Welcome to the Dragon’s Lair where we talk about everything about our beloved Seattle Dragons. As a 12 day long life long fan of the Dragons of the pacific northwest, I’ll be here week in and week out discussing everything I can about the Dragons. The Dragon’s Lair is a safe place for everyone to let out all of their Seattle Dragons’ joy and frustration. It’s a judgment-free lair and we’re going to keep it that way.
The air in Scranton, on this February morning, was clean, crisp and downright delicious. It’s either Waldo’s are slinging wings early or that the Seattle Dragons notched their first-ever victory. Since there aren’t glorious wings in front of me it’s definitely because on the opposite side of the country the Seattle Dragons took care of business against the visiting Tampa Bay Vipers.
The Seattle Dragons beating the Vipers wasn’t always pretty. In fact, most of the game was pretty putrid to watch due to all the QBs that played not being able to complete passes. This is something the XFL can’t have. If you want to really get people watching, you can’t have below week four of the NFL preseason level quarterback play. I understand every team can’t have Cardale Jones, but competent QB play doesn’t seem like too much to ask.
I understand having Steve Largent lighting the torch but I think not having Liu Kang doing it in Dragon form was a real missed opportunity.
First and foremost, the folks that attended Century Link field, really brought it.
Not to bad for an XFL team. Sure, the upper deck of the stadium didn’t have anyone in it but near 30,000 people on a rainy day in February is impressive. YOUR Seattle Dragons currently lead the league in attendance. Lets keep it that way.
There are really two main stories about the Seattle Dragons’ performance. The first story is that QB Brandon Silvers needs to be on the thinnest ice that can be created because he was awful. I’m not going to sit here and try and doll it up and tell you that he actually had some good moments because that would be a lie. And not to sound like Will Cain, who owns the truth, somehow, but I simply can’t lie about the Seattle Dragons.
Brandon Silvers went 7/18 for 91 yards and a TD and an INT. Jimmy G was putting up those kind of numbers in the NFL playoffs and got roasted for it. Silvers is not immune to the criticism. He was really bad and I think he’d tell you that. He missed on all kinds of throws, consistently. He was late, he threw behind, he threw off-time, inaccurately. Throwing the football was just about the last thing he was able to do. When Silvers looks over his shoulder he’s looking squarely at BJ Daniels. He’s the most popular guy in Seattle right now and his number is very close to being called. Unless, Silvers improves, Daniels will be in.
If you couldn’t tell that Silvers was stinking up the joint, you could watch any receiver on the Dragons that he was attempting to throw too. Every time Silvers missed a receiver that guy was shaking his head because he knew he did his job to get open but this guy couldn’t get the ball anywhere close.
The other story from the game was the Dragons’ defense had a vice grip on the Vipers’ crappy offense. They had 3 INTs, 3 sacks and refused to let anyone on the Vipers get into any kind of rhythm. It started with Jeremy Clark making the easiest INT in history;
And kept going with what was probably the play of the day;
I knew the Dragons were in good shape when it wasn’t Quinton Flowers starting for the Vipers. Instead, it was a guy named Taylor Cornelius. Let it be said; I’ve never feared a person named Taylor Cornelius and that is even truer today.
Coach Zorn stuck to the running game. He pretty much had to due to Silvers trying to his best Ryan Tannehill impersonation. The 3-headed monster of Farrow, Williams, and Gardner ran the rock 31 times for 117 yards.
What stuck out to me was the kinds of runs they were excelling at. It was a lot of zone blocking that allowed for several cutbacks, a staple for the Seattle Dragons. The vision of the 3 backs is what seals those types of runs. If the throwing the ball is going to be such an issue, it’s good to know that the backfield is filled with capable guys.
The lone, offensive TD, came from a guy who I’ve been touting all week that Zorn needed to get more involved.
Keep getting Reynolds involved in the offense. He’s that damn good that at any moment he could going for six. Hell, try him at QB if you have too. The guy did fantastic stuff at Navy. If it means a slight philosophical change on offense, so be it.
Brock Miller, the punter, had a really good day pinning the terrible Viper’s offense deep in their territory late in the game. All that hidden yardage, that’s right in front of your face, was paramount in this game.
Speaking of Brocks, I didn’t enjoy how Brock Huard was saying the name Dragons. He used a long A when he said and it really rubbed me the wrong way. Say words right or get off the sideline.
Big Ern Lacayo had a dreadful miss early in the game. Like not even close dreadful. He made his other FG late in the game, barely. Admittedly, I’m nervous about Big Ern.
If you didn’t think Coach Zorn knew how to get down you were way wrong.
Love this. Love everything about this. The Seattle Dragons beating the Vipers is a win. Hopefully, we got about 12 more of these this year.
Shout out to Bud Light for making such a wonderful product for YOUR Seattle Dragons to celebrate with.
Next week the Dragons host the Dallas Renegades. I hope within the next week that Zorn figures out the QB situation. Seattle isn’t going to win much Silvers playing as he did. You’ll beat the Vipers of the world but teams like the Guardians will not be beaten with QB play like we saw yesterday. The Seattle Dragons bating the Vipers is cool, but what would be better is the Dragons beating the Renegades.
We have a week to enjoy this victory. Then, it’s back to business. Back to the business of getting Ws.
