Frankfurt Galaxy host Rhein Fire with a chance at the top seed

| American Football | 09/03/2023

Sunday will see one of the biggest regular season games of the European League of Football take place as the undefeated Rhein Fire will put their record on the line with a journey to Frankfurt to play the 10-1 Galaxy.

The last time the two top teams of the Western Conference faced off was in week one, where Rhein Fire handled the Galaxy with relative ease in a 33-9 victory.

The week one matchup saw Jadrian Clark put up 232 yards and a touchdown, with Anthony Mahoungou racking up 137 of those yards and the score. Where the Fire really stood out, however, was on defense; Omari Williams kicked off his season with an 82-yard pick-six, while Max Richter picked up an interception return touchdown of his own.

Although the Fire have since lost star receiver Nate Robitaille to injury, Willie Patterson has been a more-than-adequate replacement, who has averaged just shy of 100 receiving yards per game while also being an incredible addition to special teams, scoring on two returns. Furthermore, they played this game without Glen Toonga, who has since been reinstated from his suspension and has picked up where he left off last year with the Sea Devils, even breaking the all-time rushing record last week.

Rhein Fire are not the only team who has improved, however. Frankfurt are currently on a 10-game win streak and have been improving week-on-week. They rank fourth in scoring on offense, while also boasting a top-five defensive unit.

Where Galaxy fans should worry, however, is the struggle Frankfurt have faced against non-playoff teams in the league. Although they have come out with wins every time, it hasn’t always been pretty. For example, the Galaxy defeated an unimpressive Cologne Centurions side two weeks ago by a score of 22-9, whereas the Rhein Fire burned through the Centurions twice with a total score of 104-3. Alongside one-score wins over the likes of the Hamburg Sea Devils and Paris Musketeers, this potentially shows the rift between the two teams’ levels.

Regardless of prior results, Frankfurt will be looking for a huge upset, and will need to win by more than 24 points in order to replace Rhein Fire as the top seed in the West.

A current student at Bournemouth University as well as a quarterback with eight years of playing experience. Brad's goal is to be a part of the growth of the game around the world through journalism and media.