After upsetting the Unicorns of Schwäbisch Hall to capture their very first german bowl in 2021a year later, the Kings of Dresden find themselves outside by looking inside.

They are out of the playoffs at this point, sitting fifth in the eight-team squad. GFL North with a disappointing 2-3 record, their worst season opener since their 2-3 to start the 2012 season.

On top of that, both of their wins were against winless teams – the Berlin Rebels and the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes – who are currently ranked sixth and seventh in the GFL North ranking and sharing 0-1-3 records.

To be fair, the Monarchs have been competitive in every one of their clashes so far this season. All five of their games, regardless of the outcome, were decided by a single number. This balance between their wins and losses is reflected in their points differential, which is -4, at 133 points for and 137 points against.

Let’s take a look at the numbers.

The Dresden The offense is 11th in runs scored and 12th in yards gained compared to last year when it was second overall in runs scored and number one in yards from scrimmage. Defensively, the story is not quite the same. In 2021, the championship Monarchs had the sixth-best defense in points allowed and 10th in yards. Today, they have the seventh best defense in points given up and the 12th in yards given up.

In other words, defensively, they slipped a little but not much.

Dresden’s new QB Justin Agner threw for 533 yards and 9 touchdowns in 3 games Photo: Sonja Matysiak

One of the reasons for their offensive struggles this year could be attributed to the loss of their quarterback – Austyn Carta-Samuels – the older brother of last year’s starting quarterback, KJ Carta Samuels. Austin suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opening game loss to the Potsdam Royals and was replaced by Justin Agner (Stetson University, NCAA Div.1) for the last three games. Substitute Marvin Schöne replaced for one game, a 15-6 victory over the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes.

Agner has played decently so far, throwing for 533 yards and nine touchdowns in the three games he has played. But it takes time for a quarterback to learn a new offense and find chemistry with a new team. On defense, linebacker Andrew McElroy is among the league leaders in tackles per game with 9.2 while his teammate Rayshard Ashby average 6.4. However, the Monarchs are the penultimate team of the GFL against the pass giving up more than 320 yards per game through the air. The situation wasn’t much different last season, but Dresden boasted the best passing offense in the league.

In 2021, the Monarchs had an offense that could make up for weaknesses in defense by simply getting ahead of opponents. This year, with a struggling offense and a defense more or less at the same level as last season, they are losing games that they would have won last year.

Will they be able to turn the tide? The head coach Ulrich Dauber hasn’t had a losing season since taking over the Monarchs in 2018. His regular season record in his three seasons at the helm prior to this year is 30-7-1. Expect Dresden bounce back and become serious title contenders again.

Their next game will be a huge next step as they will be up against first place and undefeated Potsdam Royals again on Saturday July 2. They lost to the royals 24-21 on opening day in Potsdam. However, this time the game will be in Dresden.

A victory in this game would change things quickly and put everyone GFL on notice.