The Football Forge Power Rankings: Week 14Some confusing changes
A few big moves in the rankings, some of which may stick, others not so much. A degree of normality was restored after the bookie-defying results last week, although there were a still a couple of surprises and some odd goings-on in a couple of games.
| Rank | Team | Previous | Change | Record | Forge Factor | Notes |
| 1 | New Mexico United | 1 | 0 | 6- 2- 4 | 7.72 | New Mexico United were on a bye this week. |
| 2 | Sacramento Republic | 10 | +8 | 6- 3- 4 | 6.84 | SacRep follow up last week’s win over San Antonio with a solid victory in Detroit and jump the playoff line into 6th, trailing New Mexico only on tiebreakers. That will get you positive marks in the rankings. |
| 3 | Birmingham Legion | 7 | +4 | 6- 4- 4 | 5.63 | The Legion had to wait nearly two hours to really get started but a late Anderson Asiedu goal secured the big derby win over Memphis and continued the team’s improving fortunes. Now they have to wait 17 days while everyone else jockeys for position. |
| 4 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 4 | 0 | 7- 3- 5 | 5.36 | With the 2-1 win in Miami the Rowdies have 13 points from their last 5 games, all against quality opposition. They’ve played more games than both Memphis and Louisville, but are very much back in contention for the conference title. |
| 5 | El Paso Locomotive | 13 | +8 | 7- 6- 3 | 4.87 | The Locomotive won a close one 1-0 in Phoenix and continue their steady climb in the standings. However, they have played between 2 and 4 more games than anyone else above the playoff line in the West. |
| 6 | Memphis 901 | 2 | -4 | 9- 3- 1 | 4.55 | Area Code FC saw their league-leading 5-game win streak snapped in a rainy Birmingham thanks to late heroics. A game this Wednesday in Hartford should get the team back into the winning column. |
| 7 | Oakland Roots | 6 | -1 | 4- 4- 8 | 4.08 | The Roots should probably consider themselves very lucky to get the 2-2 draw with RGV. The Toros were definitely the better team on the night but gave up two late goals to blow the lead and remain a point behind the hosts in the standings. |
| 8 | San Antonio | 5 | -3 | 10- 3- 0 | 4.03 | San Antonio traded own goals with Monterey Bay in a slightly odd contest that saw the visitors come away with a 3-2 win, although it wasn’t an overly convincing display from the Western Conference contenders. |
| 9 | Colorado Springs Switchbacks | 11 | +2 | 10- 2- 0 | 3.61 | The 3-1 win in LA was largely a lackluster affair that really did little to bolster the Switchbacks’ argument for being best in the West. Still, they have the best PPG in the league and games in hand. |
| 10 | LA Galaxy II | 12 | +2 | 5- 7- 3 | 3.53 | Los Dos took the early lead and nearly doubled in a game that was marked by poor attacking and poor defending on both sides. Neither team showered itself in honors in this one. |
| 11 | Charleston Battery | 27 | +16 | 2- 9- 2 | 3.25 | Charleston get a huge bump in the rankings after they shock the Riverhounds 3-0. The scoreline is more or less reflective of the balance of play as well. Next up is a trip to Tampa, so the recovery may be short-lived. |
| 12 | Monterey Bay Union | 3 | -9 | 4- 9- 0 | 3.16 | The Union drop thanks to two consecutive home losses. the game against San Antonio was fairly evenly played, however, but the loss was worsened by a late double yellow incurred by center back Hugh Roberts. |
| 13 | Indy Eleven | 14 | +1 | 6- 4- 3 | 3.13 | Wednesday’s other rain delayed game saw an very even contest between Indy and Miami end 1-1. That kept the two teams level on points and opened the door for the Legion to leapfrog both of them. |
| 14 | Las Vegas Lights | 20 | +6 | 5- 6- 4 | 2.81 | The Lights didn’t have to work too hard to get the 3-0 win over Orange County but were the deserved winners in a not very entertaining match. Still, they are struggling; this was their first win since April 16th. |
| 15 | San Diego Loyal | 21 | +6 | 7- 3- 4 | 2.37 | The 3-0 win over Hartford went more or less according to form, although it wasn’t that close. Not by a long shot. The Loyal remain 5 points adrift of the top two, though, who both have games in hand. |
| 16 | Detroit City | 9 | -7 | 7- 3- 5 | 2.24 | Detroit lose at home in the USLC for the first time. It was a weakish 0-2 performance against Sacramento, who were clearly uncowed by the Keyworth Stadium atmosphere and kept the smoke bombs at bay. |
| 17 | Rio Grande Valley Toros | 18 | +1 | 6- 8- 1 | 2.02 | The Toros went 2-0 up in Oakland, including a golazo bike from Wahab Ackwei, then threw it away with what looked like an own goal (but wasn’t credited as such) and a late equalizer that should have been easily stopped. |
| 18 | Phoenix Rising | 25 | +7 | 7- 7- 0 | 1.95 | Thanks to the 0-7 thrashing dropping out of their form book, the Rising get quite a boost despite losing a tight one against El Paso, which was very even until Phoenix gave up a red card and a PK 70 minutes in. |
| 19 | FC Tulsa | 17 | -2 | 4- 8- 2 | 1.83 | FC Tulsa were on a bye this week. |
| 20 | The Miami FC | 8 | -12 | 5- 5- 6 | 1.40 | Christian Sorto scored just 20 seconds after a two-hour rain delay, only to see the lead slip away against Indy. Then they gave up 2 set piece goals to a Tampa team that was outplaying them anyway. 1 point from a 2-game home week is not good. |
| 21 | Louisville City | 19 | -2 | 8- 3- 3 | 0.97 | Louisville City were on a bye this week. |
| 22 | Atlanta United 2 | 22 | 0 | 3- 10- 1 | 0.93 | Atlanta got their first win since April 2nd, handling Loudoun fairly comfortably. As a result, they are now just 1 point behind them in 11th, but still well adrift of the playoff spots. |
| 23 | Hartford Athletic | 16 | -7 | 2- 8- 2 | 0.86 | The league’s northeasternmost team trekked to play the southwesternmost and got thumped 0-3 by San Diego. Adding insult to injury, manager Harry Watling managed to get a yellow card and a red card in the space of 2 minutes in the first half. |
| 24 | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | 15 | -9 | 7- 4- 3 | 0.83 | The 0-3 loss in Charleston only adds to Pittsburgh’s recent woes. They have just 2 points from their last 4 games and look to be slipping badly. This last game was very poorly played. |
| 25 | New York Red Bulls II | 23 | -2 | 1- 11- 2 | 0.47 | The Baby Bulls outpossessed and outshot Loudoun but made some horrific mistakes to lose the match. Last week’s 2-2 draw with San Diego is clearly an outlier for this team who are now worst in the league. |
| 26 | Loudoun United | 26 | 0 | 3- 9- 2 | 0.43 | Loudoun were pretty much gifted the midweek win by New York. Twonited at the weekend were not so generous. Loudoun ends the week with 3 of 6 points but a negative goal differential. |
| 27 | Orange County | 24 | -3 | 3- 6- 5 | -0.12 | What does it say when your only shot on goal is into your own net? Add to that giving up a PK and OC were shooting themselves in the foot all game in Vegas. The terrible title defense continues. |
