The DC Defenders celebrate their first championship. Photo by Marcelina Enriquez.
Imagine you are the quarterback of the Michigan Panthers. It’s the night of the UFL Championship. The day before, you were just named the UFL Offensive Player of the Year and UFL MVP. In the championship game, you throw for 338 yards passing and four touchdowns to only one interception. Your team loses 58–34. That was fate of Bryce Perkins Saturday night.
This past Saturday, the UFL held its Championship game between the XFL and USFL conferences in the Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, MO. This was the second year the city hosted the championship, mainly because St. Louis still touts some of the highest ticket sales in the league, averaging between 27,000 to 31,000 a game when the fans come to see the hometown team, the Battlehawks. Saturday night’s game would fall short of those home team numbers with 14,559 fans attending.
The game between the XFL’s DC Defenders and the USFL’s Michigan Panthers was set to be an evenly matched competition between two teams with many comparable traits, particularly on offense where Jordan Ta’amu, quarterback for the Defenders, put up his own MVP-like numbers on the season and actually was higher in most of the passing stats than the Panthers’ QB, Bryce Perkins.
The game started off as expected when both teams came out hurling the ball all over the field. The Panthers would start with the ball and score first when running back Nate McCrary rushed to the left for a 35-yard touchdown. The Defenders would respond on their first drive as well ending with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Ta’amu to Jaydon Mickens, making the score 6-6.
Bryce Perkins would lead the offense to another touchdown on the next driving, capping it off with a big 38-yard touchdown to Siaosi Mariner. With the extra point conversion good, the Panthers would lead at the end of the first quarter, 13-6. That would be the last time the Panthers would have the lead at the end of the quarter.
The Defenders would settle for a field goal on their next drive, making the score 13-9, Panthers. The Panthers offense would stall on the next drive and would punt the ball. The Defenders quickly went back on the attack, scoring a 19-yard touchdown pass from Ta’amu to Cornell Powell. They would miss the point after and now have their first lead of the night, 15-13.
The following kickoff is when fortunes started to betray the Panthers as they fumbled the ball on the return, setting up the Defenders for an easy score. After a 1-yard rush for touchdown by Jordan Ta’amu and then a successful two-point conversion, the Defenders would lead 23-13. The Panthers would punt on their next possession and the Defenders would capitalize again with another touchdown pass and two-point conversion, making it 31-13, Defenders.
Perkins would rally the offense and score on a 71-yard bomb to wide receiver Malik Turner. With a failed three-point conversion, the Panthers would still reasonably be in the game as the score sat at 31-19.
To the dismay of the Panthers and their fans in the stadium Saturday night, the Defenders would quickly showed the Panthers how the rest of the night would go, with Ta’amu throwing his own 73-yard bomb to wide receiver Ty Scott. Though the extra point conversion would fail, the Defenders would go into the locker room at half time up 37-19.
Though the situation was dire, the Panthers would still have fight in them with the league MVP and Offensive Player of the year Perkins leading them, but victory was not to be for the Panthers that night. The Defenders would start the second half with the ball and score a field goal, 40-19-Defenders. The Panthers tried to respond on the next drive, but with the pocket collapsing around him once again, Perkins would try to move around the field to get his pass off, however his forward movement as he threw the ball caused it to sail over everyone except the Defenders corner back, Kiondre Thomas, who intercepted it and then was tackled by Perkins himself. With a whole 9:23 still to go in the third quarter, it was hard not to feel the game was already over.
Though the Panthers would score a few more times before the game was over, they were still outscored by the Defenders. The final score would be 58-34. In fact, the DC Defenders would score eight touchdowns and two field goals on ten drives. The only drive they did not score on was at the end of the game when they kneeled on the ball to let time run out and end the game.
Jordan Ta’amu would be named the MVP of the game, an act of retribution for his teammates who were very vocal that they believed he should have won the league MVP that went to Perkins the day before. Along with their high-scoring offense, much credit should also be given to Blake Williams’ cover zero defense. Williams, the son of NFL Super Bowl-winning defensive coordinator Greg Williams, carried on the Legacy of Buddy Ryan, known for his aggressive defensive philosophy, that most notably helped the 1985 Bears defense that won the Super Bowl that season. This philosophy makes defensive backs match up one-to-one on wide receivers and allow more flexibility for linebacker blitzing of the quarterback to keep him from having time to make meaningful passes. This scheme and the hard play of the Defenders would keep the Panthers in check and allow the of’fense to run up the score. Though on paper the Panthers did put up stats and points, most of this came after the game was essentially over.
The UFL, only 15 months old since combining the XFL and USFL, probably would have preferred a more competitive championship game, but all-in-all the season ended with many high notes. The league is holding its own in television ratings and has a growing hardcore fanbase, though co-owner Dany Garcia said at the Media Day press conference that putting more fans in seats at games is in the next phase of their long-term game plan to grow the league. The quality of the play on the field is also some of the best ever seen in spring league. The UFL does not rely on gimmicks that predecessors have tried and focuses on putting the best quality football on the field that it can. It is easy to see both players and coaches are dedicated to their current teams and league. And though there are still some players that are using their time in the UFL to try and get that shot at the NFL, it is clear that many players are UFL players first and foremost and that is the foundation that this league has and needs to continue to grow. | Ryan Parker
