You could say the Amsterdam Admirals are glad the Green Bay Packers allocated wide receiver Chad Lucas to NFL Europe.
One week after scoring two touchdowns, Lucas set an NFL-Europe record with four touchdowns and helped lead the Admirals to a 38-31 win against the Berlin Thunder.
"It just goes to show hard work pays off," Lucas, who caught six passes for 120 yards, told NFL Europe.com. "As an offense we work hard all week long, staying after practice running routes, getting the little things down, and it paid off tonight. I caught four touchdowns, but if everybody else wasn't doing their job than I wouldn't have caught those touchdowns."
Other players doing their job for the Admirals, included Atari Bigby, a Packers player who started at free safety and tied for the team lead in tackles with seven. Packers tight end Tory Humphrey started and caught two passes for 22 yards. Wide receiver Vince Butler played but did not catch a pass.
On the opposing sideline, the Packers' Brian Wrobel quarterbacked the Thunder after not receiving action last week. He helped Berlin keep pace in the high-scoring affair, completing 5-of-12 passes for 47 yards and a touchdown and running four times for 24 yards and a touchdown.
Aside from Lucas' record-breaking performance in that shootout, the other major NFL Europe story of the weekend was the Rhein Fire's 31-21 victory against the Hamburg Sea Devils. That victory gave the Fire a 4-0 record halfway through the NFL Europe season and added juice to this week's anticipated match between the undefeated Fire and the 3-1 Admirals.
Two Packers started for the league-leading Fire on Saturday. Center Pete Traynor helped open holes for 123 rushing yards while cornerback Therrian Fontenot recorded one tackle and one pass defensed.
In the final game of the weekend, the Frankfurt Galaxy defeated the Cologne Centurions 21-14. Packers defensive tackle Jerome Nichols recorded three tackles for the victorious squad. That win evened the Galaxy's record at 2-2 and positioned them in third place in the league.
The focus of Week 5, however, will be on the match between the two teams with the best record in NFL Europe when the Admirals host the Fire.
Week 3 Results
Amsterdam 38, Berlin 31
Rhein 31, Hamburg 21
Frankfurt 21, Cologne 14
Week 5 Schedule
Saturday, April 15
Rhein at Amsterdam
Frankfurt at Hamburg
Monday, April 17
Cologne at Berlin
