There wasn’t a single overtime game through the first seven weeks of the 2023 XFL season, but in Week 8 not only did we get the first look at the league’s unconventional new OT rules — a second look came a day later. Then in the Week 8 finale, about the only thing missing was OT as the D.C. Defenders cooled off the Seattle Sea Dragons in a wild shootout, 34-33.
The St. Louis Battlehawks got the OT ball rolling on Saturday, overcoming a double-digit deficit and an injured starting quarterback to beat the Vegas Vipers in the extra period. On Sunday, the Houston Roughnecks also won in OT, stopping their three-game skid after a 4-0 start. In the new overtime rules, the XFL gives each team three alternating attempts to convert two-point conversions from their opponent’s 5-yard line to decide a winner (more on that below).
On Sunday night the league’s two hottest teams played a thriller, as the Defenders bounced back from their only loss to stop Seattle’s win streak at four games.
We’ve got takeaways from every Week 8 game. First, here’s a look at the scores.
Saturday
St. Louis Battlehawks 21, Vegas Vipers 17 (OT)
Arlington Renegades 18, Orlando Guardians 16
Saturday
Houston Roughnecks 17, San Antonio Brahmas 15 (OT)
D.C. Defenders 34, Seattle Sea Dragons 33
Sunday’s games
D.C. goes to 7-1 in Game of the Year candidate at Seattle
It was a clash between two of the league’s hottest teams, and it lived up to the billing. D.C.’s Jordan Ta’amu (247 yards, 4 TDs) and Seattle’s Ben DiNucci (301 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT) put on a quarterback clinic, combining for 548 yards and 7 touchdowns at rainy Lumen Field in Seattle.
The Defenders bounced back from the strangest result of the season — losing to previously winless Orlando — to hand the Sea Dragons their first loss in five games. Ta’amu battled through a shoulder injury to put up gaudy numbers. Former Denver Broncos running back Philip Lindsay scored a touchdown in his first game with Seattle, the Sea Dragons’ only first-half points as D.C. led 16-6 at the break.
The Defenders led by 10 with just over 5 minutes left in the game, but a DiNucci touchdown — followed by this wild three-point conversion — cut the D.C. lead to 28-27.
The Defenders answered with a 70-yard touchdown pass from Ta’amu to Chris Blair, but didn’t get the two-point conversion, and Seattle was down just seven. DiNucci promptly drove the Sea Dragons down the…
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