STORM LOOK TO RETURN TO WINNING WAYS
Just as they appeared invincible, European League of Football’s newest team, the Nordic Storm, suffered a shock defeat to a Frankfurt Galaxy side whose playoff hopes were hanging in the balance. In what was a game of underachievement across the board, neither offense or defense was firing as they had earlier in the season, and, with the postseason looming, the timing could not have been worse.
MVP favourite Jadrian Clark played an uncharacteristically bad game, intercepted four times with two of the picks being returned for touchdowns. In the absence of a strong run game since losing Glen Toonga in Week 1, the Storm have relied heavily on Clark’s arm and, when it misfired, it was apparent to everyone.
The defense, however, has also found recent games more difficult than Brandon Noble’s league-leading unit had been used to. Over the past two games, the defense has conceded a total of 70 points — albeit with the costly offensive turnovers playing a part — where the first seven games saw only 97 points on the ‘wrong’ side of the board. The defense has also been affected by injuries to key players, with Exavier Edwards, Ludvig Myren, Phillip Holm Boye and Marcus Boesen all missing over the last few games. With Max Parkinson and Emil Hovde also out for some stretches, the unit has been stripped of its key pieces when they were most needed.
However, with all 16 ELF teams on a mandatory bye in Week 12, some of those injured players have had a chance to regain fitness, and, with Clark still productive either side of his errors, there is reason to believe that the Storm can return to their previous form — especially if the quarterback continues to combine with Adriá Botella Moreno and Brendan Beaulieu, who have racked up an impressive 27 touchdowns in nine games.
The run game continues to be a weakness for the Storm though, with Toonga’s injury not only exposing a lack of depth, but also highlighting the gulf in experience between the Briton and his backups. Alexander Kennedy Chaanhing had just 35 yards against Frankfurt, but also ran the ball just nine times as the Storm fell behind early. With an average gain of nearly six yards per carry, he remains head coach John Shoop’s best option in the ground game.
If anyone is thinking that this week is a ‘get right’ game for the Scandinavian club, however, they need to exercise some caution. On paper, the Hamburg Sea Devils might appear an easy opponent, already out of the playoff picture and therefore with nothing to play for. Despite trotting out their fourth quarterback of the season as injuries at the key position have proven to be a problem, this is not a team without talent, as they have already shown against both the Storm and Madrid Bravos in recent weeks, with those games only being decided by a single score.
Running back Chrisman Kyei, despite being just 20 years of age, has surprised as one of the leading yard-gainers in the entire league. Last time out against the Storm, Kyei caused big problems with 100 yards and a touchdown, but it’s not just on offense where the concerns will lie, as three-time Defensive Player of the Year Kyle Kitchens once again leads the league in sacks and has the potential to create big problems for the pass-heavy Storm offense.
Nordic will need to win to keep pace with #1 seed Vienna following the Vikings’ win over Wroclaw on Saturday evening, as well as keeping an eye on both Munich and Stuttgart in the race to secure an automatic bye through the wildcard round.