A pair of Falcons, P Adam Anderson and CB Brent Grimes, will have an opportunity to help their club -- the Hamburg Sea Devils -- capture World Bowl XV this Saturday in Frankfurt vs. the Galaxy (1 p.m. ET; LIVE - NFL Network).
Both the Sea Devils and Galaxy survived a wild final weekend to tie for the top spot in NFL Europa at 7-3, and Anderson and Grimes have been leaders in the effort.
Anderson punted 41 times for 1,680 yards (41.0 average) with a long kick of 60 yards. He also helped the Sea Devils defense as he pinned opponents inside their 20-yard line 15 times and forced 12 fair catches. Opponents returned only 13 punts -- the lowest amount vs. any kicker in NFLE.
"I feel that I've progressed, learned a lot this year and matured as a punter," he said about his season's work. "I know coaches watch a lot of film and are going to see good things and I'm excited about that. It's always good to play good enough to get into a championship game, no matter what your role is on the team, because it takes everybody to get there."
Grimes started in four of his eight games with the Sea Devils, He posted 29 tackles and six pass defenses for the Hamburg defense. He also added two interceptions for 54 yards and a touchdown and also scored on a fumble return.
"It's been a good season -- it didn't start off like it was going to be the best, but I made the most of it and now we're going to the World Bowl," Grimes said. "I had a couple of big plays and I had a lot of fun with these guys this season."
For both Falcons, the opportunity to play in a championship game has special meaning as their respective seasons come to a close.
"It's really exciting because I haven't played in any kind of championship game since I was 12 or 13," said Grimes. "So I'm really excited about this. We're in Frankfurt. It's their home field, there is going to be a big crowd, they've got the loudest stadium and I'm looking forward to this game."
"Anytime you play for a championship you accomplish what the goal was at the beginning of the season," Anderson said. "It feels good to be where we set out to be at the beginning of the season. Anytime you're in that position, it speaks loudly for going back and accomplishing what I want to accomplish back in America and that's to make an NFL team and contribute to a championship season."
As for the three other Falcons in NFL Europa -- DT Michael Bozeman, RB Taurean Henderson and WR Dan Sheldon, their seasons have come to a close. Bozeman played in eight games with seven starts for the Rhein Fire and notched 26 tackles and one sack. Henderson played in the opening six games of the year (three starts) before being placed on Reserve/Injured for the Fire. He ran for 144 yards (19 long) and three touchdowns on 51 carries, caught nine passes for 27 yards and added five kickoff returns for 106 yards. Sheldon played in eight games and caught two passes for 13 yards for the Cologne Centurions. He made his biggest mark in the return game as he added nine punt returns for 95 yards and 19 kickoff returns for 448 yards.
