LIVESTREAM: Austria – Graz Giants @Traun Steelsharks, Sat. May 18, 4p CEDT (10a EDT)

AFI | American Football | 05/18/2019

Graphic: Igor Lazarevic

The 2-3 Projekt Spielberg Graz Giants will face the winless Traun Steelsharks (0-5), Saturday, May 18 in Austrian Football League action.

The Giants beat Traun in both of their games in 2018, 42-14 and 48-28.

Graz is coming off a tough 34-27 defeat at the hands of the league-leading Swarco Raiders. Meanwhile, the Steelsharks have allowed a league-worst 291 points against and were thumped 56-8 by the Prague Black Panthers in their last outing.

Bright spots for Traun include QB John Uribe who is the 2nd leading passer in the AFL with 1,124 yards and his favorite target, WR Mario Winter who is also 2nd with 507 yards. Felix Stadler has 17 catches for 241 yards and 3 TDs while RB Florian Nohmayr is the seventh leading rusher with 321 yards.

Prior to the narrow loss to the Raiders, Graz had won two in a row including a 36-14 win over the Dacia Vienna Vikings. They had beaten the Prague Black Panthers 35-14 after losing their opening two games in the AFL to the Danube Dragons (12-10) and Mödling Rangers, 45-39.

Giants quarterback Jake Kennedy has been solid, throwing for 1,205 yards and 16 TDs in five games and leads the AFL in passing.. WR Philipp Sommer leads the team in receiving with 384 yards and 5 TDs on 25 receptions. Alexander Sans is the Giants leading rusher with 336 yards on 58 carries.

The way Graz has been playing, this looks like an easy win for the Giants, but if Uribe catches fire, this duel of the numbers one and two quarterbacks in the league could get interesting.