Germany: What made the Potsdam Royals one of the stories of the season?

This season, the Potsdam Royals were the talk of the German Football League as they achieved their first undefeated regular season in the team’s history.

With this, they became the fourth team since the turn of the century to have at least one perfect season. The other three were the Munich Cowboys (2000 and 2001), the Braunschweig New Yorker Lions (2002, 2014, 2017, 2019) and the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (2011, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022). However, what made the Royals stand out compared to these other clubs was that it is only their fourth season in the GFL and their second time making the playoffs.

The key to the Royals’ perfect regular season has been without a doubt their offense. It was ranked as the top offense in the league by a wide margin, in every category (2,012 rushing yards, 3,243 passing yards, 8.1 yards per attempt, 72 touchdowns, 525.5 yards per game and 514 points for the season).

Potsdam’s dynamic offense was led by MVP candidate Chris Helbig who ran the GFL’s best passing offense (3,085 yards, 65% completion rate, 32 touchdowns, and 308.5 yards per game) and his two main targets were two of the best threats on offense for the entire league. Jared Wolfe (133.6 yards per game, 14 touchdowns, 8.3 receptions/game) and Brandon Polk (112.3 yards per game, 11 touchdowns 6.0 receptions/game) were in the top five for the league for receiving yards per game, touchdowns and receptions per game.

When it came to running the ball, Helbig was also effective, rushing for 287 yards and 13 touchdowns while running back Karri Parjarinen was the second leading rusher in the league carrying the ball 144 times for 1,014 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Defensively, they were not quite as impressive but still solid. They were sixth in the GFL in points allowed and 11th in total defense. However, thanks to the dominance of their offense, they were able to overcome any defensive inefficiencies. This was clear from their points differential – +236 – second highest in the league. Defensive back Manase Time led the team with 67 tackles with Devine Buckhram not far behind with 55.

Potsdam opens the postseason on September 10 against the Straubing Spiders in a game that the Royals hope will lead to a storybook ending in a franchise changing and defining season.