The wait of German football fans is over: After celebrating its premiere on German soil last November, the NFL is returning on two weekends this year. It started with the top game between the Kansas City Chiefs, the reigning Super Bowl winners, and the Miami Dolphins, who have the most dangerous offense in the league. Their biggest weapon is wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who has already rushed for over 1,000 yards this season – something no player has ever achieved in the first eight games of the season. What makes Hill almost unstoppable is his incredible speed.
Back in high school, he ran the 200 meters in 20.14 seconds – that would have been enough for sixth place at the 2021 Olympic Games. And he was in the media spotlight for another reason: he played the first few years of his career for the Chiefs, with whom he was unable to agree on a new annual salary at the end of his existing contract. What followed was the move to Miami, where the 29-year-old is earning around $26 million this season.
In Frankfurt, however, the reigning champion first showed that the Chiefs are a force to be reckoned with again this season. Led by superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes and bolstered by an outstanding defense, the Chiefs took a 21-0 lead by halftime. It was Tyreek Hill, of all people, who lost the ball shortly before halftime and allowed the Chiefs defense to get the ball into the end zone. Frustrated, Hill threw his helmet to the ground.
The fact that things got exciting again in the end was more due to the Chiefs’ inattention than to an awakening on the part of the Dolphins, whose offense only got into the game towards the end of the second half and was able to shorten the final score to 14:21.
Even though there certainly could have been more in terms of play and world star Taylor Swift didn’t pay a surprise visit to her boyfriend Travis Kelce, to the chagrin of many fans, both teams and the German spectators ensured an unforgettable football afternoon in an inspiring stadium atmosphere. What is particularly impressive is the family atmosphere, with fans wearing jerseys from a wide variety of NFL teams enjoying the rare opportunity to watch an NFL game together. The NFL will be visiting Frankfurt again next Sunday. Then the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts will meet from 3:30 p.m.
But there were also numerous sensations outside of Germany: The Baltimore Ravens demoralized the completely hopeless Seahawks with 37:3, the Las Vegas Raiders flourished under their new head coach and sent the New York Giants home with 30:6. Quarterback Joshua Dobbs, who was traded from the Arizona Cardinals to the Minnesota Vikings on Tuesday, immediately won 31:28 against the Atlanta Falcons.
The biggest thriller occurred between the Houston Texans and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The main actor: Texans quarterback CJ Stroud. In a game in which the lead constantly switched back and forth between the two teams, the score was 37-33 for the Buccaneers with 46 seconds left. Having to score a touchdown in less than a minute is difficult for two reasons: In these situations, the defense usually plays a so-called prevent defense. You leave the short zones of the field uncovered and concentrate with many players only on defending deep passes and guarding the touchline. The out-of-bounds line is so crucial at this stage of the game because, when all timeouts are used up, the clock can only be stopped if a pass is not caught or the ball carrier runs out of bounds. So you’re not just playing against the defense, but also against the clock. As a defender, you can therefore very well predict where the quarterback wants to throw the ball: deep towards the sideline.
But that wasn’t a problem for CJ Stroud, who managed everything that day. He led his team down the field with precise passes, found a free receiver in the end zone six seconds before the end and seemingly easily made the final score 37:39. The rookie quarterback, who caused a stir in the first few weeks of the season with his error-free style of play, once again broke an NFL record with his performance yesterday: a playmaker has never managed 470 yards in a single game in his first season throwing five touchdowns. Values ??that are very rarely achieved even by players like Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.
And there was something else strange to admire in this game: When the Texans’ kicker was injured during the game, running back Dare Ogunbowale quickly took over his job and scored a 29-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to give the Texans the interim lead.
