NO ELF LET UP FOR RE-ENERGISED VIKINGS
The Vienna Vikings will continue to carry the 1-0 mentality into the penultimate game of the 2025 European League of Football campaign, despite already being assured of a playoff spot.
The East Division champions face the Wroclaw Panthers at the ERGO Arena Wiener Neustadt, with head coach Chris Calaycay insisting that ‘every game counts, every win counts’ with two home games left on the docket before the Vikings know their road through the postseason.
The American also noted that Panthers, while only 5-5 on the season, remain a ‘dangerous’ opponent still fighting for survival in a wide-open race for the two wildcard spots on offer alongside the respective division champions, and insisted his team could not afford to take any plays off with the top two seeds — and the first-round byes that go with them — also remain on the line for the 9-1 Vikings, as two other teams, Nordic Storm and Munich Ravens share the same record, and a potent Stuttgart Surge lurks just one game behind on 8-2.
“Going into the season, our number one goal is always to win our division and, the way the schedule was playing out, it looked like we were on track for that,” Calaycay reasoned, explaining that there is no release in pressure just because the title is secure. “Obviously, we’re very proud to have another division championship under our belt — I think that’s our fourth in a row — but our mentality is always just [about] going week to week. Yes, we do see a big picture at the end of this thing, but we have to take care of the Panthers first this week, and that’s very important.”
While the scoreboard may suggest otherwise, Wroclaw has been a tough match-up in the majority of games this season, and Calaycay knows that, regardless of the Panthers’ playoff implications, there will be no let up this weekend.
“Every time we step on the field, everybody wants to beat us,” he said. “That’s what being up at the top is like. The Panthers are needing some luck, needing to win this weekend and have other [teams] lose but, you know, it doesn’t change anything for us. Obviously, they have a great receiver, they have a great running back — and, with any team that has a quarterback that can run like [D.J. Irons], you can’t underestimate what’s going to happen in the backfield.
“I think that’s one thing that is really dangerous about them — how they set it up. From a schematic standpoint, they show some different crap every week. If you watch their games, you can’t find a set-piece on offense that let’s you say, ‘Hey, this is the basis of their offense’. It seems like, every week, they’re coming out with something new, doing a ton of different formations and motions and it’s hard to really get a beat on them. From a tendency standpoint, I think they do that very well.”
And it’s not only on offense that the Panthers have stars, with Calaycay singling out linebacker A.J. Wentland as the key to a tough defensive unit.
“As much pub as he gets, watching him on film is pretty cool. He’s a good football player. I know a lot of guys say he’s got so many tackles because their defense isn’t very good and he has to make all the tackles, but being able to scout him this week, he flies around and does so much as a player, you’ve got to have a lot of respect for that.”
With all 16 ELF teams on a mandatory Week 12 bye, the Vikings took the opportunity to get away from the gridiron for a few days before returning, focused, for the rest of the year.
“Having that week off is so important, and it was a case of ‘let’s take some time, breathe a little bit, reflect a little bit’ and then we go on our run for the rest of the season,” Calaycay confirmed. “The mentality and mindsets are in a really good spot right now, and you could see it in Tuesday’s practice —the guys were flying around pretty good and it was exciting [to see]. You could feel the energy for the end of the season. It was really refreshing.”