The Football Forge Power Rankings: Week 16
This was a hugely entertaining week in the Championship. Amazing goals, a ton of red cards (and very much to the Legion’s benefit). Who needs the Gold Cup? This is way more fun.
| Rank | Team | Previous | Change | Record | Forge Factor | Note |
| 1 | Monterey Bay Union | 2 | 1 | 7-4-5 | 21.518 | The Union #1? How did they get there? Well, Anthony Siaha saves a PK and the ball is immediately taken all the way for a Christian Volesky goal. They beat The Miami FC 1-0 and have a league-best 4-game win streak. |
| 2 | Memphis 901 | 1 | -1 | 8-2-4 | 20.293 | Area Code FC are scary good. Goals from newcomers Rodrigo da Costa and Emerson Hyndman led to a 4-0 pasting of FC Tulsa, which they followed up with a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Charleston. |
| 3 | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | 3 | 0 | 8-2-6 | 19.381 | The Riverhounds have dropped just 2 points in their last 7 games and are top of the East. This week they beat San Diego Loyal at home 2-1 but needed stoppage time to do it. |
| 4 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 4 | 0 | 8-4-4 | 19.356 | The Rowdies trailed twice early but finally beat 10-man Loudoun United 4-2. No losses in the last 5 games, but Tampa is not overly convincing as a contender. |
| 5 | El Paso Locomotive | 7 | 2 | 9-3-3 | 15.421 | El Paso Locomotive were on a bye this week. |
| 6 | Phoenix Rising | 16 | 10 | 5-4-7 | 15.292 | Phoenix Rising got some serious goalkeeping out of Patrick Rakovsky to beat New Mexico United 3-1 but then needed an equalizer 3 minutes into second half stoppage time to tie 1-1 with Oakland Roots. |
| 7 | Sacramento Republic | 9 | 2 | 9-2-5 | 14.844 | Trust us: you need to at least watch the highlights of Sacramento’s 3-1 over San Antonio. The final game of the week was a wild and crazy affair. SacRep have the league’s best record and deserve it. |
| 8 | Oakland Roots | 6 | -2 | 6-4-5 | 13.633 | Oakland Roots and Phoenix Rising had almost no action until the 82nd minute, after which they split goals and points 1-1. 5th in the West with games in hand. |
| 9 | Orange County | 13 | 4 | 5-8-4 | 13.333 | 3 clean sheet wins in the last 4, this one 1-0 over Detroit City, and it wasn’t anywhere near that close. A rare red card to an already subbed out player (Kyle Scott) added to the entertainment. |
| 10 | Detroit City | 5 | -5 | 4-8-4 | 13.145 | Detroit City looked pretty inept in the 0-1 loss to Orange County. Their 5-game unbeaten streak is now over. A chance to get back on track next week at Tulsa. |
| 11 | Indy Eleven | 10 | -1 | 5-6-4 | 12.606 | Indy Eleven had far fewer scoring chances than Hartford Athletic, but they made the best of them, winning 2-0 in Connecticut. |
| 12 | Birmingham Legion | 18 | 6 | 7-7-1 | 11.032 | The Legion had relatively little trouble dispatching Loudoun 2-0. Diba Nwegbo added his name to the long list of scoring threats. A new win streak is in effect. |
| 13 | San Diego Loyal | 11 | -2 | 6-5-5 | 10.025 | San Diego made the long trip to Pittsburgh and nearly came away with a point in a pretty even game. They lost 1-2 though and are winless in the last 5 games. |
| 14 | Louisville City | 15 | 1 | 7-4-4 | 9.763 | Lou City took 77 minutes to get the breakthrough against Las Vegas Lights and rode that goal to the win. A big game against Pittsburgh coming up next. |
| 15 | San Antonio | 12 | -3 | 6-3-7 | 9.498 | No wins in the last 4 games; are San Antonio slipping? See SacRep above, by the way. Oh, they play the Legion next and will do it without Jordan Farr and Mitchell Taintor. |
| 16 | Rio Grande Valley Toros | 23 | 7 | 3-5-7 | 7.883 | The Toros’ 6-game winless streak is over. The 1-0 win over Colorado Springs was a lackluster affair, but they should have scored more. |
| 17 | Colorado Springs Switchbacks | 8 | -9 | 7-9-1 | 7.753 | In a disastrous road trip, the Switchbacks failed to get a shot on goal in the 0-1 loss at RGV and followed that up losing 1-2 to New Mexico United. And that score was an own goal. |
| 18 | New Mexico United | 19 | 1 | 5-7-3 | 7.012 | United’s 1-3 home loss to Phoenix Rising was closer than the score suggests, then they dominated Colorado Springs Switchbacks 2-1. Check out Amando Moreno’s bicycle kick golazo in that second game. |
| 19 | Loudoun United | 14 | -5 | 5-11-1 | 6.761 | Loudoun were blanked by the Legion 0-2, but then led twice at home against Tampa before a Daniel Chica red card and eventually lost 2-4. Still above the playoff line though. |
| 20 | Charleston Battery | 17 | -3 | 8-5-4 | 6.744 | Battery keeper Trey Muse had a nightmare game in the 2-3 loss at Memphis 901. They’ve given up 12 goals in the last 5 games now and are looking vulnerable. |
| 21 | Las Vegas Lights | 20 | -1 | 1-8-6 | 2.193 | No shots on goal is no way to get results. The Lights lose their 4th straight, 0-1 at Louisville. They are 7 points adrift at the bottom of the West and have the league’s worst PPG. |
| 22 | The Miami FC | 24 | 2 | 2-7-7 | 1.142 | Miami’s last win was May 3 (against the Legion, alas). The 0-1 loss in Monterey keeps a 7-game winless streak going, and they did it in bizarre fashion. |
| 23 | Hartford Athletic | 21 | -2 | 2-10-4 | 0.299 | Hartford couldn’t convert many good chances and lost to Indy Eleven 0-2 this week. Just 2 points from the last 5 games, worst in the league, and head coach Tab Ramos is now gone. |
| 24 | FC Tulsa | 22 | -2 | 2-7-7 | -3.527 | FC Tulsa will be regretting letting da Costa go to Memphis as he immediately punished them , scoring early in a 0-4 thrashing. Outscored 10-1 in the last 3 games. |
