that the XFL experience will mean that Cardale Jones will eventually have a chance at a starting job in the NFL but when you consider his limited playing time at Ohio State, Jones could turn out to be one of those players that we look back on and wonder how good he could have been had he been allowed to develop.
2) Jones showed the ability to throw the long pass as the Defenders had four pass plays of over 25 yards with both of the Jones touchdown passes being over thirty yards.
Jones also hit Simmie Cobbs with a seventy-yard pass that didn't result in a score, so the Defenders certainly are going to be an explosive team through the air.
3) The running game didn't generate much offense on the ground as the Defenders rushed for only 69 yards as a team with Cardale Jones scrambling for 28 of those.
Jhrell Pressley was the main back with twelve carries but finished with only 31 yards.
I'm not sure Pressley stays the main back with Donnell Pumphrey around, but Pumphrey did little with his four carries as he gained only five yards.
4) The clinching interception was by Bradley Sylve, who was a touted player at Alabama before an Achilles injury caused him to go undrafted.
Sylve is the type of player that could be very effective in a league of this level as his problem making
making NFL rosters has been a lost step in speed due to the Achilles.
In the XFL, Sylve won't be covering players that have that speed advantage and he should be one of the better corners in the league.
5) Elijah Campbell's blocked punt in the second quarter that was recovered for a touchdown was odd-looking as Campbell didn't really leap into the ball as it looked like he ran into the ball and stuffed Seattle's punter.
It reminded me of those perfectly called plays in Nintendo's Tecmo Bowl as the pass (or kick) never gets off the ground!
6) Eli Rogers looks like he is going to be an excellent fit in the slot.
Rogers had a good rookie year in Pittsburgh when he caught 48 passes for close to 600 yards out of the slot in 2016, but fell down the depth chart for the next seasons before he was waived in 2019.
Rogers will likely lead the Defenders in catches as Cardale Jones top secondary option and I wouldn't be surprised if he finishes with 50-60 catches on the season.
7) Some of the new rules are interesting.
I like the conversion attempts being for either 1, 2 or 3 points a lot and I like the attempt to keep the kickoff in play with players in coverage not being allowed to move until the returner has caught the ball.
Not sure how much I like the ball placement on kicks that go through the end zone (placed at the 15) or balls that are pooch kicked and land before the twenty ( placed at the 45), I might need a few games to form an opinion on those changes.
8) If I was a coach or involved in management for a team in this league, I would assign someone to carefully watch the network broadcasts of these games in an attempt to pick up some intel.
The coaches are miked as are some players and ABC ran a replay with the coaches play call on a gadget play that resulted in a touchdown pass from Cardale Jones to Khari Lee.
As ABC ran the replay, you can hear head coach Pep Hamilton and Cardale Jones yell "Boilermaker"
If I'm New York in preparing for next week's game, I'm paying attention.
9) The ABC crew and the league did go way over the top with the in-game interviews.
I saw way too much of Dianna Russini asking inane questions, one of which saw a Seattle lineman drop an F-Bomb on live TV that even the delay button couldn't stop.
Russini often attempted to horn into the action after every big play, including an effort to get her microphone (and herself) into the end zone celebration after the pick-six in the fourth quarter.
It's the first week and all parties involved will have some wrinkles to smooth on the field and with the broadcast, but a good step would be to tell the on-field reporters to take a step back and let the story come to them a bit rather than dive in and be a part of it.
10) All in all, it was an entertaining game and although it wasn't of NFL caliber, it's never going to be.
IF that's what you are looking for, look elsewhere as you will never be satisfied.
But, if you like football and are OK with an evenly matched game with players that aren't quite NFL level, but are as close as you'll get, I think you may surprise yourself with the quality.
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