After a crucial victory in Week 9 against the St. Louis Battlehawks, the Sea Dragons head home to Lumen Field to take on the Vegas Vipers in a must win season finale to clinch the final playoff berth of the XFL North. On the initial drive in the first quarter for the Sea Dragons, K Dominik Eberle missed an early 39-yard field goal. Overall for both teams, it was a very quiet first quarter where both teams were held scoreless.
Midway through the second quarter, LB Tuzar Skipper, recorded his sixth sack of the season, giving the ball back to the Sea Dragons and momentum for their next offensive series. Soon after, QB Ben Dinucci orchestrated his offense down the field and cleaned up the drive after scoring a 14-yard rushing touchdown (his third rushing touchdown of the season) to put the Sea Dragons up 6-0 following the missed 3-point conversion.
Going into the third quarter, the Sea Dragons regrouped at halftime and came out firing after DiNucci found Pearson streaking downfield for a 33-yard touchdown pass to extend the score to 14-0 after the successful 2-point conversion to WR Josh Gordon. The Vipers responded on their next series with a 53-yard field goal by K Sam Sloman, cutting the lead to 14-3. Shortly after, the Sea Dragons came out on their next series aggressive when DiNucci spotted WR Juwan Green for a 37-yard touchdown pass, widening the gap to 20-3 after the failed 2-point conversion try.
In the final quarter of the XFL regular season, DiNucci connected with WR Jordan Veasy in the corner of the end zone for a 3-yard diving touchdown, increasing the score to 28-3 following the successful 2-point conversion attempt to WR Blake Jackson. The Sea Dragons defense carried the strong offensive momentum onto their side of the field when DB Qwynnterrio Cole intercepted QB Jalan McClendon, giving the ball right back to the Sea Dragons. The Sea Dragons looked to officially clinch a playoff berth on their next drive but was shortly interrupted after S Marwin Evans picked off DiNucci in the end zone. Seattle regained possession of the ball after forcing the Vipers to punt, but failed to score again after DiNucci threw his second interception of the game to CB Jamar Summers. On the ensuing series for the Vipers, McClendon linked up with WR Mathew Sexton for an 81-yard pass. On the same play, DB Mykael Wright forced Sexton to fumble at the 1-yard line before entering the end zone, but the Vipers regained the ball back after the ball went out of bounds in the back of the end zone. After the dispute on the possession, RB Shai McKenzie finished the series with a 1-yard rushing touchdown to trim the lead to 28-9. The Sea Dragons ran the clock off on their next series, securing themselves the final playoff spot in the XFL North.
The Seattle Sea Dragons will fly to Washington D.C. next Sunday to take on the D.C. Defenders in a semi-finals matchup of the XFL playoffs. This will be the third time this season that the Sea Dragons and Defenders will meet again for a matchup.
POSTGAME NOTES
The Sea Dragons defeated the Vegas Vipers 28-9 in their regular season finale and officially booked a matchup in the North Division Championship against the D.C. Defenders.
A win and 34 points scored (without giving up 34) would clinch a postseason berth through the 4th tiebreaker with St. Louis, but Seattle found a different way to make it in with a stellar defensive performance.
In week three, Seattle earned its first win of the season against these same Vipers.
WR Josh Gordon was the star of that game, notching six receptions for 116 yards and two scores.
He continued that trend on Seattle’s first drive, catching QB Ben DiNucci’s first three pass attempts of the game.
Gordon finished the game as Seattle’s leading receiver with 9 catches for 115 yards.
Things started out shaky for the offense as they couldn’t capitalize on a redzone appearance and ended their first drive on a missed 39 yard field goal. They were unable to score on the next three drives.
The Seattle defense took care of business, shutting out the Vipers until the 8:10 mark of the 3rd quarter (allowing a 53 yard field goal).
DE Daniel Joseph’s second sack of the season ended the first quarter, while LB Tuzar Skipper earned his sixth sack of the year later on. He now ranks 4th in the XFL in that category.
It was the defense that became the deciding factor for the Sea Dragons’ playoff contention. They gave up one touchdown late in the 4th quarter, but otherwise were completely dominant. Vegas’ 9 points was their second lowest output of the season, and the second lowest opponent point total for Seattle’s defensive unit.
Overall, the defense forced eight Vipers punts on their ten drives. Four of those possessions resulted in 3-and-outs. They held Vegas to 18.2% on 3rd down, and only gave up six first downs and six completions in the entire game.
QB Ben DiNucci finally broke the scoreless tie with 1:16 left in the second quarter with a 14 yard touchdown scramble.
This was his third rushing score of the year, tied for the lead amongst QBs.
After this game, DiNucci leads all XFL QBs in rushing with 305 yards on the ground (he also leads the Sea Dragons in rushing yardage).
DiNucci built on this momentum in the 2nd half, starting out four of six with a 33 yard touchdown pass to WR Jahcour Pearson. A two point conversion to Josh Gordon was the icing on the cake and brought Seattle to 14 points.
This was Pearson’s 4th touchdown of the year, and his 8th catch of 20+ yards, ranking 4th in the XFL.
The very next drive, QB Ben DiNucci connected with WR Juwan Green for a 37-yard touchdown strike. This is Green’s 6th receiving TD of the year, leading the Sea Dragons and is now tied for 2nd in the XFL in this category.
Ben DiNucci has 33 completions of 20+ yards, ranking 1st in the XFL. He also leads the league with eight 40+ yard throws.
QB Ben DiNucci overcame a tough start for the offense with a lights out 3rd quarter. He went 13-16 and scored on every drive, with three touchdown passes to three different receivers.
WR Jordan Veasy cashed in on the last possession in the opening seconds of the 4th quarter, with a three-yard touchdown. This made him the fifth Sea Dragon to have multiple receiving TDs this season.
DiNucci finished the game 26 of 41 with 339 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions. This is his second 300 yard game of the season, with the first also coming against the Vipers.
S Qwynterrio Cole refused to let the momentum slip away, earning his third interception of the season on the next Vegas drive. He is tied for 3rd in the XFL in picks, and still leads Seattle in INTs and solo tackles (32).
Overall, Seattle closes out the regular season with arguably the most impressive statistical roster in the XFL.
Ben DiNucci is the XFL’s leader in passing yards (2,671), completions (242), and 1st down passes (122).
Jahcour Pearson leads the league in receiving yards (670), catches (60), and 1st down catches (32).
Josh Gordon (6th), Blake Jackson (9th), and Juwan Green (11th) also finished ranked highly in receiving yardage. Seattle is the only team with three top 10 receivers.
Tuzar Skipper is tied for second in the league in forced fumbles (3) and fourth in sacks (6).
Qwynterrio Cole is tied for 8th in solo tackles (32) and 3rd in interceptions (3).
Kelvin McKnight leads the league in punt return yardage (235) and is second in kick return yardage (748) despite only playing 9 games.
