ELF Game of the Week: Munich Ravens and Raiders Tirol battle for playoff security in season’s final game

AFI | American Football | 08/25/2024

Photo: Raiders Tirol

The Munich Ravens and Raiders Tirol face each other Sunday, August 25 at Munich’s Sportpark Unterhaching in the biggest game of the week in the European League of Football and biggest of the season for both squads.

Both teams sit with 8-3 records in the ELF Central conference with the Raiders in second and Munich third thanks to a 29-26 Tirol win over the Ravens earlier in the season.

The winner secures a Wild Card playoff berth while the loser will have to have a better points differential than the Madrid Bravos who finished the season with an 8-4 record

Munich quarterback Chad Jeffries is the fifth leading passer in the ELF having thrown for 2,777 yards and 34 touchdowns while N’Kosi Perry of the Raiders has completed 137 passes for 1,649 and 13 touchdowns in eight games for Tirol.

The top receiver for Munich is Malik Stanley who has played in seven games hauling in 35 passes for 715 yards and 10 scores. For the Raiders, Philipp Haun leads the team with 40 receptions for 466 yards and four touchdowns.

The edge here goes to the Ravens.

On the ground, the Raiders are the second leading rushing team in the ELF with 2,145 yards. Raiders running back Tobias Bonatti leads the team with 720 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns placing him sixth overall in the league. Teammate Lukas Haslwanter is not far behind in eighth with 686 yards rushing. The Ravens sit ninth in rushing yardage with 1,535 yards. For Munich, Justin Rodney is the leading rusher with 105 carries for 668 yards and five scores.

The edge here definitely goes to the Raiders.

Defensively, there’s not much separating the two. The Ravens have given up an average of 17 points a game while Tirol has allowed 18.5. The Ravens are toughest against the pass allowing 159 yards passing a game while Tirol gives up 178. Against the run, Munich is tough allowing teams just 97.6 yards rushing a game while the Raiders are close behind surrendering 100 yards a game.

These two teams are as evenly matched as they could be with a slight edge going to the Ravens who are playing at home. However, the Raiders proved with their thrilling road win over the Stuttgart Surge that home field advantage may not be a key.