2022 German Football League
# 2022 German Football League

The 2022 German Football League season is the 43rd edition of the top-level American football competition in Germany.

The regular season started on 21 May and ended on 28 August 2022, followed by the play-offs. The season culminated in the German Bowl XLIII, which was held on 2 October 2022 in Frankfurt, where the north champion Potsdam Royals met the south champion Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns. The Unicorns won their 5th German title with a 44–27 victory.

## Modus

The league is divided in two conferences, north and south, and both conferences are divided in two divisions. During the regular season each club plays all other clubs in its division twice, home and away, and the teams of the other division of its conference once, resulting in each team playing 10 regular season games.

The best four teams in each conference qualify for the play-offs where, in the quarter-finals, teams from opposite conferences play each other, whereby the better placed teams have home field advantage. The first placed team plays the fourth placed from the other conference and the second placed the third placed team. From the semi-finals onwards teams from the same conference can meet again.

The eighth placed team in the southern conference enters a two-leg play-off with the winner of the respective conference of the German Football League 2, the second tier of the league system in Germany. The winner of this contest qualifies for the GFL for the following season.

## League tables

### GFL

The league tables of the two GFL divisions:

**North**

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Potsdam Royals | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 514 | 278 | +236 | 1.000 | Qualification to play-offs |
| 2 | New Yorker Lions | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 337 | 225 | +112 | .700 | Qualification to play-offs |
| 3 | Cologne Crocodiles | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 386 | 243 | +143 | .700 | Qualification to play-offs |
| 4 | Berlin Adler | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 326 | 318 | +8 | .600 | Qualification to play-offs |
| 5 | Dresden Monarchs | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 265 | 257 | +8 | .400 | |
| 6 | Berlin Rebels | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 348 | 371 | −23 | .350 | |
| 7 | Kiel Baltic Hurricanes | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 179 | 311 | −132 | .250 | |
| 8 | Düsseldorf Panther | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 67 | 419 | −352 | .000 | Relegation play-offs to GFL2 |

**South**

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 437 | 148 | +289 | 1.000 | Qualification to play-offs |
| 2 | Munich Cowboys | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 303 | 176 | +127 | .850 | Qualification to play-offs |
| 3 | Allgäu Comets | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 391 | 291 | +100 | .600 | Qualification to play-offs |
| 4 | Straubing Spiders | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 339 | 307 | +32 | .600 | Qualification to play-offs |
| 5 | Saarland Hurricanes | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 348 | 302 | +46 | .400 | |
| 6 | Marburg Mercenaries | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 225 | 255 | −30 | .400 | |
| 7 | Ravensburg Razorbacks | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 270 | 402 | −132 | .150 | |
| 8 | Frankfurt Universe | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 124 | 556 | −432 | .000 | Relegation play-offs to GFL2 |

### GFL2

The league tables of the two GFL2 divisions:

**North**

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Paderborn Dolphins | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 234 | 144 | +90 | .800 | Qualification to promotion play-off |
| 2 | Langenfeld Longhorns | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 349 | 185 | +164 | .800 | |
| 3 | Hildesheim Invaders | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 396 | 267 | +129 | .700 | |
| 4 | Lübeck Cougars | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 292 | 254 | +38 | .700 | |
| 5 | Rostock Griffins | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 264 | 232 | +32 | .400 | |
| 6 | Solingen Paladins | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 235 | 292 | −57 | .300 | |
| 7 | Assindia Cardinals | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 177 | 259 | −82 | .300 | Relegation to Regionalliga |
| 8 | Hamburg Huskies | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 153 | 467 | −314 | .000 | Relegation to Regionalliga |

**South**

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Ingolstadt Dukes | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 445 | 147 | +298 | 1.000 | Qualification to promotion play-off |
| 2 | Kirchdorf Wildcats | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 346 | 116 | +230 | .800 | |
| 3 | Bad Homburg Sentinels | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 279 | 184 | +95 | .700 | |
| 4 | Gießen Golden Dragons | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 341 | 222 | +119 | .600 | |
| 5 | Fursty Razorbacks | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 263 | 145 | +118 | .500 | |
| 6 | Stuttgart Scorpions | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 136 | 261 | −125 | .300 | |
| 7 | Wiesbaden Phantoms | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 177 | 407 | −230 | .100 | Relegation to Regionalliga |
| 8 | Frankfurt Pirates | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 70 | 575 | −505 | .000 | Relegation to Regionalliga |

## Postseason

### Relegation and Promotion round

| Division | GFL Team | GFL2 Team | 1st leg | 2nd leg | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| North | Düsseldorf Panther | Paderborn Dolphins | 7–13 | 13–8 | 20–21 |

In the Southern Division the Frankfurt Universe withdrew from playing the relegation game against Ingolstadt Dukes.

### Playoffs

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | German Bowl XLIII | German Bowl XLIII | German Bowl XLIII |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| N1 | Potsdam Royals | 66 | | | | | | |
| S4 | Straubing Spiders | 25 | | | | | | |
| S4 | Straubing Spiders | 25 | N1 | Potsdam Royals | 49 | | | |
| | | | N3 | Cologne Crocodiles | 21 | | | |
| S2 | Munich Cowboys | 31 | N3 | Cologne Crocodiles | 21 | | | |
| N3 | Cologne Crocodiles | 34 | | | | | | |
| N3 | Cologne Crocodiles | 34 | | | | N1 | Potsdam Royals | 27 |
| | | | | | | S1 | Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns | 44 |
| S1 | Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns | 35 | | | | | | | S1 | Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns | 44 |
| N4 | Berlin Adler | 21 | | | | | | |
| N4 | Berlin Adler | 21 | S1 | Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns | 33 | | | |
| | | | S3 | Allgäu Comets | 8 | | | |
| N2 | New Yorker Lions | 10 | S3 | Allgäu Comets | 8 | | | |
| S3 | Allgäu Comets | 14 | | | | | | |
