Five takeaways from Week 13 in the European League of Football

| American Football | 08/29/2023

The penultimate weekend of the European League of Football (ELF) is now over and the playoffs are just around the corner. But with so much still to play for, for some at least, what are the key takeaways from Week 13?

Are the Fehervar Enthroners actually the second best team in the league?

No, they are obviously not the second best team in the league. But if you were to watch their agonizingly close 21–20 loss to the Vienna Vikings in a vacuum, you would assume they were. They even had several chances to win it at the end of the game, which were ultimately squandered.

How many yards?!

Two of the biggest gunslingers in the league went at it on Saturday as the Munich Ravens traveled to Milan to take on the Seamen. It was an all out bloodbath if you played defense.

Milano putting up 430 yards of offense was a great day at the office all things considered. But this looked puny in comparison to the Ravens’ 640. Chad Jeffries threw for a mind boggling 440 yards, 186 of which coming by way of wideout Markel Castle.

Zach Edwards is back…a little too late

Last year, quarterback Zach Edwards was a force to be reckoned with. He was arguably the league MVP and great things were expected of him coming into Paris this year. However, things didn’t materialize the way everyone hoped and the majority of the season was a bit of a let down.

Despite Paris’s postseason hopes being in the trash, we got to experience a little vintage Edwards on Sunday when Barcelona came to town. On just 18 completions, Edwards threw for 365 yards and five touchdowns while running for an additional 100. This may be the young man’s case that he is still one of the most dangerous weapons in the league.

Chain in a sock, depressed commentators and an offensive lineman scoring a touchdown

Rhein Fire games are becoming ridiculous now for a whole host of reasons. Here are some of the latest absurdities.

  • The games are so one sided that the commentators seem to be losing the will to live.

  • When you decide to give your offensive lineman the ball in the red zone, it’s safe to say you feel you have the upper hand.

  • Quarterback Jadrian Clark stashing Harlan Kwofie’s chain in his sock. Clarke throwing Kwofie a touchdown and then placing the chain round Kwofie’s neck.

The playoffs need to hurry up and the Fire need to face a real challenge to make their games interesting again.

Two playoff spots still up for grabs

The Fire, Vikings, Galaxy, and Surge are all locked into the postseason. The Fire and the Vikings will get a bye week while the Galaxy and Surge will play the two highest seeds who have not topped their conference. If the season ended today, that would be the Berlin Thunder and Wroclaw Panthers.

Unfortunately for the Thunder and Panthers, the season does not end today. The Raiders and Ravens still have a chance of snatching a playoff spot come the end of next weekend.

Daniel Mackenzie is a Press Association graduate who works in journalism and communications in the third sector. Daniel began playing football for the London Warriors and Team Great Britain and has since played across Europe.