XFL Houston Roughnecks #3 Ajene Harris had two interceptions in a losing effort against the Seattle Sea Dragons, March 16, 2023. (XFL Twitter)
The Houston Roughnecks suffered their first loss of the season, which also happens to be their first loss in franchise history, as they fell to the Seattle Sea Dragons in Seattle Thursday night. You knew at some point the Roughnecks were going to lose. I never expected them to remain perfect on the season. But it was how they lost that should leave Roughneck fans with some cause for concern. They were outright outplayed Thursday night. The Seattle Sea Dragons were not afraid of the Roughnecks, and they stared Houston down and never blinked. The 21-14 score was not indicative of how much the Sea Dragons dominated the Roughnecks all game long. Let’s talk about what went wrong.
We should probably start with what ended up being a huge loss for the Roughnecks. That was Jontre Kirklin having to leave the game with an injury after the opening series of the game. Houston’s passing game would never recover after this. Brandon Silvers was not good Thursday night and that’s putting it nicely. He was 25/47 for 227 yds, 1 TD and 1 INT, but he only averaged 4.8 yds an attempt. He missed some throws that should have been made, and he tried to force some throws into double coverage. Hopefully this game just ends up being an anomaly and not the new norm for Silvers, who up to this point has been pretty fantastic. I do believe Brandon Silvers will bounce back, but man oh man does he have a tough task in doing that against the D.C. Defenders defense. So we shall see if he can get back on that MVP track.
But to be fair to Silvers here, his receivers definitely weren’t helping him any Thursday night. They dropped quite a few balls that should have been caught, and perhaps would have changed the outcome of this game. That’s where not having Jontre Kirklin really hurt. He makes some incredible catches, and I have no doubt that he would have impacted this game. But that is no excuse. For how dominant and efficient Houston’s offense has been, this was an embarrassing performance. The running game was pretty much non existent, and nothing really started clicking on offense until it was too late. Much like Silvers, I believe this offense will bounce back, but it will be a tough task as their schedule gets tougher.
The defense was solid Thursday night. They created 3 turnovers, with Ajene Harris and Sean Davis having INTs, Harris had 2 of them. They pressured Ben DiNucci all night long, with Tim Ward and Chauncey Rivers each recording a sack. And for the most part, they prevented big plays from Seattle’s high powered offense. The defense definitely gave the offense multiple opportunities, but they were never able to capitalize on those opportunities.
Houston for the first time this season now has to face some adversity. And it ain’t going to get any easier, as they will take on the 5-0 D.C. Defenders at D.C., who just knocked off the Battlehawks in the Dome, and looked good doing it. We will see what the Roughnecks are really made of. Even if they lose Monday night, can they at least put up a better fight than they did Thursday night. They will a long week to prepare for one of the most explosive and grueling offenses in the league, and a defense that will not give them anything easy.
