Here we go again, another look at the teams and how they fall in my power rankings.
Number One Team : Yellowknife Wraiths 6-1 Only loss to a 5-2 team
I had them ranked in the top five last time, and all they did was go on the road and shut down two really good teams. Not only were they two really good teams, they were in conference games against the second and third place teams. Safe to say, as of right now, they are the best team in their division having just beat the two closest teams. They are the only team to be six and zero in conference play after seven games. How are they doing it? Well, they are literally playing shutdown football. They have the least points allowed of any team by a whopping thirty points! They are allowing a hair over thirteen points a game after seven games. That is insane. The most they have allowed in a single games is twenty two to the Copper heads for their only loss. On offense they are putting up enough points to get the wins, averaging right above twenty four points a game. Almost double what they are giving up on defense. Weeks nine and ten coming up are both going to be tough games against five and two teams. I think after week ten we will have a clearer picture as to who is most likely making the playoffs from both conferences. The best part about this offense is that it is second in rushing and seventh in passing. Both of those are in the top half of each, normally the leading rushing team is bottom of the list in passing. It is a balanced offensive attack that is hard to stop when the defense is killing people.
Number Two Team : Sarasota Sailfish 5-2 Losses to 6-1 and 3-4
Five different teams with a five and two record. All have similar points for and against. I am picking the Sailfish as number two as their second loss was the the number one team in the league. They have a solid defense in points allowed with the fourth least points allowed at 131. And they have the third most points scored so far. For me, that is a solid second place team, in the top twenty five percent of the league in both. The most they have given up in a game is twenty seven and twenty six points, both of those were their losses, and one of those was the first game of the season. In their wins, they have given up at most twenty four to the butchers, who have a pretty good offense overall. So their defense is good, just had a couple of rough games, but still didn't allow a thirty point game. They have the most prolific air game in the league, they lead in attempts, completions and yards by quite a margin. The other side of that is they have the least rushing attempts and yards, which is no real surprise. If they can manage to score enough points against some of these really good defenses, they have a realistic shot at making it deep into the playoffs. They don't have a really big game until week thirteen against the New Orleans Second Line.
Number Three Team : New Orleans Second Line 5-2 Losses to 2-5 and 3-4
Another of our five and two teams, this time from the other conference. Now I know their losses look bad by record. But, they had the number defense for the first few games, and really have had two games where they allowed twenty seven or more points. One of those two games was against Arizona, while they have a bad record, they have the number one points for our of all of the teams. The other was a game against the Sabercats, defending champions from last season. So, I am giving them a pass on those losses being anything more than two losses. They are only allowing an average of basically twenty points a game while managing to score almost twenty five points a game. Definitely a winning combo to score more than you allow. They have the fourth lowest passing yards on the second fewest attempts and completions, while having the fifth most rushing yards on the season. The down side for them is they have a very difficult schedule coming up with games against the Yeti, Wraiths, Butchers and the Sailfish by week thirteen. They could come out of this stretch of games really well or with as completely average record.
Number Four Team : Orange County Otters 5-2 Losses to 5-2 and 3-4
Yep, another five and two team in the top four teams. They are currently in second in their conference after starting four and zero, they went one and two in the last three games. They really need to get back on track in the coming weeks to reestablish themselves as a contender to win it all. They are the second leading scorer in the league with a middle of the pack defense(closer to the good ones than the bad ones). They are averaging almost twenty eight points a game while allowing a little under twenty two points a game, so not bad, but they have had one game where they gave up over forty points, luckily for them they managed to put up forty five in that game and win anyways. Both of their losses were to good teams, so they don't really lose any points based on that. Their offense can be shut down and their defense can be scored on, so they need some work to move back up the list into the top three, but their upcoming schedule through week ten is pretty tough with games nine and ten against teams with five and two records. It seems like after week ten for a lot of teams we will have a better view of who is what in the rankings side.
Number Five Team : Chicago Butchers 5-2 Losses to 6-1 and 5-2
Our second to last five and two team in the league. They could be argued as being two ranks higher than this at third as their only two losses come at the hands of the two teams currently ahead of them in their conference. The biggest reason I put them here, is one their conference is pretty tough, and two they have lowest scoring offense of all of the five and two and up teams. They are only averaging a tiny bit over twenty two points a game, granted they are only allowing right below seventeen and a half points a game. So they are still outscoring their opponents, the gap isn't as big as it needs to be to move them up the rankings. They possess the second most potent air attack through seven games paired with the seventh ranking ground game, so they are getting yards on offense. Just aren't putting as many points on the board as the other teams ranked higher. They have two really big games in week nine and ten against the Otters and then the Wraiths. So again, weeks nine and ten will answer a lot of questions, or it will create far more questions than answers. Only time will tell how this team ends up.
Number Six Team : Austin Copperheads 5-2 Losses to 5-2 and 5-2
Another team you could argue deserves to be higher up. Their only losses are to two teams with the same record as them, the first was a week one matchup with the Second Line in a close game, the second was more of a blowout loss to the Otters. But, in there is a win against the only six and one team in the league, so they played a close game against the leader of their conference and won against the other conferences first place team. Not a team to sleep on or write off as not important. But also, a team that is close, but maybe just not quite ready for that next step. Their big games coming up are weeks ten through twelve with matchups against two five and two teams and a three and four Yeti team that can still surprise people. Their biggest issue is they don't put up than many more points than they allow against them, averaging barely under twenty five a game while giving up twenty one point three yards a game. A little closer than the other teams ranked above them. If they can get that number a little larger or just manage to sneak some close wins, they can easily move up a couple spots in the coming weeks. They are in the bottom middle of the pack in passing yards and are the league leading rushing team by about a hundred yards, but that number is with almost thirty more attempts total.
Number Seven Team : Colorado Yeti : 3-4 Losses to 6-1, 5-2, 5-2 and 2-5
We finally make it to our first team on the list with a losing record. As you can see three of their losses come from teams with the best record or tied for the second best record in the league. They got unlucky with a tough schedule to open up, they did manage to beat a different five and two team as one of their three wins. The other two were against a couple of two and five teams. They were favorites to win the Ultimus last season and while they came up short, they could manage to make the playoffs and surprise people. They have a brutal schedule remaining with five games against teams with a five and two or better record. They could potentially lose all five of those games, but more than likely they will take at least one if not two of them, but that is still three more losses, which puts them around nine and seven at best. It is going to be tough sledding for them going forwards this season. Their biggest issue is a mediocre offense and a mediocre defense as well, averaging just nineteen point three a game while giving up eighteen point four a game. That is a tiny differential, and if it keeps up, don't see them making the playoffs. They boast the third worst passing attack in the league and the second worst rushing attack...but somehow they have won three games! Honestly after seeing that I don't even know how they have managed this good of a record.
Number Eight Team : Arizona Outlaws : 2-5 Losses to multiple 5-2 teams and one 3-4
I am aware they have a worse record then multiple teams I haven't ranked yet, but they do possess the number one offense in the league. They also possess the easiest defense to score against in the league. They have had four games against teams who are now five and two and lost all four of those. And out of those four games three of them were one possession games that could have gone the Outlaws way pretty easily, if they had won those close games they would be five and two. But they didn't win them, mostly because they are on average giving up twenty nine point one a game! They have somehow managed to score and average of thirty one point one a game, so they have managed to score more points than they give up, but playing against four top teams in the first seven games did not do a porous defense any good. They have the sixth ranked passing offense and the third ranked rushing attack, so if they can get their defense figured out, they could still just barely make it in to the playoffs, but they still have four games against teams with a five and two or better record with a couple of tough three and four teams as well. So in reality until they can figure out their defense I don't see them getting into the playoffs at all without some team above them just imploding.
Well that is it for today. I will try to do another one before or after week ten games to get a good idea going towards the playoffs which teams deserve watching this season and which could be on the edge of making one while looking forwards to next season.
Number One Team : Yellowknife Wraiths 6-1 Only loss to a 5-2 team
I had them ranked in the top five last time, and all they did was go on the road and shut down two really good teams. Not only were they two really good teams, they were in conference games against the second and third place teams. Safe to say, as of right now, they are the best team in their division having just beat the two closest teams. They are the only team to be six and zero in conference play after seven games. How are they doing it? Well, they are literally playing shutdown football. They have the least points allowed of any team by a whopping thirty points! They are allowing a hair over thirteen points a game after seven games. That is insane. The most they have allowed in a single games is twenty two to the Copper heads for their only loss. On offense they are putting up enough points to get the wins, averaging right above twenty four points a game. Almost double what they are giving up on defense. Weeks nine and ten coming up are both going to be tough games against five and two teams. I think after week ten we will have a clearer picture as to who is most likely making the playoffs from both conferences. The best part about this offense is that it is second in rushing and seventh in passing. Both of those are in the top half of each, normally the leading rushing team is bottom of the list in passing. It is a balanced offensive attack that is hard to stop when the defense is killing people.
Number Two Team : Sarasota Sailfish 5-2 Losses to 6-1 and 3-4
Five different teams with a five and two record. All have similar points for and against. I am picking the Sailfish as number two as their second loss was the the number one team in the league. They have a solid defense in points allowed with the fourth least points allowed at 131. And they have the third most points scored so far. For me, that is a solid second place team, in the top twenty five percent of the league in both. The most they have given up in a game is twenty seven and twenty six points, both of those were their losses, and one of those was the first game of the season. In their wins, they have given up at most twenty four to the butchers, who have a pretty good offense overall. So their defense is good, just had a couple of rough games, but still didn't allow a thirty point game. They have the most prolific air game in the league, they lead in attempts, completions and yards by quite a margin. The other side of that is they have the least rushing attempts and yards, which is no real surprise. If they can manage to score enough points against some of these really good defenses, they have a realistic shot at making it deep into the playoffs. They don't have a really big game until week thirteen against the New Orleans Second Line.
Number Three Team : New Orleans Second Line 5-2 Losses to 2-5 and 3-4
Another of our five and two teams, this time from the other conference. Now I know their losses look bad by record. But, they had the number defense for the first few games, and really have had two games where they allowed twenty seven or more points. One of those two games was against Arizona, while they have a bad record, they have the number one points for our of all of the teams. The other was a game against the Sabercats, defending champions from last season. So, I am giving them a pass on those losses being anything more than two losses. They are only allowing an average of basically twenty points a game while managing to score almost twenty five points a game. Definitely a winning combo to score more than you allow. They have the fourth lowest passing yards on the second fewest attempts and completions, while having the fifth most rushing yards on the season. The down side for them is they have a very difficult schedule coming up with games against the Yeti, Wraiths, Butchers and the Sailfish by week thirteen. They could come out of this stretch of games really well or with as completely average record.
Number Four Team : Orange County Otters 5-2 Losses to 5-2 and 3-4
Yep, another five and two team in the top four teams. They are currently in second in their conference after starting four and zero, they went one and two in the last three games. They really need to get back on track in the coming weeks to reestablish themselves as a contender to win it all. They are the second leading scorer in the league with a middle of the pack defense(closer to the good ones than the bad ones). They are averaging almost twenty eight points a game while allowing a little under twenty two points a game, so not bad, but they have had one game where they gave up over forty points, luckily for them they managed to put up forty five in that game and win anyways. Both of their losses were to good teams, so they don't really lose any points based on that. Their offense can be shut down and their defense can be scored on, so they need some work to move back up the list into the top three, but their upcoming schedule through week ten is pretty tough with games nine and ten against teams with five and two records. It seems like after week ten for a lot of teams we will have a better view of who is what in the rankings side.
Number Five Team : Chicago Butchers 5-2 Losses to 6-1 and 5-2
Our second to last five and two team in the league. They could be argued as being two ranks higher than this at third as their only two losses come at the hands of the two teams currently ahead of them in their conference. The biggest reason I put them here, is one their conference is pretty tough, and two they have lowest scoring offense of all of the five and two and up teams. They are only averaging a tiny bit over twenty two points a game, granted they are only allowing right below seventeen and a half points a game. So they are still outscoring their opponents, the gap isn't as big as it needs to be to move them up the rankings. They possess the second most potent air attack through seven games paired with the seventh ranking ground game, so they are getting yards on offense. Just aren't putting as many points on the board as the other teams ranked higher. They have two really big games in week nine and ten against the Otters and then the Wraiths. So again, weeks nine and ten will answer a lot of questions, or it will create far more questions than answers. Only time will tell how this team ends up.
Number Six Team : Austin Copperheads 5-2 Losses to 5-2 and 5-2
Another team you could argue deserves to be higher up. Their only losses are to two teams with the same record as them, the first was a week one matchup with the Second Line in a close game, the second was more of a blowout loss to the Otters. But, in there is a win against the only six and one team in the league, so they played a close game against the leader of their conference and won against the other conferences first place team. Not a team to sleep on or write off as not important. But also, a team that is close, but maybe just not quite ready for that next step. Their big games coming up are weeks ten through twelve with matchups against two five and two teams and a three and four Yeti team that can still surprise people. Their biggest issue is they don't put up than many more points than they allow against them, averaging barely under twenty five a game while giving up twenty one point three yards a game. A little closer than the other teams ranked above them. If they can get that number a little larger or just manage to sneak some close wins, they can easily move up a couple spots in the coming weeks. They are in the bottom middle of the pack in passing yards and are the league leading rushing team by about a hundred yards, but that number is with almost thirty more attempts total.
Number Seven Team : Colorado Yeti : 3-4 Losses to 6-1, 5-2, 5-2 and 2-5
We finally make it to our first team on the list with a losing record. As you can see three of their losses come from teams with the best record or tied for the second best record in the league. They got unlucky with a tough schedule to open up, they did manage to beat a different five and two team as one of their three wins. The other two were against a couple of two and five teams. They were favorites to win the Ultimus last season and while they came up short, they could manage to make the playoffs and surprise people. They have a brutal schedule remaining with five games against teams with a five and two or better record. They could potentially lose all five of those games, but more than likely they will take at least one if not two of them, but that is still three more losses, which puts them around nine and seven at best. It is going to be tough sledding for them going forwards this season. Their biggest issue is a mediocre offense and a mediocre defense as well, averaging just nineteen point three a game while giving up eighteen point four a game. That is a tiny differential, and if it keeps up, don't see them making the playoffs. They boast the third worst passing attack in the league and the second worst rushing attack...but somehow they have won three games! Honestly after seeing that I don't even know how they have managed this good of a record.
Number Eight Team : Arizona Outlaws : 2-5 Losses to multiple 5-2 teams and one 3-4
I am aware they have a worse record then multiple teams I haven't ranked yet, but they do possess the number one offense in the league. They also possess the easiest defense to score against in the league. They have had four games against teams who are now five and two and lost all four of those. And out of those four games three of them were one possession games that could have gone the Outlaws way pretty easily, if they had won those close games they would be five and two. But they didn't win them, mostly because they are on average giving up twenty nine point one a game! They have somehow managed to score and average of thirty one point one a game, so they have managed to score more points than they give up, but playing against four top teams in the first seven games did not do a porous defense any good. They have the sixth ranked passing offense and the third ranked rushing attack, so if they can get their defense figured out, they could still just barely make it in to the playoffs, but they still have four games against teams with a five and two or better record with a couple of tough three and four teams as well. So in reality until they can figure out their defense I don't see them getting into the playoffs at all without some team above them just imploding.
Well that is it for today. I will try to do another one before or after week ten games to get a good idea going towards the playoffs which teams deserve watching this season and which could be on the edge of making one while looking forwards to next season.
![[Image: Ou9Qhgw.png]](https://i.imgur.com/Ou9Qhgw.png)
![[Image: giCIE5H.png]](https://i.imgur.com/giCIE5H.png)
