With Week 4 of the European League of Football (ELF) now in the books, we are one third of the way through most teams’ schedules. As teams now settle into rhythm and find their mid-season form, a large gap is starting to appear between the top and the bottom of the league.
With this in mind, we have compiled a list of some takeaways from this past weekend’s action.
Lopsided League of Football
Whether it be Europe or the NFL, all football leagues are lopsided. And the time has come for the ELF to take its place among them.
As it was in Week 3, Week 4 saw some eye boggling score lines: Vienna put up 47 points against the Kings, Wrocław put up 63 against the Enthroners, and the Fire, Hamburg and the Ravens all put up just under or over 40 points.
As much as we all love to see touchdowns being scored, it would be good to see a few more games run a little tighter.
Tony Tate’s hips don’t lie
Panthers WR Tony Tate evading Enthroners defender Photo: Łukasz Skwiot Fotografia Sportowa
Wrocław’s wideout Tony Tate dances nearly every time he gets into the endzone. It is for this reason that I feel like my entire weekend is spent watching Tate gyrate his hips in ways I only wish I could (to avoid disgruntling dance aficionados I will refrain from trying to name the dances).
Tate said earlier this month that no one could stop him scoring without double teaming him…he was right. His 533 yards and 10 touchdowns and in four games are by far the best in the league.
Where does Berlin go from here?
Photo: Eric Muehle
Berlin’s matchup against the Sea Devils was slated to be one of the weekend’s top games. Part of the reason for this was the performance of Thunder’s quarterback Donovan Isom last week. Isom had his first breakout game throwing four touchdowns and well over 300 yards with one of the best receiving corps in the league. This week however, he threw four passes. This is not what you want from your star player.
Isom is obviously nursing some sort of injury he picked up in the Panthers game last week, but this combined with his slow start over the first two weeks is going to force some questions upon the Berlin front office. In a league that has shown itself to be unbelievably savage when it comes to cutting underperforming quarterbacks, will the Thunder opt to bring in a replacement?
Low score, high quality football
Surge vs Raiders. Two of the best teams in the league right now. And the prospect of this clash pre-game was something everyone was looking forward to. But to top-line viewers only, the 6–3 result in favor of the Surge was desperately disappointing.
However, for those who watched the game live, it was a masterclass. This was extremely high quality football from both teams. What doesn’t show in the stats is execution, hustle and technique. This is something both teams displayed in abundance. This is the type of football that Europe deserves.
Seamen get first ever ELF win
Milano Seamen WR Tamsir Seck #17 Photo: CUBO Photo
The Milano Seamen managed to get their first win of the season on Sunday, albeit against one of the worst teams in the league, but still a resounding victory!
A scoreline of 32–0 is what we were expecting from the Seamen before the season began, but unfortunately all we got was two pretty disappointing losses. Perhaps after some growing pains, the Seamen can now turn the corner and be the Italian stallions we were expecting.