XFL DC Defenders

DC Defenders: 2020 Season Review

Published on April 7, 2020 under XFL (XFL)
DC Defenders News Release


RECORD/RESULTS

3-2 (T-1, East) ... but first place, thanks to head-to-head tiebreaker

Home: 3-0

Away: 0-2

vs. East: 2-1

Against The Spread: 3-2

Week W/L Opponent Score ATS Over/Under

1 W SEA 31-19 W U

2 W NY 27-0 W U

3 L at LA 39-9 L O

4 L at TB 25-0 L U

5 W STL 15-6 W U

Statement Win

Week 5: DC Defenders 15, St. Louis BattleHawks 6

The DC Defenders made a statement in each of their three wins. After the first two weeks of the season, the Defenders looked like the best team in the XFL, thanks to a 31-19 win over the Seattle Dragons and a 27-0 win over the New York Guardians.

But the other one stands out: When the Defenders returned home from their two-game road trip, the team was no longer the XFL's best. Thanks to a 39-9 loss at the Los Angeles Wildcats and a 25-0 loss at the Tampa Bay Vipers, the Defenders desperately needed a win.

In order to do that, they would need to stop Jordan Ta'amu and the red-hot St. Louis BattleHawks.

Inside the friendly confines of Audi Field, the Defenders did just that.

The BattleHawks outgained the Defenders in total yards, but DC kept Ta'amu and the rest of the BattleHawks out of the end zone. But it wasn't just the on-field play that made this a statement win.

The fans played their part: With the help of the now-iconic "Beer Snake," the entire XFL was reminded of the league's best home-field advantage.

Breakout Players

S Rahim Moore

Moore had an excellent training camp in Houston. The former second-round NFL draft pick and pro veteran was the vocal and emotional leader of the Defenders' secondary.

But when the team returned from training camp, Moore was on the wrong side of roster cuts and stayed in Houston as part of Team 9.

That did not last long, and a day before Week 1, Moore was recalled to the team and made an immediate impact. He registered the first interception in XFL history and picked off a PAT attempt.

In Week 2, Moore forced his first fumble of the season, stripping Guardians RB Darius Victor clean. But he wasn't done there. Moore picked off Tampa Bay's Taylor Cornelius in Week 4 to register his second interception of the season.

Moore finished the truncated 2020 XFL regular season with two interceptions, one forced fumble and fumble recovery, four pass deflections and 15 total tackles.

The Defenders needed Moore to be everywhere, and he was.

K Ty Rausa

The former Boise State kicker was the final player added to the Defenders roster, joining the team just two weeks before the season opener.

But you would never know the Defender didn't select a kicker in the 2020 XFL Draft or went the entirety of mini- and training camp without a kicker. Rausa led the XFL with 11 field goal attempts and ranked second with 9 makes.

He also kicked the second-longest FG of the season, a 55-yarder in the closing seconds of the first half during Week 1 against the Seattle Dragons. Rausa closed out the season with a perfect 3-for-3 performance in the Week 5 win over the BattleHawks.

BEST MOMENT

Khari Lee finds the end zone on a flea-flicker (Week 1)

Week 1: Double-flea-flicker TD pass

DC scored its first offensive touchdown on this flea-flicker, which ended with Cardale Jones finding Khari Lee, who evaded multiple defenders and crossed the goal line.

TEAM STATS

OFFENSE: EFFICIENCY

Category Stat (Rank)

Pts/G 16.4 (7)

Pts/Play 0.288 (5)

Avg Score Margin -1.4 (5)

Yds/G 264.0 (6)

Yds/Play 4.6 (7)

Plays/G 57.0 (6)

Yds/Play 4.6 (7)

Rush Play% 50.8 (2)

Pass Play% 45.96% (7)

PASSING

Category Stat (Rank)

Pass Yds 720 (8)

Comp% 55 (7)

Yards/Pass 5.5 (8)

Pass TD 5 (T4)

INT 7 (6)

RUSHING

Category Stat (Rank)

Rush Yds 651 (3)

Rush Yds/G 130.2 (3)

Yards/Rush 4.5 (2)

Rush TD 1 (8)

EXTRA POINT

Category Stat

1-pt 1/6 (17%)

2-pt 0/1 (0%)

3-pt 0/2 (0%)

TOTAL 1/9 (11%)

GAME CONTROL

Category Stat (Rank)

Takeaways 7 (5)

Turnovers 8 (5)

TO Margin -1 (6)

3rd Down Conv% 32% (7)

4th Down Conv% 67% (2)

Red Zone TD% 27% (8)

Team Pen Yds 242 (4)

DEFENSIVE EFFICIENCY

Category Stat (Rank)

Opp Pts/G 17.8 (3)

Opp Pts/Play 0.292 (2)

Opp Yds/G 315.4 (4)

Opp Yds/Play 5.36 (5)

Opp Plays/Game 58.8 (3)

Opp Yards/Play 5.3 (5)

Opp Rush Yds/G 132.6 (7)

Opp Pass Yds/G 182.8 (2)

Opp Yards/Rush 4.57 (6)

Opp Yards/Pass 6.54 (5)

DEFENSIVE EVENTS

Category Stat (Rank)

Sacks 8 (6)

QB Hits 20 (8)

Interceptions 5 (5)

Passes Defensed 18 (7)

Fumble Recoveries 2 (T4)

Forced Fumbles 3 (T3)

Defensive/Special Teams TDs 3 (1)

More: DC Team Stats

PLAYER STATS

QUARTERBACKS

Name COMP ATT % YDS AVG TD LG INT ATT YDS AVG TD LG

Cardale Jones 61 113 54 674 6 4 40 7 17 61 3.6 0 14

Tyree Jackson 11 18 61 46 2.6 1 9 0 9 48 5.3 0 12

RUNNING BACKS

Name ATT YDS AVG TD LG REC YDS AVG TD LG

Jhurell Pressley 42 190 4.5 0 27 9 40 4.4 0 15

Donnel Pumphrey 46 168 3.7 0 23 9 68 7.6 0 19

Nick Brossette 14 87 6.2 1 38 0 0 0 0 0

Khalid Abdullah 11 52 4.7 0 16 2 11 5.5 0 6

*Notable: Brossette's 38-yard run (Week 3) was the league's second-longest of the 2020 season.

WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS

Name TAR REC YDS AVG TD LG

Rashad Ross 22 12 193 16 1 40

Eli Rogers 30 19 164 8.6 0 27

Khari Lee 8 8 91 11 2 39

DeAndre Thompkins 17 7 85 12 1 21

KICKER

Name FGM FGA FG% LONG

Ty Rausa 9 12 75 54

DEFENSE: TACKLES

Name TAK AST CMB

Jonathan Celestin 20 12 32

Jameer Thurman 18 10 28

Desmond Lawrence 16 2 18

Tyree Kinnel 14 3 17

Scooby Wright 9 8 17

DEFENSE: SACKS

Name SK YDS QBH TFL

Anthony Johnson 2.5 25 4 3

Tavaris Barnes 1.5 12 2 2

Jay Bromley 1 11 3 2

Jonathan Massaquoi 1 4 2 2

Siupeli Anau 1 9 2 2

Tracy Sprinkle 1 1 4 1

DEFENSE: INTERCEPTIONS

Name INT PD

Rahim Moore 2 4

Jameer Thurman 1 3

Matt Elam 1 1

PUNTER

Name NO YDS AVG LG

Hunter Niswander 21 936 44.6 62

Check out the DC Defenders Statistics

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