LIVESTREAM France: Grizzlys Catalans @ Toulouse Ours, May 4, 19:00 CET (7 pm, 1 pm EDT).

AFI | American Football | 05/04/2024

Graphic: Igor Lazarevic

The Grizzlys Catalans (5-1-1) travel to Toulouse to face the Toulouse Ours (2-5) in a game in the French D1 Elite league that both teams desperately need to win.

The Grizzlys are a game behind the conference leading Marseille Blue Stars with first place up for grabs still. Meanwhile, Toulouse could still catch third place and the final playoff spot.

The Ours dropped a heartbreaker to the Blue Stars last week 14-13 after having won two games in a row. They had lost their first four. In the two wins, they defeated the Aix Argonautes 14-13 after beating the Cannes Iron Mask 14-10. They fell 20-9 to the Nice Dauphins and 30-6 to the Grizzlys Catalans after opening the season with two straight losses to Marseille 22-7 and to the Aix Argonautes 21-13.

The Grizzlys sit second in the standings and opened the season in impressive fashion. Their first game against the Dauphins saw Catalans win 21-19. They then defeated Toulouse Ours 30-6 and then dominated the second place team in Group B, and previously unbeaten, the Cannes Iron Mask 45-7. They struggled for some reason against the lowly Aix Argonautes but finally got by them 22-14 but then suffered their first loss when the Marseille Blue Stars beat them 28-20. However, in the return game against Marseille, they battled them to a 14-14 tie. Last week they downed the Dauphins for a second time blanking them 13-0.

Both Toulouse quarterbacks have struggled with Norman Douglas Jr having thrown for 434 yards and two scores and Nicolas Diaz 121 and three touchdowns. They will need to step up against an aggressive Grizzlys secondary today.

Grizzlys quarterback Jaylen Tregle leads the league in passing having thrown for 1,535 yards and 17 touchdowns. His favorite target is Aymeric Guillemaud with 23 catches for 378 yards and three scores while Julien Vast has 21 catches for 327 yards and three touchdowns.

Catalans would seem to be the odds on favorites in this one but the Ours almost pulled off the huge upset last week against Marseille so anything can still happen.