LIVESTREAM Germany: Berlin Adler @ Düsseldorf Panther, June 4, 15:00 CET (3 pm, 09:00 am ET)

AFI | American Football | 06/04/2022

Photo: Igor Lazarevic

The Berlin Adler (1-1) travel to Düsseldorf to face the Düsseldorf Panther (0-1) in an early season matchup in the German Football League between the two newcomers in the GFL North.

The Adler are coming off of a lopsided 51-17 loss to the Potsdam Royals last week after opening the season with a tight 43-35 win over the Berlin Rebels. Meanwhile, Düsseldorf were beaten soundly 48-21 by the Cologne Crocodiles.

The Panther, in their return the GFL rely on ex University of Arizona quarterback Kevin Doyle who threw for 235 yards and two touchdowns in the loss to Cologne. Wide receiver Joey Walden (Ole Miss, NCAA DI) caught six of those passes for 82 yards to lead the team. Although the Panther passing game held its own, the team only gained a total of 12 yards rushing. Expect offensive coordinator Emmanuel Lewis to be working on ways to improve the Panther ground attack.

The veteran coach has focused on defense in much of his recruiting signing defensive backs Nigel Lawrence (South Alabama NCAA DI), Avery Anderson- Baer (Nebraska NCAA DI) and Marcin Olech (UK, UWE).

Berlin head coach Shuan Fatah would not have been very happy with his team after the loss to Potsdam and will no doubt be making adjustments. His team gave up 338 yards and six touchdowns passing while gaining only 158 yards themselves in the air. Still, quarterback Zach Cavanaugh has thrown for 608 yards in the two games with receiver Max Zimmermann catching 11 passes for 309 yards and three of the four touchdowns. Running back Ali Khalif has been efficient running for 166 yards in the two contests scoring one touchdown.

The last time these two teams met was in 2021 in GFL2 when they played to a 34-34 tie. This could very well be the type of outcome we could see today.