Week 1 of the 2023 XFL season is in the books, and it was quite an entertaining weekend of football, as three of the four games went down to the wire.
On Sunday, the St. Louis Battlehawks and San Antonio Brahmas gave us an early candidate for game of the year, as A.J. McCarron shook off his early struggles and scored 15 straight points in the final 1:30 to defeat the Brahmas, 18-15. He hit Austin Proehl for the successful three-point conversion after the first touchdown, and then went right back to Proehl for the fourth-and-15 conversion -- which is the XFL's version of an onside kick. Five plays later, McCarron hit Proehl for the game-winning 13-yard touchdown. It was absolute madness.
To close out Week 1 on Sunday night, we saw another second-half comeback as the D.C. Defenders scored 14 straight points to drown Ben DiNucci and the Seattle Sea Dragons, 22-18. Gregg Williams' defense was playing on another level in that second half, and forced a fumble at the goal line with just seconds left on what could have been a Sea Dragons game-winning drive. Additionally, the Defenders may have the best home-field advantage in the entire XFL.
On Saturday, the Arlington Renegades kicked off the XFL season with a wild comeback, utilizing a 19-6 run in the second half to defeat Luis Perez and the Vegas Vipers. Later, the Houston Roughnecks showed they may be the early-season favorite with a dominant, 33-12 win over the Orlando Guardians.
Here are our grades for each team (check out much more on our XFL page including the schedule and scores, standings and rosters.
Sunday
D.C. Defenders 22-18 over Seattle Sea Dragons
| C- | Seattle Sea Dragons |
| Some believed Ben DiNucci was set up to lead one of the best offenses in the XFL. With Josh Gordon at wide receiver, how could you not be intrigued? Seattle got off to a hot start on Sunday night with an 11-play, 71-yard touchdown drive on its first possession, and a field goal on its second. However, the Sea Dragons fizzled out as the half went on. The same thing happened in the second half, except on a much larger scale. The Sea Dragons put together an eight-play, 56-yard touchdown drive on their first possession of the third quarter, but then their drive chart went like this: Pick Six. Three-and-out. INT. Three-and-out. Turnover on downs. Fumble. That fumble happened inside the DC 5-yard line, as DiNucci lost possession with the game in the balance. Seattle's offensive line struggled with all the pressure being thrown at the QB, and then the run game picked up just 51 yards on 17 carries. It's difficult to properly evaluate the Sea Dragons since this was the first game of the season and they were in a raucous environment, but a second-half collapse always hurts. At least they weren't the Brahmas. | |
| A- | D.C. Defenders |
| t was a tale of two halves for the Defenders. Early on, it looked like they were about to get blown out, but this D.C. defense stood tall in the second half with three forced turnovers -- including the forced fumble on the goal line stand with just seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. It was just one game, but the Defenders may have to reassess their quarterback situation. Jordan Ta'amu was not very good, as he completed 8 of 19 passes for 86 yards and one interception. He's more capable as a passer than the dual-threat D'Eriq King, but D.C. appears to be a team that wants to run the ball. Expect both signal-callers to play moving forward. What really stood out about the Defenders was their fans. They showed up ready to break the world record for longest beer snake, and when stadium security halted their progress, the rowdy group threw lemons on the field and forced play to be stopped. Pounding beers shirtless at 11 p.m. on a Sunday night is what the XFL is about. | |
Sea Dragons-Defenders grades by Jordan Dajani
St. Louis BattleHawks 18-15 over San Antonio Brahmas
| B+ | St. Louis Battlehawks |
| For much of Sunday's opener, the BattleHawks were on track for a hearty 'D+.' Aside from linebacker Travis Feeney nearly scoring on his own strip-sack recovery, St. Louis looked lifeless until the fourth quarter. But then A.J. McCarron and Austin Proehl served up NFL-caliber theatrics when it mattered most: the former was pinpoint accurate, repeatedly hitting Austin Proehl on tight-window and sideline throws to erase a 12-point deficit with three minutes left. Brian Hill's powerful burst on the ground also contributed, and coach Anthony Becht sealed the deal with critical crunch-time decisions, like going for a fourth-and-15 instead of trying an onside kick, and electing to try a three-point play to pull within three. Consider that they also allowed just 15 points, and this was an unusual but encouraging start for the renewed franchise. | |
| C | San Antonio Brahmas |
| Hines Ward's squad was content to play ugly, old-school football, and for a while, it worked. Despite shoddy offensive output from quarterback Jack Coan and Co., with former Dolphins running back Kalen Ballage a steady but unspectacular ball-carrier, San Antonio's "D" kept the Battlehawks under wraps for roughly 57 of the game's 60 minutes. Then it all fell apart. The Brahmas secondary simply could not locate the ball on the final drives, even in tight coverage, and worse yet, Coan's side of the ball did too little, too late, padding a lead thanks to a pretty TD catch by Fred Brown but failing to control the ball and clock in the waning minutes. They've got a defensive foundation to build on, sure, but the collapse will sting for a while. | |
BattleHawks-Brahmas grades by Cody Benjamin
Saturday
Las Vegas Renegades 22-20 over Las Vegas Vipers
| C | Las Vegas Vipers |
| A promising start for the Vipers turned into a disaster. Quarterback Luis Perez was red hot to start the game, going 8-for-9 on the first drive with a touchdown and ended up throwing a 39-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Badert later to give the Vipers a 14-3 lead at halftime. Vegas would have cruised to this victory if Perez and the offense didn't implode. Two giveaways on consecutive plays in the third quarter led to 10 points by the Renegades to get Arlington back in the game. Those followed with a missed block on a punt attempt led to a special teams miscue, followed by Perez throwing an interception to De'Vante Bausby that was returned for a touchdown. Four second-half miscues led to 20 points for Arlington, which didn't have an offensive touchdown in the game. Vegas has a legit defense, but the offense literally gave away the game after a great start. If the offense doesn't have only 14 yards in the second half before the final hurry-up drive, the Vipers are 1-0. | |
| B- | Arlington Renegades |
| The Renegades got back into this football game the hard way, scoring two defensive touchdowns in the second half to rally from a 14-3 first half deficit where the offense couldn't get anything going. Quarterback Drew Plitt wasn't good, but his lone blemish didn't cost his team, unlike the two interceptions Luis Perez threw. Plitt stayed steady in the second half, even if his team couldn't score an offensive touchdown. The defense held Vegas to just 57 yards in the second half and scored 14 points, the reason why Arlington walked out of the opener 1-0. The Renegades just didn't make the same amount of miscues Vegas did and they were able to use a strong defense that struggled early to come away with a win. T.J. Barnes had the sack on Luis Perez on the two-point conversion attempt with eight second left to preserve the win, just one of many clutch plays by the Arlington defense. Based on the second half in the opener, the Renegades defense is going to be a problem in 2023. | |
Renegades-Vipers grades by Jeff Kerr
Houston Roughnecks 33-12 over Orlando Guardians
| A | Houston Roughnecks |
| It's hard to have a better debut than the one Roughnecks coach Wade Phillips' team had on Saturday night. After giving up a touchdown on the game's opening drive, Houston proceeded to score 33 of the game's final 39 points. Big plays on both sides of the ball led to the Roughnecks' season-opening win. Houston's biggest star on offense was former Eagles wideout Deontay Burnett, who caught eight passes for 90 yards that included a 46-yard touchdown catch that put the Roughnecks in front for good. Defensively, the Roughnecks roughed up the Guardians to the tune of seven sacks and three interceptions. Trent Harris, who started in several games for the Giants from 2019-21, led the way with four sacks. Houston, by the way, hasn't lost in the XFL, as it was the only perfect 5-0 team before the 2020 season was canceled. | |
| D | Orlando Guardians |
| Orlando's defensive effort in the second half is the only reason why the Guardians didn't get an F. The Guardians' offense failed to cash in on their defense getting two interceptions in the third quarter. Give coach Terrell Buckley credit, however, for benching former NFL first-round pick Paxton Lynch after his pick late in the third quarter. His backup, Quinten Dormady, threw a touchdown pass, but it was too little too late. Lynch's poor play, subpar pass protection from the offensive line, big plays allowed but its defense and a lack of commitment to the running game were among Orlando's biggest miscues on Saturday night. They did receive several strong individual performances, however, specifically from defensive lineman Jacoby Jones (two sacks) and wideout Andrew Jamiel (three catches for 80 yards and a touchdown. | |
Roughnecks-Guardians grades by Bryan DeArdo
You can relive all the action from Week 1 in our live blog below: