Austrian Football League Preview

Austrian Football League 2013 Preview

Here at DC towers, we like to broaden our football knowledge and coverage any way we can. With the BUAFL season coming to a close this Saturday it's time to take a dip into another league in Europe, the Austrian Football League.

Austria as a footballing country competes in group A (the top level) of the European Championships and naturally has one of the better senior leagues on the continent. The men’s league in Austria has four divisions, with the top division being known as the Austrian Football League (AFL) and containing six teams:

Danube Dragons - http://www.danubedragons.com

JCL Giants Graz - http://www.grazgiants.at

Prague Panthers - http://www.praguepanthers.eu/history

Swarco Raiders Tirol - http://www.raiders.at

AFC Rangers - http://www.rangers.at

Raiffeisen Vikings Vienna - http://www.raiffeisenvikings.com

They play some big time ball out in Austria, just look at that crowd!

Having watched a few games last season, it’s clear to see that the league operates at a very high standard and not only contains some great overseas players but also displays some fantastic home grown talent making it very competitive and fun to watch. Last season the Raiffeisen Vikings met the Swarco Raiders in Austrian Bowl XXVIII and triumphed by a score of 48-34 in a back and forth affair.

This season we will bring you some predictions and overview the results to give you all a broader view of football in Europe.

So without much further ado, lets look ahead to this weekend’s pair of games.

Saturday 23^rd March
JCL Giants Graz @ Swarco Raiders – 14:15 CET

How the Raiders start every game at home in Innsbruck.

These two teams met in last years semi final with the Raiders managing to hold on for a 48-42 victory, which is a result that the Graz Giants will be looking to avenge.

If the form from last season holds true, this looks like it’s going to be another offensive slugfest with the Giants having scored the leagues most touchdowns last year with 52 and the Raiders being not too far behind at 45. Both offenses are very balanced and even though both had lots of success with some power running games, neither team’s passing attacks are to be trifled with.

Players to Watch

Raiders: Kyle Callahan, Quarterback, #1. Being the trigger man he’s obviously one of the biggest parts of the offense, but it’s Callahan’s legs that often make the difference having averaged 50.4 yards per game on the ground last year. (Also keep an eye on ex-Purdue and Parma Panthers running back Jaycen Taylor).

Giants: Alex Gross, Running Back, #37. Easily the most important man for the Giants as he plays both ways and manages to put up huge numbers doing so. The ex – New York Jets hopeful scored 12 touchdowns at running back as well as leading the league with 80.5 tackles as linebacker. Rumours are he’s a better passer than Sanchez and a better runner that Tebow, only watching the game will help us tell.

Alex Gross earning the hard yards against the Raiders.

Prediction: First game of the season, who know’s how these two will perform but I think it will be another offense-fest with the Giants pulling out a narrow 38-33 victory on the road.

If you’re interested in watching the game you can find a (HD!!!) stream at https://www.facebook.com/raidersTV on gameday.

Sunday 24^th March
Prague Panthers @ Raiffeisen Vikings – 15:00 CET

The Panthers defence needs to step up big time in order to stop the Vikings.

Last year's champs the Vikings face off against a team that battled valiantly all year but only managed to finish 3-7 in the Prague Panthers. The Vikings managed to shut out the Panthers both times in the teams two meetings and will be looking to kick their title defence off with a similar showing to send a message to the league.

Apart from their two displays against the Vikings, the Panther’s offense put up a lot of good showings last season only to be let down by a porous defence, so it’s clear that if the Panther’s are going to be making their presence felt in the league this year then they will need to up their game on the defensive side of the ball.

Players to Watch

Vikings: Christopher Gross, Quarterback, #8. The second Gross to watch this week is our only non-import to be highlighted, Christopher Gross is prolific with his arm and compiled 24 touchdowns against only 1 interception last year so look for him to be carving up the Panther defence again with his arm.

Panthers: Andrew Shoop, Quarterback, #7. Straight out of Lafayette, Shoop is a import who the Panthers will be looking to for some big offensive production. Last year for the Leopards he accumulated 15 touchdowns and now having changed his spots will be looking to up his production this side of the Atlantic.

Former Lafayette quarterback Andrew Shoop will be looking to impress in his first game in Europe.

Prediction: No shutout this year but I think the Vikings take it 42-10.

Not aware of any stream for this but let’s hope some kind football soul will sort us out!