Jameer Thurman grabbed a Matt McGloin pass and returned it 46 yards for a touchdown to lead a defense that held New York to a mere 137 yards of offense.
Rashad Ross led the team in receiving yards with 95 on four catches with DeAndre Thompkins finished with 92 yards receiving and caught a Jones pass for a score.
Washington improved to 2-0 with the victory and the Defenders will face their first road game next Sunday in Los Angeles against the 0-1 Wildcats, who will host Dallas on Sunday.
Defensive Deflections
1) I know it's corny to talk about the strength of a defense after two games of a brand new league, but the Defenders are going to be at the top of defenses in this league.
Holding a team to 137 yards is nothing to sneeze at in any league and the Defenders controlled this game entirely.
2) Jameer Thurman's pick-six was the second in as many games for D.C. and adding the punt block/recovery against Seattle to the total would give the Defenders three touchdowns in two weeks that didn't come from the offense.
3) The player that I discussed in last week's game that returned a pass for a touchdown against Seattle, cornerback Bradley Sylve, wasn't around for this win.
Why? Well, apparently whoever is running the Los Angeles Wildcats isn't going to be patient as after the Wildcats lost their opener to Houston, the team fired defensive coordinator and traded their defensive captain Anthony Johnson to the Defenders for Sylve.
It'll be interesting to see the Wildcats next Sunday night when the Defenders arrive in Los Angeles.
4) Cardale Jones continued his fine play with the command of the deep ball and unexpected touch on the short and intermediate passes.
Other than his one interception on a tipped pass that was thrown under pressure, Jones looked comfortable in and out of the pocket.
Jones is the main promotional point for the Defenders and if the XFL is going to succeed, the league will have to show that their quarterbacks will have the skills to play in the NFL and make the XFL a training ground for quarterbacks that need snaps for their development.
Cardale Jones is going to be an interesting test case in the NFL- are these games enough to earn his an NFL position and then will it be enough for him to have an opportunity to play and then succeed?
5) Entering the season, I thought the Defenders could have the best receiving corps in the league and after two games, I think that is the case.
Nine different players caught passes, six receivers/tight ends and three running backs with Rashad Ross and DeAndre Thompkins running from the outside and Eli Rogers from the slot dominating the Guardians pass defense.
6) Eli Rogers played Saturday and missed his mother's funeral to do so.
I do wonder sometimes how much importance we place on sports.
That's not a knock on Rogers and the difficult decision that he was forced to make, but in a regular job people receive time off for a family loss, yet in sports often players and coaches bull through.
7) I often wince at the television gimmicks that are used in new leagues to gain attention. but in this game, the broadcast actually gave the viewer something worth watching.
New York quarterback Matt McGloin, formerly of Penn State, was in the midst of a miserable game, but while wearing a microphone, McGloin loudly blamed his teammates for the offensive woes in the first half while talking to coach Kevin Gilbride.
As McGloin walked to the locker room at the half, reporter Dianna Russini asked McGloin what needed to be done to turn the tide in the second half.
McGloin's response was to throw the coaching staff under the bus as they "need to tear the entire game plan up and create a new one".
McGloin continued to struggle in the second half and the cameras caught McGloin's removal from the game with Gilbride.
If you thought the "seeing ghosts" comments by the Jets Sam Darnold against the Patriots last season were those of a player flustered, Matt McGloin would have been seen to be downright intoxicated.
8) I stated last week that I wasn't wild about the in-game interviews, but Defenders linebacker Scooby Wright delivered a succinct yet memorable interview.
Wright had made a hit on Guardians running back Darius Victor that resulted in a fumble and turnover after the recovery by the Defenders Rahim Moore. https://twitter.com/FTBeard1/status/1228765229875482625
Pretty straight to the point.
9) The Defenders running game didn't overpower the Seattle Dragons in week one, but the ground game did finish with over one hundred yards as a team.
Donnell Pumphrey led with 52 yards rushing, but Pumphrey also caught five passes out of the backfield to give the Defenders a reliable checkdown option.
10) Pep Hamilton tried something that could prove helpful down the road but might make the rematch in New York interesting.
The Defenders scored a touchdown with under two minutes remaining on a Cardale Jones pass to Derrick Hayward and with a 20-0 lead throwing the ball could have been seen as borderline.
Hamilton then decided to go for the three-point conversion after the score.
The try was unsuccessful and the experience gained from the situation could be helpful, but if I am Kevin Gilbride and the Guardians I would remember that try in the next game.
11) It's been a fun two games for Defenders fans, but remember they have merely held serve with both wins at home.
The next two games are key road battles with 0-1 Los Angeles and 0-2 Tampa Bay in wait.
Split those two games and 3-1 puts the Defenders in nice shape, but win them both and they could be in tremendous shape for the playoffs.
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