Sea Dragons topple previously undefeated Roughnecks for third straight victory
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – For the second straight week at Lumen Field, the Seattle Sea Dragons won a tight contest against a good opponent. This win over the Houston Roughnecks, who came into this contest with a record of 4-0, is perhaps the most impressive in Seattle’s XFL history (if we’re including the 2020 iteration of the franchise). The Sea Dragons defense stood tall in this one as they shut out Houston in the first half, persevered through Seattle’s four turnovers, and sealed the game with an interception on what could have been the Roughnecks game winning drive. Seattle continues to roll, and if they can tidy up a few messes, they’ll be at the top of the league in no time.
Seattle wide receiver Josh Gordon runs on the field in celebration (Photo by Emma Ottosen)
Defense does their part once again
While the Sea Dragons boast the league's best offense, even with its turnovers issues that we’ll look at, the defensive side of the football has been Seattle’s best the last two weeks. Led by their front seven, including names like Tuzar Skipper and Niko Lalos who made big impacts in this game, the Sea Dragons defense has been lights out and you could argue their numbers tonight should have been better than the final score. Through the first half, the Seattle defense had blanked the Roughnecks entirely, with none of the five Houston drives gaining more than 35 yards.
I highlight that front seven, but the secondary of the Sea Dragons helped hold the Roughnecks and quarterback Brandon Silvers to no big gains, while pass rusher Niko Lalos played a part as he deflected several balls at the line of scrimmage. If it hadn’t been for the Sea Dragons turning the ball over three times in the second half, Seattle may have flirted with a shutout of one of the league’s two undefeated teams. While Houston only had seven points off those four total turnovers, being able to grind more of the game away with possession was out of the window just like how Seattle handled the ball.
Flicks from the Sea Dragons defense, who showed out again in week five (Photos by Emma Ottosen)
DiNucci’s dimes, just sometimes to the other team
Sea Dragons quarterback Ben DiNucci continues to be an interesting player for this team. On one hand, when DiNucci is on, he leads the league’s top offense and distributes the ball to a talented receiving corps of Josh Gordon, Jahcour Pearson, Blake Jackson, and Jordan Veasy. On the other hand, he leads the league in interceptions thrown and DiNucci himself has been involved in eleven turnovers directly, which is a major problem. While you can’t pin all those interceptions on DiNucci, like one of tonight’s where there seemed to be a miscommunication with wideout Josh Gordon, most of those are DiNucci’s fault.
DiNucci presents the question about whether to make some sort of change, whether that be short or long term, at quarterback. For the time being, I don’t believe that DiNucci should be seated. I think that may ruin the chemistry that Seattle has constructed, and DiNucci has shown what he can do at the helm of this offense. DiNucci himself said postgame that he and the team needed to fix the turnover issues, and perhaps it’s something that can be tuned up on its own. Perhaps different game planning is needed to limit the opportunities where DiNucci can turn the ball over. The point remains, these turnover issues cannot continue.
Photos of Sea Dragons quarterback Ben DiNucci throughout the win (Photos by Emma Ottosen)
Seattle’s potential is still hindered by its ball safety issues
As I discussed last week, the Sea Dragons potential is through the roof. With the way that the defense has played, plus the loaded weaponry that they have on the offensive side of the ball, Seattle should be a dominant force in the XFL. Its turnover issues have held them back, and if we really wanted to get deeper into things, Seattle could be undefeated until this point as well, and the lone undefeated team at that.
If not for Ben DiNucci turning the ball over on the goal line in week one or if there was a better play call, the Sea Dragons would have started out the season with a win and prevented the Defenders from going on their current undefeated run. If the defense hadn’t allowed the Battlehawks to drive down the field for the game winning field goal or played a better game beforehand, they would’ve gone 2-0 and got their first win at home in just week two. That’s the past and that’s not reality, the reality of things is that the Sea Dragons are now on a three-game win streak and have just toppled one of the two best teams in the league. Seattle can ride this momentum and get better, but protecting the football is the number one objective in that quest to get better.
Seattle comes out onto the field for pregame introductions (Photos by Emma Ottosen)
Quick notes
This game featured the league’s “top two” quarterbacks, as Ben DiNucci and Brandon Silvers (former Seattle quarterback, back in 2020) are top two in the following categories: Passing yards, passing touchdowns, passing attempts, passing completions, and interceptions thrown
Three notable Houston Roughnecks players have ties to the state of Washington
QB Brandon Silvers: Seattle Dragons quarterback in the 2020 XFL
RB Max Borghi: Former Washington State University running back
P Race Porter: O’Dea High School graduate, former University of Washington punter
Sea Dragons running back Morgan Ellison, though limited in today’s game, still leads the XFL in rushing yards at 254.
Seattle wideouts Black Jackson, Jahcour Pearson, and Josh Gordon continue to lead the XFL in certain categories
Pearson (36 catches) and Jackson (24) lead the XFL in catches
Pearson (430 yards) and Gordon (297 yards) lead the XFL in receiving yards
Sea Dragons linebacker Tuzar Skipper is the leagues leader in forced fumbles at 3
He’s now 3rd in the XFL in sacks with 4
Skipper is also fourth in the league in tackles for loss at 5
Houston punter Race Porter now leads the XFL in punts at 24
Race leads the league in puts inside of the 20, at 8
Former WSU running back Max Borgi (2018-2021) and former Seattle Dragons quarterback Brandon Silvers (2020) (Photos by Emma Ottosen)
What’s next?
Seattle looks to continue their current winning streak, now at three games, next week when they hit the road again next week. The Sea Dragons will take on the Orlando Guardians in the first game of two that they will play on the road, with a Saturday showdown at 10:30AM PST. At the time of the Sea Dragons win tonight, the Guardians have not yet won a game and are currently the second 0-4 team in the league alongside the Vegas Vipers. While the Sea Dragons are flying high right now, they must not get caught up in playing down to their opponent next week.