The second week of the restarted XFL ended with the Houston Roughnecks defeating the Arlington Renegades in The Battle of Texas. Due to their 23-14 win, Houston joined St. Louis and DC as the only remaining undefeated team in the league.
Houston led 11-0 early before two turnovers led to 14 Arlington points. The Roughnecks responded with an impressive second half led by quarterback Brandon Silvers and the talented defense of Wade Phillips, who sacked quarterback Drew Plitt five times and intercepted him twice. They also held Arlington for just 43 yards and rushed with 19 carries.
The Renegades’ win came after the San Antonio Brahmas thumped the Orlando Guardians in Sunday’s opener.
Orlando received a solid play from former Notre Dame quarterback Jack Coan, who threw for three touchdowns. Conversely, Orlando’s unresolved quarterback situation continues to be a big topic. Paxton Lynch was benched for a second straight week in favor of Deondre Francois who, like Lynch, was struggling to get the ball airborne against the San Antonio defense. The Guardians’ troubles at quarterback continue to negate what has been a solid rushing attack for two weeks.
Earlier this weekend, two low-scoring games provided very different stories.
After a sloppy first half on Saturday, the DC Defenders cleaned up despite sloppy playing conditions as quarterbacks Jordan Ta’amu and D’Eriq King and running backs Abram Smith and Ryquell Armstead rushed for 231 yards and two touchdowns in total.
The XFL’s first game of Week 2 saw another thrilling comeback from the St. Louis Battlehawks, who improved to 2-0 on Thursday night.
Check out the full season schedule, rosters, Week 2 picks and more on our XFL page. Here is the week 2 schedule updated with the latest results.
Thursday
St Louis Battlehawks 20, Seattle Sea Dragons 18
Saturday
DC Defenders 18, Vegas Vipers 6
Sunday
San Antonio Brahmas 30, Orlando Guardians 12
Houston Roughnecks 23, Arlington Renegades 14
Relive all the highlights on our live blog below: