NFL Europe Recap Week 8
Hello. It's that time again. Well,
actually it's a day later than usual…but there is a reason. For some
reason, NFL Europe decided to schedule a Monday Night game this week,
so instead of the usual 2 hour highlight show, they aired that live.
Unfortunately, the game featured two of the teams with no Jets
allocated players and was pretty dull, so I didn't watch much of it,
but I shall endeavour to recap the weeks events anyway.
The
first game was a match-up between two teams now out of contention for
the World Bowl, Kevin Eakin's Frankfurt Galaxy and The Rhein Fire.
Eakin performed superbly and led the Galaxy to a win over the league's
worst team. He completed 16-of-20 passes for 202 yards and two
touchdowns. He did throw one interception, but by then he had already
fired a 19 yard TD pass to make it 7-0 and a one-yarder to make it 17-0.
There are more comments about Eakin's performance here…
Other points of interest from the game:
* Akili Smith (TB) was back and played OK as Eakin's back up, but was less impressive overall.
* Joe Smith (Ten) rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown for Rhein, but it was a last minute consolation score.
* Rhein has a player called Patrice Majondo-Mwamba, another one whose name sounds like the sort of thing Bib Fortuna might say.
* Eakin is now the second rated passer in the league.
* Scott McBrien (GB) struggled once again, completing just 9-of-22 passes.
*
Kicker Nick Setta, who will be trying to steal Doug Brien's job in
Chicago came up predictably short with a 61 yard field goal attempt as
time expired in the first half.
The second game saw Berlin
Thunder defeat Hamburg 27-17 to remain atop the standings. Interesting
points to note were as follows:
* Little John Flowers rushed 8 times for just 22 yards and lost a fumble.
*
Flowers is averaging just over 4 yards a carry, but if not for his long
TD run last week, he would be averaging only 3.5. However, using the
same logic, if his TD run was his only carry of the season, he'd be
averaging 57 yards per carry. He is 7th in the league in rushing yards
and 2nd in TDs.
* Neither Flowers nor Terrence Stubbs caught a pass.
Stubbs is still struggling with an ankle injury and has not been
productive at all the last few weeks.
* Flowers' fumble was
recovered by Hamburg DT and Jets allocated player, Tim McGill. It was
probably his biggest play of the year. He also registered 1 tackle and
has amassed 11 tackles and one pass defensed to date this season.
* Ex-Jet Chris Finlen did not play for Berlin.
* I finally discovered where Matt Chila (Jets allocated TE) is. He in on injured reserve.
*
Joining Chila on injured reserve is Eric Crouch, the former Nebraska QB
who won the Heisman Trophy a few years back. Anyone who has seen Crouch
play must believe he can make it to the NFL, but he has tried and
failed four times. He is now allocated to KC and trying to make it as a
safety. He is fourth on the team in tackles. There seems to be one guy
every week that makes me say “I wondered if that was *him*”
The Monday Night Game was won by Amsterdam. Jarrett “Son of Sweetness” Payton
(Ten) scored the first touchdown for the Admirals in their 30-12 win
over the Cologne Centuions. Each of these teams is now one win behind
Berlin with two games to go. The top two teams will contest the World
Bowl. Kicker Jimmy Kibble missed two field goals and an extra point for
Cologne and also had a blocked FG returned for a TD.
