The Seattle Dragons Collapse In The 2nd Half, Lose To The Dallas Renegades

As virtually anyone who’s watched the game would be well aware of: football is a game that spans two halves of play.

That was an unfortunate truth for the XFL’s Seattle Dragons this past Saturday.

One week after picking up their first win in franchise history, the Dragons jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter and took a 12-6 win into halftime in their game against the Dallas Renegades. But the Renegades scored 18 unanswered points in the second half, coming in the form of two touchdown passes from quarterback Landry Jones and a couple of field goals from kicker Austin MacGinnis, helping Dallas defeat Seattle by a final score of 24-12.

The Dragons looked like they were going to pick up right where they left off, coming off their win over the Tampa Bay Vipers last week. After forcing the Renegades to go three-and-out (with one total yard of offense) on Dallas’ opening drive, the Dragons went 62 yards on 10 plays, capping off said drive with a 21-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brandon Silvers to wide receiver Austin Proehl. Facing heavy pressure on 3rd down and 9, Silvers delivered a laser as he was getting hit, and placed the ball perfectly into the hands of Proehl as the latter beat his cornerback in the endzone.

It was Proehl’s second touchdown catch of the season, after he caught a pass back in Week 1 of the XFL season, marking the first touchdown in XFL history. Longtime NFL fans should recognize the Dragons’ wide receiver’s last name, as Austin is the son of longtime NFL receiver Ricky Proehl.

After the Renegads tied up the score later in the first quarter, the Dragons capitalized on an interception thrown by Jones deep in Seattle territory with just over five minutes remaining in the first half. Seattle turned that around, into an 84-yard scoring drive, capped off by Silvers lofting a beautiful touch pass to a streaking Kenneth Farrow, as the running back got a step behind the defender and made an excellent catch to score the touchdown.

That’s unfortunately where the highlights would end for the Dragons, however. In the second half, Seattle accumulated only 85 yards of total offense, with the first five of their six drives in the second half ending either in a turnover on downs or a pun. Each of their last five drives of the game never spanned more than four plays total. By contrast, the Renegades scored each of their first three drives of the second half.

Despite starting the season with a road loss, the Dragons will take back to the road to see if they can correct the course after their most recent loss. Next Saturday, they’ll be playing the St. Louis Battlehawks, who themselves are coming off a decisive victory over the New York Guardians this past weekend. The Battlehawks currently sit atop the XFL East division, and boast a +4 touchdown margin this season; they’ve scored nine touchdowns this year, while allowing an XFL-low five touchdowns through their first three games.

It will be a critical matchup for the Dragons, who will need a big win to emerge from the proverbial basement of the XFL West division.