Vipers lose again, finish 1st XFL season 2-8

The Vegas Vipers' Cinque Sweeting runs versus the Seattle Sea Dragons at Lumen Field on Sunday, April 23, 2023, in Seattle, Washington. ( © Howard Lao/XFL).
There was no dramatic last stand, and even much of a fight.

Rather, the Vipers' inaugural XFL season pertained to an unceremonious end Sunday with a 28-9 loss to the Seattle Sea Dragons at Lumen Field.

The Vipers offense, which had begun to discover a rhythm in the past couple of games after Jalan McClendon took over at quarterback, had a hard time as the team finished the season 2-8.

McClendon's unit managed simply eight first downs, two of which came over charge. Seattle picked up 25 first downs en path to a 7-3 finish and playoff berth.

Package rating could have looked even worse for the Vipers. McClendon struck Mathew Sexton on an 84-yard completion to establish a 1-yard goal run by Shai Mckenzie in the closing minutes.

McClendon completed 6-for-21 passing for 201 backyards, as the Vipers managed just 237 total yards.

Still, they spent time early. The Sea Dragons didn't rating until quarterback Ben DiNucci's touchdown run late in the 2nd quarter gave them a 6-0 halftime lead.

The game turned into a rout in the third quarter, with 2 goal drives giving the Sea Dragons a 20-3 lead.

" We played good football (in the very first half), however it was what it's resembled all year long where we have that one quarter that hasn't gone our method," Vipers coach Rod Woodson stated. "For 3 quarters, we played pretty good football. In the third, we didn't have that enthusiasm and battle.".

DiNucci finished 26 of 41 passes for 339 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions. Josh Gordon had nine catches for 115 backyards.

" We have a great group of gamers and coaches," Woodson stated. "We've currently started looking into what to do next year in practices and camp.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.