The Orlando home team will have to wait another week to see if their new XFL hometown football team can pick up a win.
The Orlando Guardians played their first-ever home game at Camping World Stadium against the San Antonio Brahmas on Sunday. Unfortunately, it was not the best day for the Guardians as they would lose to the San Antonio Brahmas 30-12. The Orlando Guardians fell to 0-2 on the season.
The San Antonio Brahmas would get off to a quock start as QB Jack Coan would cap off an opening drive early on in the 1st quarter with a 3-yard TD pass to TE Deon Yelder.
However, the Orlando Guardians would strike back quickly on the next drive. QB Paxton Lynch of the Guardians would cap off the ensuing drive with a 8 yard TD pass to Eli Rogers. It was Paxton Lynch’s only TD pass of the day. The opening drive was sparked by a 38 yard run by Orlando Guardian RB Jah-Maine Martin. Jah-Maine Martin’s run was the longest overall run in the XFL this season.
The defensive line for the Orlando Guardians put up a good fight in the first half as they held the Brahmas rushing attack to -7 yards. Additionally, they had 7 tackles-for loss in the 1st half.
Many would think that the quick response by the Guardians after the initial TD by the Brahmas would be a sign that this would be a competitive game. However, it would turn out not to be the case.
The Brahmas would end up scoring 21 unsanswered points. With time winding down in the 1st half, Brahmas QB Jack Coan would find TE Alize Mack in the end zone for a nineteen yard TD to put the Brahmas up 12-6. Soon after, Coan would find T.J Vasher for the one-point conversion to make it 13-6.
The Orlando Guardians were unable to make the necessary adjustments at halftime. Thus, the San Antonio Brahmas would strike again just after the nine-minute mark of the third quarter.
Jack Coan would throw a 21 yard strike to Jalen Toliver for his 3rd touchdown pass. The Brahmas would convert another uccessful one point conversion to make it 20-6.
Things would go from bad to worse for the Orlando Guardians. Not only was the ensuing possession unsuccessful, their 4th down punt ended up being blocked by the Brahmas.
The Brahmas would capitalize on the blocked punt with a touchdown on the next drive. This would come courtesy of a 1-yard TD by Brahma RB Jon Hillman.
The Guardians would finally break their scoring drought early into the 4th quarter thanks to an 80-yard drive that took almost nine minutes. This drive was led by Guardians backup QB DeAndre Francois as Paxton Lynch was benched.
DeAndre Francois ended up finding Cody Latimer for a 4 yard TD drive to cut the Brahma lead to 27-12. However, the game was pretty much decided at that point.
The Brahmas ended up tacking on another field goal later on in the 4th to make the score 30-12.
If there is one word to describe the Orlando Guardians’s offense, that word would be inefficient. The Guardians had more plays on offense than the Brahmas. They even had more third down conversions than the Brahmas.
Yet, they were still outgained in terms of yardage by the Brahmas 210 to 175. 175 yards on 56 offensive plays is not a good sign. They had 1 turnover while the Brahmas had a turnover-free day.
And as far as penalties go, the Orlando Guardians had a whopping 13 penalties!
Yikes.
In spite of the loss, Guardians head coach Terrell Buckley felt that the team was headed in the right direction.
Clearly, this team is a work in progress.
Their defensive line is a strength, yet their linebacking corps and secondary is questionable at this point.
There’s no doubt that the Guardians have more than a few options at WR/TE. In spite of the fact that the team has less than passing yards, 8 different receivers caught passes for the Guardians.
The major issue for the Orlando Guardians is at the QB position. Paxton Lynch’s career comeback has gotten off to a rough start. He has now been benched in the 1st 2 games of his XFL career.
THE CONVERSATION.