Defenders outflank Guardians 27-0

Cardale Jones threw for nearly 300 yards and two touchdowns and the defense produced the best effort in the tiny history of the XFL as the D.C. Defenders defeated the New York Guardians 27-0 at Audi Field in Washington.

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.

Browns moves-Claim Darius Jackson

The Cowboys released their sixth round pick Darius Jackson from Eastern Michigan in order to make space for activating veteran runner Darren McFadden and the Browns jumped on Jackson,claiming him off waivers.

The rookie running back has been inactive for every game,yet Cowboys followers have been upset about losing Jackson due to his preseason performance (141 yards on the ground) and are actually preferring Jackson over McFadden to most of the people I've read.
It made sense that Jackson was inactive on a team with Ezekiel Elliott,Alfred Morris and now McFadden,but a back with his size (6'1 220) with good speed and able to catch the football could turn out to be an interesting claim on the part of the Browns.
Cleveland cut linebacker Corey Lemonier to make space for Jackson.
Lemonier had two sacks earlier in the season,but had lost playing time after the trade that brought Jamie Collins to Cleveland and the increased playing time of Cam Johnson at linebacker
The Browns also promoted defensive tackle Gabe Wright to the active roster with the space made by the PED suspension of wide receiver Jordan Payton and lost linebacker Scooby Wright to the Cardinals.
Wright was a seventh round pick by the Browns,but the Cardinals took Wright off the practice squad with the opportunity for Wright to return to Arizona,where he had played college football.

Back next time with a cleaning of the inbox!!

Browns sign Charlie Whitehurst,release John Hughes

The battered and bruised Cleveland Browns needed a veteran quarterback to add to rookies Cody Kessler and Kevin Hogan and they went out and signed one in well-traveled Charlie Whitehurst.
The 34 year old Whitehurst has spent time in San Diego,Seattle,Tennessee and Indianapolis and is remembered in Cleveland best for being the starter for Tennessee in the 2014 game that saw the Browns make their biggest comeback for a win in their history.

Whitehurst isn't going to make anyone forget Johnny Unitas anytime soon,but it isn't like there were plenty of wonderful options available,so I suppose he'll have to do.

Cleveland also signed center Austin Reiter off the Washington practice squad.
Reiter was a seventh round pick in 2015 from South Florida and adds needed depth after the pulmonary issues with Cameron Erving after the loss to Baltimore.
Reiter will be the backup to John Greco during the absence of Erving...

The surprise release was that of veteran defensive lineman John Hughes.
Hughes was expected to be a starter entering training camp,but missed time with personal problems and never seemed to get caught up.
The defensive line has shown some good things with Danny Shelton and Carl Nassib,but the injury to Nassib makes the timing of the release questionable.
Still,it seems like it was just a matter of time for Hughes between the missed camp and the lack of ties to this regime.

Cleveland also cut inside linebacker Scooby Wright to make space for the two new additions.
The seventh round pick from Arizona had been inactive for the first two games,but the Browns retain interest and hope to sign him to the practice squad,should Wright clear waivers.