Power Rankings – Season 11, Week 4
FeaturedTeams

Power Rankings – Season 11, Week 4

By 08/02/2018September 1st, 2018No Comments

Written by Christian Christiansen, Xander Gold
Graphics and Published by Mike Daggs

We do not apologize for what you are about to see. We are just going to embrace the chaos. You don’t like the rankings? We don’t care. You going to complain about the rankings? We don’t care. You going to rag on us? Man, you just hate us because you ain’t us. Only two teams look unstoppable so far: The Alaska Storm and the SFL Power Rankings Crew.

A special note for Scott LeRoux……..   Those giant arrows in the above graphic (no Scott, they’re not fancy SFL ties…) represent two teams that are on the rise, and two teams that are going down in the rankings.   Ties are tapered Scott.   Those giant arrows are just that – giant arrows.

Moving on – here’s your Week 4 Rankings!

TeamsRecordChangeRankTeam Recaps:
Alaska
3 - 001Watch out! There's a storm in the forecast and it isn't stopping. The Alaska Storm absolutely manhandled a 'top 3' Sioux Falls Sparrows team. Alex Dominguez 'aka Big Sexy' came out in the opening drive with 3 straight drive killing sacks. From there, the Storm kept on rolling, riding the arm of Ron Cockren, who completed 85 percent of his passes. The Storm finish at #1 for the 3rd consecutive week and I don't see that changing anytime soon.
Tallahassee
3 - 002Somehow, someway, the Tallahassee Pride continue to win games. Even after three somewhat unimpressive performances, it’s hard to argue with the results. Nineteen regular season wins in a row – a streak that stretches back into Week nine of Season 9, and that loss came 23-20, at the hands of the Corsairs IN Queen City. Yeah, the Pride have been scraping by and have statistically the worst passing offense in the league this season, but that also has us feeling the Pride are capable of a lethal second gear. They have a top defense and a top run game. Can you really hold down Season 10 League MVP, Christian Christiansen and All-World WRs, Ken Gossett and Duke Wilson at the bottom forever? We don’t think so either.
Sioux Falls
2 - 103Yes, the Sparrows lost by a large margin, but a lot of their misfortunes came from rookies. I think this team is far better than they showed, and as the season rolls along I expect the Sparrows' rookies to correct the mistakes they've made. Down early, the Sparrows couldn't get Colin Hart going as much as they would've liked and I think a lot of their success falls on the shoulders of him. Expect them to try and get him more involved early next week.
Carolina
3 - 0+44Here they are. The Skyhawks have arrived. Everything seems to be clicking for this 'new-age league-favorite' Carolina team. Headed by AJ Francis and Sir Chappel, the Skyhawks find themselves at 3-0 after defeating an air-raiding London Knights team. They have one of the most feared RBs in the league leading the charge on offense, one of the better defenses around, and one of the best turnover differentials to boot. The Skyhawks have waited patiently for the Power Rankings Titans to give them respect and here it is. Although 'sorry not sorry', but Sioux Falls is ranked higher because they’ve been one of the most impressive teams so far and fell to Alaska – does anyone really compete with Alaska? No.
Houston
2 - 1+55Houston comes in at #5 this week. After losing to QCC in Week 1, The Hyenas are on a roll. Houston looked dominant in their game against Atlanta, but could never seem to put them away. That is, until Warren Murray came back in the 4th from injury to milk the clock and future HOFer, Eddie Gauge, sealed the deal with a diving interception with 1:32 left on the clock. It will be interesting to see if Houston can keep this momentum up and build from it.
Queen City
2 - 1-26Oh, how unfortunate for a certain Corsair defensive back! We were just getting ready to put Queen City into the tippity top of the SFL rankings and they go and lose 17-10 to a T-Pat-lead 0-2 Baltimore Vultures team, in what has been the most high profile upset of the season so far; on a late, long touchdown pass to Garren Malone to boot. Don’t let that get you down though! Queen City is still a great team and they have the championships to prove it. A loss on primetime by seven points to your longtime rivas, that are now coached by the same guy who coached the undefeated Season 4 Maulers, is nothing to sneeze at.
St. Louis
2 - 1+67St.Louis look like a totally different team from last season. The Gladiators proved they are all about the business of winning, beating an impressive Indianapolis Red Devils team. Rookie safety, Ethan Kye, continues to be a menace as he's recorded his 3rd interception of the season in 3 games. St.Louis face another tough test next week, when they take on the 3-0 Carolina Skyhawks on the road. Expect this game to be an instant classic.
Mexico City
1 - 1-18You're welcome Ray Bentley. Bye week went your way in our aggregate rankings. Mexico City move down despite not playing a single snap.
Oklahoma City
2 - 1-39OKC started off the season 2-0, but fell short to the Pharaohs. Deacon Nickens threw his first interceptions of the season in this game but still lit up the NOLA defense. Ultimately they fell short, but they shouldn't get down on themselves because they played a hell of a game and still look like one of the league's best teams.
Indianapolis
1 - 2-510Don’t talk a big game and fail to deliver, you will get humbled and we will punish thee. Let’s go over what happened: St. Louis has given up 13 points to Indianapolis in Season 11, only 6 of those were non-garbage time allowed. Indy allowed the Gladiators to complete over 50% of their third down attempts. Keith Swearingen recorded 43.269% of his rushing yardage on one carry. 244 of St. Louis' 301 yards last week came from the air - Indy has 5 DBs. Womp womp. Pepper was the #1 QB in the league for pass completion with 81.71%, he dropped his completion percentage to more than 20 points lower. Pepper was sacked 5 times, Aciel was only sacked 3 times. The Red Devils are 0-1 against STL in season 11 and 1-2 on the Season as a whole.
Atlanta
1 - 2-211Atlanta has dropped 2 games in a row, but to two good teams. Rookie, Marcus Dunhill, is still looking to find his footing in this league and once he does, this team will be 100 times better. The Swarm fought their way back into the game twice against Houston, but fell just short after a missed catch by the non-star TE, which led to a game clinching interception by the Hyenas. Atlanta faces a Dallas team that's coming off a win against Las Vegas, they'll look to get both BDG Hollewood and Marcus Dunhill going early.
London
1 - 2012Okay, London is the team that continues to baffle us. It’s like watching the entirety of Atlantic City all at once. They’re managing over 350 passing yards per game but couldn’t exploit a Carolina team (who have no star cornerbacks) for more than 17 points. One problem might be that they’re allowing a similar figure on defense. They look more talented than their record shows, and after a week as crazy as this one, even their loss results in zero movement up or down the rankings.
New Orleans
1 - 1+713NOLA moves up a bunch due to a surprising win over OKC and some other teams ahead of them losing. Xander Gold looked a lot more comfortable and efficient this week compared to Week 2 against St. Louis.This NOLA defense forced Deacon Nickens into 3 inerceptions, which is his first time throwing any picks this season. NOLA secured their first win of franchise history and looks to keep the ball rolling against Tallahassee in Week 4.
Dallas
1 - 2+414The Lobos were soooo close to putting it together through the first two weeks this season. They managed to play a complete game and beat the Fury for their first on the season. They are tops in the league in their passing game and it's not exactly close. They have an interesting theory here and they appear to be back from the dead. This could be a team we see fluctuate pretty massively week to week with the way they play. This week, they were rewarded.
Baltimore
1 - 2+615You know what you get when you put Thomas Paterniti and Tim Johnston on the same team? Wins. Baltimore put the whole league on notice with a win over a previously stellar Queen City. The Vultures came out looking like a totally new team and shocked their opponents as well as the SFL Nation. Baltimore will look to even out their record when they take on Ray Bentley and the Mexico City Aztecs in Week 4.
Las Vegas
1 - 2-216The Fury have a legitimate running game but teams have been selling out to stop Redford and force rookie quarterback, Tom Ramen, to pass. That strategy has worked well and has resulted in two straight losses for the Fury. Max Jackson has proven he can adjust on the fly and the Fury have enough talent and experience to make a good run here soon.
Vancouver
1 - 2017Vancouver gets their first win of the new campaign against a well-rested Chicago Wildcats team. This game was a game of defenses as we saw a total of 22 points scored combined. Vancouver will look to get their offense going a little bit more against the Sparrows in Week 4. They'll need it.
San Francisco
1 - 2+118How about the Sharks! Right when you (yes – you!) left them as an afterthought, they go and play a still-undefeated Skyhawks team to the wire and then go off and BEAT the Denver Nightwings. San Francisco through three weeks has been a steady team. None of their stats are particularly great, but none are particularly horrible either. Their defense could stand for a leg up – particularly in the rushing department – but its hard to argue with their results so far.
Denver
1 - 2-819The Denver Nightwings fell victim to an overtime loss. The Nightwings couldn't haul in an onside kick attempt which led to overtime. Despite the loss, Josh Miller went a whopping 20/25 for 333 yards and 4 TD's. Denver will look to rise in the Power Rankings again by defeating the Renegades this week. They are a better team than their ranking suggests. They need to come out and show it.
Tulsa
0 - 3-420Tulsa continues to confuse us hear on the Mountaintop. They carry a legitimately talented defense that just seems to have been leaky at the beginning stages of the season. Once that gets shored up, some smart coaching by Dion Hawkins, and their passing attack that averages over 300 yards per game should pick it up. Tulsa has no reason to panic. Yet. Take another loss though, and it will become squeaky bum time on their season.
Chicago
0 - 2-621Chicago dropped another one to the Legion off of a bye week. The defense was very good but the offense played very stagnant. To get where they were in Season 9, they will need to get more creative offensively and get Calvin-Kim and ET King going. London is next. You can bet they will need to score a good amount of points to win that one.