Houston Roughnecks fall in Monday night matchup of best records in XFL, DC Defenders still unbeaten

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Monday night football in March? Only the Houston Roughnecks served that up for the XFL’s first-ever MNF contest in its history.

ESPN2 hosted the Roughnecks’ face-off with the DC Defenders in the nation’s capital, and while sports fans have generally been slow to gravitate towards the league’s second resurrection, the game was billed as a heavyweight bout between the two best teams record-wise.

In the end, though, the Defenders defended homefield on Monday, taking advantage of an early pick-six of Houston quarterback Brandon Silvers and pouncing on the Roughnecks’ 12 penalties in a 37-26 game.

Houston falls to 4-2 but maintains its division lead. DC remains unbeaten at 6-0.