The 4-6 Cologne Crocodiles will pay a visit to Berlin to face the 5-5 Berlin Rebels, Sunday, August 18 in German Football League late season action.
These two teams met in late June in Cologne with the Rebels coming away with a 27-0 win.
Both teams are coming off of wins over the Potsdam Royals. Berlin defeated the Royals 14-7 last week while the Crocodiles handed Potsdam a 26-14 defeat two weeks ago.
The Rebels’ had lost 36-30 to Hildesheim in the last minute of play two weeks ago was their second in a row after the break. They had dropped a 34-9 decision to Braunschweig the week before after earning their fourth straight win right before the break, blanking the Crocodiles 27-0. The week before, they had beaten the Dusseldorf Panther 55-13 after downing them 55-20. They had defeated the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes 33-13 after suffering through a dismal opening to their 2019 season losing all three games, which they have not done since 2015 when they lost their first three games of the year en route to a 4-8 season.
The Rebels were beaten 30-17 in their opening game by the Potsdam Royals in Potsdam, and then they dropped a 29-12 decision to the Braunschweig New Yorker Lions. In late May, the Hildesheim Invaders proved too much for the 2018 German quarterfinalists, beating them 56-41.
Berlin’s new quarterback, Kurt Palandech, has struggled in the last three games. In the win over Potsdam he threw for 119 yards on 8 of 18 passing while against Hildesheim and Braunschweig he threw for just 287 yards in the two games. Still, since coming to the team he has looked solid in his seven starts throwing for 1,314 yards and 15 touchdowns. TJ Esekielu as the leading receiver with 40 catches for 529 yards and five touchdowns. Jason Harris now has 318 yards receiving. The running game, which has been the strength of the team in seasons past, has tailed off in the past three games, averaging 72 yards a game since the break.
Cologne enters the game needing a big win against the Rebels to have any chance of making the playoffs. The 27-0 shut out loss to the Rebels just before the break will still be fresh in their minds. The Crocodiles have only played one game since that loss and have had time to heal up.
They had lost to the Dresden Monarchs 42-7 in late June breaking a three game winning streak which saw them down the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes 13-12 and beat the Dusseldorf Panther 44-21 before that. They had notched their first win of the season, doubling up on the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes 48-28. However, the Crocodiles had dropped four straight prior to that losing to the Braunschweig New Yorker Lions 23-6 and 45-7 and then losing 31-14 to the Hildesheim Invaders and 17-0 to Dresden.
For Cologne, their injury and quartebacking woes may be over with Jarred Evans. In the win over Potsdam, only his second game, he threw for 266 yards and three touchdowns. They Crocodiles had suffered threw a revolving door at the quarterback position. Evans replaced an injured Conor Miller and Tobias Jarmuzek had filled in for one game before Evans’ arrival. The same goes for the running back spot where Dean Tanwani has replaced the league’s top running back, Colby Goodwyn, who suffered a season-ending injury. Tanwani has rushed for 399 yards, much of that in the last five games since taking over. New receiver Aaron Jackson has made his presence known. In the win against the Royals he hauled in seven passes for 179 yards and a touchdown.
The same goes for the other new addition to the roster, defensive lineman Silverberry Mouhon who had an immediate impact with five tackles, four tackles for loss and two sacks against Potsdam.
This could be a very good game between two teams desperately needing a win in the hunt for a playoff berth.
