Seattle Dragons 3 takeaways: Offense goes cold in 24-12 loss to Dallas

Feb 22, 2020, 6:42 PM

The Seattle Dragons couldn't contain Dallas TE Donald Parham, who scored twice. (Getty)

(Getty)

Seattle Sports

The second home game wasn’t as kind to the Seattle Dragons as they were unable to hold onto a 12-6 halftime lead and ultimately lost their third game of the season 24-12 to the Dallas Renegades. The loss drops Seattle to 1-2.

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The game started on a high note for the Seattle Dragons as they forced a quick punt on Dallas’ first possession of the game and quarterback Brandon Silvers found receiver Austin Proehl on their first drive of the game for a 21-yard score, giving Seattle a 6-0 lead.

The Renegades had a quick answer, with quarterback Landry Jones throwing a touchdown to receiver Flynn Nagel to tie the game at 6.

Seattle would score late in the first half as well, with Silvers finding running back Kenneth Farrow for a 19-yard touchdown and the Dragons had a 12-6 lead they took into halftime.

From there, the Dragons struggled offensively, failing to score in the second half. The Renegades, meanwhile, took advantage of Seattle’s short offensive possessions to score 18 second half points on a more worn out Dragons defense.

Jones threw two touchdowns to his big tight end Donald Parham, including a long 65-yard score on third down, and led the team to their second win of the season so far.

“Every single person fought to win. … Keep your heads up.” – coach Jim Zorn to the team postgame.

We’ll get back to work next week.#ForTheLoveOfFootball | #BreathingFire 🔥🐲 pic.twitter.com/NK0mz7gE87

— Seattle Dragons (@XFLDragons) February 23, 2020

With the tough loss in the books, here are my three biggest takeaways from the Seattle Dragons’ second loss of the season.

1) Tale of two halves for Silvers, offense

The first half went pretty great for the Dragons offensively, with Silvers looking much better than he did last week, when he failed to complete even 50% of his passes. Silvers ended the game completing 21 of 34 passes with two touchdowns and an interception.

“He managed the game pretty well,” Zorn said. “Overall, I thought he played a lot better.

He looked great on the first drive of the game, standing tall in the pocket and taking some big hits, such as on the first touchdown pass to Proehl.

Brandon Silvers to Austin Proehl. Touchdown.#ForTheLoveOfFootball | #BreathingFire 🔥🐲 pic.twitter.com/rGSzVqyz21

— Seattle Dragons (@XFLDragons) February 22, 2020

Silvers also moved around better than last week, as he was able to practice more as he recovered from an ankle injury, but he and the offense regressed from half to half.

In the first half, Silvers completed 11 of 17 passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw an interception, though Seattle Dragons head coach Jim Zorn could be heard on the broadcast telling Silvers that the receiver needed to come back to the ball and that the pick wasn’t all his fault. The offense also had 14 first downs in the first half.

In the second half, Silvers went 10 of 17 and had just 77 yards and no touchdowns. The offense had only four first downs in the second half.

“We really put our defense in a bind (in the second half) just (Dallas) having long drives and us getting the ball back and going three-and-out,” Silvers said. “We’ve just got to maintain (the success of the first half) in the second half and make more plays.”

Zorn said the team’s struggles to move the ball in the second half made it so Silvers had to make more tough plays, which he wasn’t able to do.

“All of us felt frustrated that we had a plan that was capable, but you only get one shot,” Zorn said. “Especially in the third quarter. That was the biggest difference for us.”

2) Renegades tight end Donald Parham should be in the NFL

One player that broke the Seattle Dragons’ backs on defense was Dallas tight end Donald Parham.

Standing 6’8 and weighing roughly 260 pounds, he’s also pretty darn quick.

He finished the game with five catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns, including this 65-yard score that showed off his deceptive wheels.

65 YARDS TO THE HOUSE 😤@LandryJones12 finds @Jiggydd_49 for the second time tonight to extend the @XFLRenegades lead! pic.twitter.com/ylUfE41E0b

— XFL on FOX (@XFLonFOX) February 23, 2020

The dude can flat-out ball, and has the respect of his head coach, Bob Stoops, who is one of the best NCAA coaches of all time.

“You look out there and you think he’s not running fast, then you realize his legs are so long he doesn’t have to move as fast as everybody else to cover ground,” Stoops said. “He’s got great hands and what I’ve loved about him (is) he’s a competitor. He’s been tough.”

Parham said on the touchdown, the defense gave him a rare opportunity to capitalize and he made a play.

“They gave up the middle and (the defender) held me a little at the top of my route, and I was able to separate at the top and then just outrun the defense,” Parham said.

3) Despite allowing 24 points, the defense had another good showing

The Dragons entered Saturday’s game with arguable one of the best defenses in the league. After giving up just 9 points in Week 2 and 18 in Week 1, gave up 19 points (12 of D.C.’s 31 points were off a pick-6 and a blocked punt returned for a touchdown).

While the defense slowed down in the second half, they played an overall solid game again, especially when it comes to forcing turnovers.

Godwin Igwebuike and Channing Stribling each had an interception and defensive end Marcell Frazier followed up his pick-6 last week with the first strip sack in Seattle Dragons history, which gave Seattle a chance to potentially tie the game, but the offense fell short again.

Marcel Frazier does it again! 🔥

He comes up with a HUGE forced fumble to give the @XFLDragons the ball late in the 4th quarter. pic.twitter.com/ufJ6zJuHtg

— XFL on FOX (@XFLonFOX) February 23, 2020

Linebacker Steven Johnson shined again, leading the team for the third straight week in tackles, this time with 14. Zorn loves the leadership he bring as well as his high level of play.

“He’s our defensive captain and he prepares very well,” Zorn said. “He’s the kind of guy that when he speaks, I know our team listens to (him).”

The Seattle Dragons go back on the road in Week 4, this time against the St. Louis Battlehawks, and will look to get back to .500.

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