Did a 4-6 team just win the XFL Championship?
doubledragon
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This blows my mind, a 4-6 team just won the XFL Championship. The 4-6 Arlington Renegades coached by Bob Stoops, beat the 10-1 D.C. Defenders to capture the XFL's version of the Super Bowl.
Renegades upset Defenders to claim improbable XFL title
Renegades celebrate victory with XFL championship trophy liftThe Renegades lift the XFL championship trophy following a 35-26 win over the Defenders.
The Arlington Renegades, led by quarterback Luis Perez, captured the XFL championship by upsetting the D.C. Defenders 35-26 to complete their improbable run Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
The Renegades entered the playoffs with a losing record (4-6) but managed to win the championship against a Defenders team that went 10-1.
Perez carried the Renegades' offense as he went 26-for-36 for 288 yards with three touchdowns. He was named the game's MVP.
The Renegades, coached by former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, who won a national championship with the Sooners in 2000, earned the first championship of the newly reimagined XFL under the new ownership group led by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Dany Garcia and RedBird Capital Partners.
"The hard work and the way we've turned our season around, the assistant coaches and the players really deserve the credit," Stoops said. "They've stuck together, they've hung together and here, towards the end of the year, we've really hit our stride at the right time."
The trajectory of the Renegades' season changed once they traded with the Vegas Vipers for Perez in Week 7. Before the championship, they didn't win two consecutive games throughout the season and alternated wins and losses for the first six weeks.
The biggest reason was the Renegades' struggling offense, which averaged 13 points per game before the Perez trade. Once Perez became the starter, the Renegades' scoring increased to 19.8 points and their yards per game rose to 343.
The wins didn't immediately come as they went 1-2 in Perez's starts. Even though they had a sub-.500 regular-season record, they made the postseason because they finished second in the South Division.
Once the postseason arrived, the Renegades flipped the switch, starting in the South Division championship. They upset the No. 1-seeded Houston Roughnecks as Perez threw for 289 yards and three touchdown passes.
And that momentum carried through the championship game.
The Renegades jumped to a 20-6 lead in the first half as they scored touchdowns on their first two drives. Their defense complemented the offense as it held the Defenders, who averaged 30.5 points per game, to six in the first half -- their second-lowest output of the season.
But in the third quarter, the Defenders scored 14 points, starting with running back Abram Smith sparking the offense as he rushed on fourth down for a 52-yard touchdown on the first drive. A couple of drives later, quarterback Jordan Ta'amu threw a 72-yard score to wide receiver Josh Hammond to cut the Renegades' lead to 26-20.
However, Perez threw a 30-yard touchdown to running back Leddie Brown to push the advantage to 32-20 as the quarter expired.
"Unbelievable opportunity, man. I can't thank you guys enough for this opportunity," Perez said about playing in the XFL. "I mean, there's guys at home that are wishing for this opportunity. Shoot, these leagues didn't exist back then, and now with this opportunity, shoot this is it man, we're all excited."
In the fourth quarter, the Renegades held the Defenders to six points en route to capturing the title.
Comments
First let's get this out of the way.
Ok, the turn around for the Renegades season appeared to be the trade for Vegas Vipers quarterback Luis Perez, he apparently made the difference. I like seeing these guys that get kicked around for a while, finally have some success to show for their efforts.
Luis Perez also played for the Rams in the NFL, but I think he only appeared in the preseason, not sure.
It's also great to see Bob Stoops win a championship, I liked him at Oklahoma.
Anyway, awesome underdog story!
Wasn’t there an 8-3 team that missed the playoffs and a 4-6 did and obviously won it all? Any given Sunday
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
I didn't even realize the playoffs for this league was happening
Interesting
Attendance was 13,568.
I suppose the TV ratings will be more important.
I watched a bit of the first half before the long delay for the injured cameraman. Then one play after the delay.
Its USFL season. At least I thought?
Terry Bradshaw was AMAZING!!
Ignore list -Basebal21
There were only 8 teams and 3 of the 4 south division teams had really bad records. Its not all that surprising. They added some really good aspects like the live camera in the replay booth, I kind of like the kickoff as well as opposed to just watching guys boot the ball out of the endzone every time, but the QB play was certainly subpar
Wisconsin 2-6 against the SEC since 2007
As intended, the USFL is acting as a tester league for the NFL with things like rules and tv coverage.
I watched bits and pieces of some of the XFL games this season and some of the championship game last night. I just find it hard to watch any other football league other than the NFL and of course college football.
I generally concur.
I enjoy sport/s, and watching them. I can watch and enjoy sporting events where I do not know the participants...sometimes.
PS auto correct tried to make 'sporting' into 'shooting'.
Had I not noticed and sent that to someone, it could look very bad.
Totally agree, there's only one professional football league sufficient enough to entertain me.
https://www.si.com/xfl/2023/06/10/xfl-lost-estimated-60-million-in-first-season-of-latest-iteration-per-report
Can we just realize that these start up leagues just simply will never work?
They can work they just can’t directly compete and have to be willing to lose money for a couple years. They’ll never be as good, but it’s good for the sport to have them. The XFL kickoff is way better than just watching a ball go into the stands every kickoff in the NFL. The live on screen instant replay booths are something fans really want to see now and hopefully we do see. The BIG 12 is toying around with having coaches and players mic’d up for games like the XFL did. Admittedly the idea of a college coach having a mic on during a game is hysterical, its going to sound like Morse code with all the censoring that will have to happen.
There’s definitely some things they need to fix like they absolutely can’t be playing games on that Vegas field, but if they’re willing to lose money for a couple years it could be a watchable product. The just have to gut it out long enough to have rosters filled by recently graduated guys that just missed the pros instead of guys that haven’t played for 5 years and are coming back. The USFL will almost certainly fail though, the talent just isn’t there and there’s really not room for two of these other leagues
Wisconsin 2-6 against the SEC since 2007
IDK they been trying to do another league since what the 70's?
History says no
A lot of the past ones tried to directly compete which isn’t going to happen. You also have to have the deep pockets to make it happen which could mean losing hundreds of millions at first since it will take about 3 to 4 years to get the rosters filled with the talent needed. QB is the biggest issue, but practice squad guys can play there if they want and still do their nfl practice squad seasons. There’s more talent overall now where even guys on Georgia that start don’t get drafted or signed that could play etc. They just have to be smart about and have the stomach for the loses. Not being scared to change cities that aren’t working like moving the Vegas team would be helpful too
Wisconsin 2-6 against the SEC since 2007