The 2023 regular season in the books. There were only two games this past weekend in the Wild Card Round. But nonetheless, there are some takeaways before four teams battle for the two spots in the ELF Championship Game!

Stuttgart Surge look dangerous in all three phases

The Stuttgart Surge put on a show this Sunday. Four offensive touchdowns and one kick return touchdown by Yannick Mayr were just too much for the Wroclaw Panthers in this playoff matchup. Quarterback Reilley Hennessey did his part with almost 400 passing yards and three passing touchdowns.

But even on defense, the Surge looked more than ready for the playoffs. With three sacks, eleven tackles for loss and two turnovers, the Surge defense did not shy away to show what they can do. I am excited to see them travelling to Austria in the Semi-Finals this weekend to take on the unbeaten Vienna Vikings! Will they be able to go full-circle and turn their 2022 season with zero wins into a championship affair just one year later?

Galaxy overcome offensive struggles after slow start

You can say a lot about the Berlin Thunder. But there is no denying their more than productive and dangerous defense. Against the Frankfurt Galaxy, they came ready to play. But if your offense is not able to come up with long drives that gives you some room to breathe, any defense will break eventually.

But after a scoreless first quarter, the Galaxy were able to put up 13 points in the board before halftime with great passes by quarterback Jakeb Sullivan. What makes the Galaxy offense so special is Sullivan’s playing style as a dual-threat quarterback and how he distributes the ball. On Saturday against the Thunder defense, he connected with eight different wide receivers for at least one catch. And let me tell you, they will need all of those eight receivers to win their first game against Rhein Fire this weekend after going 0-2 in the regular season against them.