PREVIEW: France’s American Football Elite Set For Week 4
[tps_title]FFFA Elite Week 4[/tps_title]
Saturday night, France’s Elite American Football league will kick off Week 4. Among the games, the two-time defending champion Black Panthers will host the Argonautes, who’ve made a strong start to the season.
In the Northern Conference, the Templiers must play mistake free football to have a chance to beat the Flash La Courneuve if they hope to win a ticket to the playoffs.
It’s time to preview.
Thonon-les-Bains Black Panthers (2-1) v. Aix-en-Provence Argonautes (2-0)
The game of the weekend is the match between the two-time defending French champions, the Black Panthers (4th), versus the Argonautes (1st), who are newly promoted this season and yet leading the Elite league. The Argos are off to a strong and thundering start, and a favorite to make the playoffs. For their part, the Black Panthers, who were revamped in the off season, have not impressed. In fact they are shaky. Beaten by in Nice by the Dauphins in Week 2, they then had trouble finally disposing of the 7th place Templiers. The Black Panthers’ victory was only sealed in the last few seconds (see video highlights of the match).
Larry Legault‘s players will have to do a better job if they hope to contain the Argonautes, who are led by an excellent Jimmie Russell. The American player may be the best QB in the Elite with 6 TD passes and 2 TD runs in just the two games played. He’s also the most accurate QB in France’s top league with a 58% completion rate. It is no wonder that with such statistics, the Argonautes have the most prolific offense in the league scoring 88 points in two games.
Although Thonon-les-Bains quarterback Billy Greene is a “dual-threat” player with 104 yards gained on the ground, and 5 TDs, he has been far less comfortable in the air with only 3 passing TDs and a 40% completion rate. The Argonautes can expect an almost exclusively run oriented offense where Milton Knox Jr. (261 yards, 2 TD) will be monitored closely by Argo’s American defensive star Jesse Kirstatter, the Elite’s leading tackler.
