The 3-2 Panasonic Impulse will face the 0-5 Mitsubishi Lions Saturday, November 2 as the regular season in Japan’s XLeague heads into the home stretch.
With two games left in the season, the Impulse sit third in the eight team league while Mitsubishi is dead last.
The Impulse pushed the unbeaten Obic Seagulls in their last outing losing 14-7. They had looked solid going into that game beating the Rise 24-0, IBM Big Blue 42-28 and Tokyo 27-0 although they dropped a 45-27 decision to the unbeaten Fujitsu Frontiers.
For Panasonic, quarterback Anthony Lawrence leads a balanced attack. He is the second leading passer in the league having thrown for 1,080 yards and five touchdowns. His top receiver is Tatsuya Tonhana with 24 receptions for 350 yards and three touchdowns while Daniel Wise has 218 yards receiving and a touchdown.
The Lions, in their first year in the top division, have lost all five games and all by lopsided scores save one. Mitsubishi is coming off a 66-7 hammering by IBM Big Blue. They opened the season with a 48-16 loss to the Obic Seagulls. They followed this by getting narrowly beaten 10-6 by the Tokyo Gas Creators. Elecom Kobe Finies downed them 37-6 and two weeks ago, the league leaders, the Fujitsu Frontiers handed them a 68-0 pasting.
In other words, the Lions do not have much of an offense, having scored a total of 35 points in five games.
All Mitsubishi quarterback Satoshi Saito has thrown for only 495 yards and no touchdowns while teammates Shogo Taniguchi and Yuta Kashiwagi have combined for 251 yards and two touchdowns. The Lions do not have a single rusher in the top 20.
Panasonic is looking at win #4.
Watch the game live here. All Mitsubishi Lions v. Panasonic Impulse, Sat. Nov. 2, 2:30p (6:30a CET, 1:30a ET)
