The German Football League quarterfinals kick off this weekend with the top eight teams in the GFL squaring off as the Road to German Bowl XLI begins.
The GFL North #1 ranked Braunschweig New Yorker Lions will face the GFL South #4 Stuttgart Scorpions in one matchup, on Saturday, September 21.
The Lions finished the regular season with an unbeaten 14-0 record scoring 586 points, second highest in the GFL. Stuttgart scraped their way into the playoffs with a 6-8 record, losing their last five games of the season.
Nevertheless, the two quarterbacks pose different problems for the respective defenses.
Lions quarterback Brandon Connette did not throw for as many yards, 2,221 compared to the 3,547 yards Stuttgart’s Michael Eubank threw but he was far more efficient. His QB rating was 185.2 compared to 141.2 for Eubank. Also, Connette’s average yards per completion was 16.9 versus 12.4 for Eubank. But the most glaring stat is interceptions. Connette threw a mere four picks all season while tossing 28 TD passes. That’s one interception in every 3.5 games. Eubank threw one in just about every game with almost the same number of touchdown passes, 30.
Another key difference is rushing yards.
Eubank is a pure passing quarterback while Connette can run with the ball as much as pass.
While Connette may not have thrown for nearly as many yards, he ran for almost five times more yardage while scoring 17 touchdowns on the ground compared to six for Eubank.
There is no question that Connette has better protection up front enabling him more time but his decision making ability also helped. Eubank had to rush many more throws as proven by the number of sacks. Connette was sacked only six times in 14 games while Eubank was brought down in the backfield 24 times.
With Eubank facing the best defense in the league in terms of yardage (224.1 allowed) and second best, barely, in terms of points (179), he knows his delivery will have to be even quicker and more accurate.
Advantage: Brandon Connette.