They entered the fifth week of the season as the only remaining unbeaten team in the XFL, and it remained that way in the end.
The Roughnecks improved to 5-0 on Saturday with a 32-23 win against the Seattle Dragons at TDECU Stadium.
But not before the Roughnecks had to rally back from down 14-0 in the first half, then again down 23-14 in the third quarter.
Roughnecks quarterback P.J. Walker, the front runner for league MVP, made uncharacteristic mistakes by throwing a pair of interceptions. Before the game, he told ABC he was the best player in the league and he wanted to play with that confidence.
Walker -- who also became the first XFL quarterback to record 1,000 passing yards -- did not rattle, despite his shaky performance early on.
"Just play my game and be smart," Walker told ABC after his second interception.
The Dragons jumped on the Roughnecks first with a fourth-and-goal touchdown run by quarterback B.J. Daniels. They failed on the two-point conversion attempt.
Seattle running back Trey Williams, a Houston-area native and Dekaney High School graduate who played his college ball at Texas A&M, scored on a 17-yard run in the second quarter, which was followed up by a two-point conversion.
Austin Proehl snagged a catch in the back of the end zone for the extra two.
Then the Roughnecks picked it up. Nick Holley juked a Seattle defender on his way to a 50-yard catch-and-run to put Houston on the board. The Roughnecks capped a 90-yard scoring drive with a short touchdown run by James Butler, who finished with a pair of touchdowns on the ground Saturday.
The Roughnecks and Dragons were tied at 14 points apiece at halftime.
Seattle retook the lead in the third quarter with a 47-yard field goal from Ernesto Lacayo. Daniels ran for another TD later in the quarter to put the Dragons up 23-14.
That was it for Seattle.
Houston finished on an 18-0 run to rally back for the win.
A 48-yard pass play from Walker to Cam Phillips set up an eight-yard touchdown run by Butler.
With 9:03 left to play in the fourth quarter, Phillips made another strong grab for his eighth touchdown of the season, which also gave the Roughnecks their first lead of the game.
There was some controversy at the end of the game with Houston in victory formation.
Walker, on 4th down, appeared to kneel down with two or three seconds left to play. But the officials promptly left the field and there was no apparent review of the play to determine whether the Dragons should have received the ball in Roughnecks territory with just a few seconds left.