The 2020 DC Defenders season was the first season for the

DC Defenders The DC Defenders are a professional American football team based in Washington, D.C. The team was founded by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL owned by Dwayne Johnson’s Alpha Acquico. Th ...

as a professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

franchise. They were playing as charter members of the XFL, one of eight teams to compete in the league for the 2020 season. The Defenders played their home games at

Audi Field Audi Field is a soccer-specific stadium in Buzzard Point in Washington, D.C. It is the home stadium for both of Washington, DC’s professional soccer teams, D.C. United in Major League Soccer and Washington Spirit in the National Women� ...

and were led by head coach

Pep Hamilton Alfonza "Pep" Hamilton (born September 19, 1974) is an American football coach who is the offensive coordinator for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the quarterbacks coach for the Los Angeles Char ...

. Their inaugural season was cut short due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

and the XFL officially suspended operations for the remainder of the season on March 20, 2020.

Standings

DC Defenders kickoff against the Seattle Dragons at Audi Field

Schedule

''All times

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air L ...

Final roster

Staff

Season summary

During the first two weeks of the XFL season, the Defenders got off to a hot start, beating the

Seattle Dragons The Seattle Sea Dragons (formerly known as the Seattle Dragons) are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. The team is a franchise of the new XFL (2020), XFL and plays its home games at Lumen Field in Seattle. Origin ...

in the first XFL game by a score of 31–19 at home, and dominating the

New York Guardians The Orlando Guardians are a professional American football team based in Orlando, Florida. The team was founded by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the XFL. The Guardians played their home games at Met ...

at home 27–0. However, Cardale Jones and the Defenders got into a slump the next two weeks, falling to 2-2 and losing back to back games on the road; first to the

Los Angeles Wildcats Los Angeles Wildcats is a name shared by several American football teams from Los Angeles: * Los Angeles Wildcats (AFL), a team that played in the American Football League of 1926 * Los Angeles Wildcats (Minor League AFL), a team that played in the ...

39–9, and then to the

Tampa Bay Vipers The Vegas Vipers are a professional American football team based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the XFL, owned by RedBird Capital, Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia's Alpha Acquico, LLC. The team began operatio ...

25–0. The Defenders were able to rebound in week 5 thanks to Tyree Jackson, winning against the

St. Louis Battlehawks The St. Louis BattleHawks are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. The team was founded by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL owned by Dwayne Johnson’s Alpha ...

at home 15-6 and improving their record to 3-2 before the XFL officially suspended operations 12 days later.

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Seattle Dragons

This was the first-ever XFL game, and the Defenders would have the first score (although Seattle had the first touchdown) and the first win of the XFL.

Week 2: vs. New York Guardians

In the fourth quarter, the Defenders tried for a three-point conversion, the first three-point attempt in the XFL.

Standings

Schedule

Final roster

Staff

Season summary

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Seattle Dragons

Week 2: vs. New York Guardians

Week 3: at Los Angeles Wildcats

Week 4: at Tampa Bay Vipers

Week 5: vs. St. Louis BattleHawks

References