By Jordan A. Pryor, Fourth Down Fiasco
What a game! Two words describe it: ABSOLUTE CHAOS.
The Stuttgart Surge outlasted Raiders Tirol in a 30-25 game filled with high drama, multiple lead changes, and at times, very ugly play. For a minute, it looked like the Surge were going to pull away from Tirol, but turnovers and soft defensive coverage made this game a nail-biter. With this victory, Stuttgart moves to 6-0, while the Raiders, who have been fighting desperately to keep themselves in the playoff picture, are now 5-3, only one game ahead of Berlin. The ELF playoff structure is not too different then the college football playoffs.
Dominant Defense
It was the defense that made for so much chaos! Both defenses had their work cut out for them as Stuttgart had to contain dual-threat dynamo N’Kosi Perry, and Tirol had to sustain a Surge air attack that lives up to its team name. Both teams provided constant pressure on the quarterback, resulting in three interceptions by Perry and one by Hennessey.
Perry struggled greatly in this game. Stuttgart knows the rushing attack from Tirol, led by Perry and star running back Tobias Bonatti, is one of the best in the league. Stuttgart’s defensive line made sure to keep the attack tight and were more willing to let N’Kosi Perry run for a few first downs on the outside, rather than allow Bonatti to torch them up the middle of the field. It was a brilliant game plan, as it eventually meant Perry had to rely on his arm, which has been okay at best. When his feet aren’t set, it can lead to multi-interception games like today. Perry now has more interceptions (8) on the season than he does touchdowns through the air (5). A lot of today’s loss falls on Perry’s shoulders, especially the pick-six he threw on a lofted pass while spinning on his back foot.
Photo: @ Innsbruck Tourismus / Markus Mair
On the Stuttgart side of things, this was not a great performance by Hennessey, which feels crazy to say given that he had 3 TOTs. Hennessey was 17 of 27 for 190 yards, a touchdown, and an interception that came early in the game. He was able to gain back some control as the game went along and used his feet some, scoring twice; once on a 6-man blitz where the Raiders were thin at the second level, and another on a quarterback sneak on the goal line. Even with the culmination of touchdowns, the MVP frontrunner did not seem quite right, and every credit for that needs to go to Tirol’s defense. The constant pressure mixed with hard hits led to multiple miscommunications, bad throws, and receiver drops. Nevertheless, they played a team desperate to win after losing a close one to Vienna, while on the road, and after getting punched in the mouth early in the game. There had been questions about Stuttgart’s undefeated record given their schedule’s level of competition (something completely out of their control), but today was a statement that yes, Stuttgart has every right to be the top dog of everyone’s power rankings.
Tirol Can’t Get Over the Hump
The Raiders seem to run out of juice as these close games progress. This happened last week as well against the Vikings. They played a near-perfect first half, only for it to crumble due to turnovers and bone-headed penalties. Now dropping to 5-3, they head into the bye just a game away from being out of the playoff race. However, Berlin still has to fight their way through a harder schedule that involves games against Vienna (A), Rhein (A), and Paris (H). Still, this is a hard loss, back-to-back weeks, that has shown Tirol in their current state is not quite a championship contender.