Ken Gossett, Hunter Jones, Harish Prasad, Christian Pundt, Matthew Slinn, Ray Bentley
Ladies and gentlemen, before we begin the Simulation Football Leauge’s Week 5 Power Rankings, I’d like to offer an apology. Weeks ago I was promoted to the Power Rankings team, and I celebrated by whooping and hollering and jumping and kicking. Unfortunately, for reasons I will leave unexplained, I was in the Power Rankings server bank, and I jump-kicked several of the large units over. Fortunately, this week we’re back up and running, thanks to a little elbow grease and a lot of keeping me locked out of the server room. Therefore, you have my deepest apologies.
~Ray Bentley
We know you want them. We know you need them. So without further ado, the Simulation Football League’s Week 5 Power Rankings!
| Rank | Team | Record (Movement) | Recap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denver Nightwings | 4 - 1 (0) | Denver sits at the top of the power rankings. In Week 5, they dominated the Hyenas on the road, in a game where they won 41-24, which would have been 41-10 without Houston's 14 points in garbage time. Their only loss came at the hands of the the Alaska Storm. They are looking like they could make another run at a championship. |
| 2 | Baltimore Vultures | 5 - 0 (0) | Baltimore still sits undefeated. After they beat Carolina at SFL Sims ATL for the SFL's 1000th game, they went on to beat Vancouver, then most recently Las Vegas. So far, they have been able to shut down any doubts people had about the Vultures when Hall of Fame coach Thomas Paterniti stepped away from coaching duties. What puts them at #2 was their early wins over Mexico City and Tallahassee, allowing Mexico 26 points and scraping a 3-point victory out of the Pride. |
| 3 | Seattle Tyrants | 4 - 0 (+1) | Seattle is the only other remaining undefeated team, and they also have been very convincing in their wins. Owner Crash Combs has shown his ability to run the team without Steven Mullenax, and they look like a serious playoff threat if they can continue their current form. |
| 4 | Tallahassee Pride | 3 - 2 (+2) | After an impressive win over Alaska, they only lost by 3 to a strong Nightwings outfit, then bounced back to beat the then-undefeated Chicago Wildcats team. If they play the rest this season like they did against Alaska, all of the league will be watching out for this dangerous Pride team. |
| 5 | Alaska Storm | 3 - 2 (+2) | Alaska lost in 2 straight weeks against Tallahassee, then against Mexico City (by 20 points). However, they bounced back by destroying Queen City 41-17. They have been inconsistent so far, but everyone knows they could get hot at any moment and push their way to another championship. |
| 6 | Chicago Wildcats | 4 - 1 (-3) | Chicago started out hot, going on an four-game undefeated streak before they dropped their first game to the Tallahassee Pride. However, Chicago still looks very dangerous, and owner Shann Varner has showed what that he wants another shot at the championship. |
| 7 | Mexico City Aztecs | 3 - 2 (-2) | Mexico City has been dangerous this season. They had big wins over New Orleans as well as the defending champions, Alaska. Steven Mullenax lost his first game against his former team, who had relocated to Seattle, to drop them to 3-2. However, the Aztecs are still a tough little operation, as their win over Alaska showed, and could still make a big run in the playoffs with a brilliant offensive coach like Mullenax. |
| 8 | Atlanta Swarm | 3 - 1 (0) | Atlanta just lost their first game of the season to New Orleans. They surprised the whole league by starting the season 3-0 before dropping their first game. They were close to completing a 17 point comeback against New Orleans, showing that the team definitely has fight in them, and the buzz is that they are a team to be on the lookout for this season. |
| 9 | London Knights | 3 - 2 (0) | London have been good, but a little inconsistent so far this season. They won weeks 1, 3 and 4, but lost in week 2 and this past week to Vancouver. They are not in a bad position, and could make a run in the postseason, but they will want to be a little more consistent to prove that they were snubbed last season, and deserve to be in the playoffs. |
| 10 | New Orleans Pharaohs | 2 - 3 (1) | New Orleans had a rough opening start to the season, going 0-3. However, they were able to string 2 wins together, with victories over Carolina and the then-undefeated Atlanta Swarm; it's possible we still have not seen the best of them yet. |
| 11 | Sioux Falls Sparrows | 2 - 2 (1) | It's been another weird season for Sioux Falls. The defense hasn't been clicking quite right, and they rank towards the back in points allowed. On the other hand, given AJ Levye's reputation and the turnarounds he's lead on his side of the ball over the past few seasons, we have confidence that the Sparrows will get back up to speed quick. What is concerning, however, are the continued turnover troubles presented by Jacen Tyree. This team really needs to cut down on these lost opportunities and reignite Colin Hart as an All-League weapon if they want to make the deep run they've been hoping for for so long. |
| 12 | Vancouver Legion | 2 - 3 (+2) | Vancouver is starting to build some real momentum here as one of the many 2-3 teams that have played almost every single one of their games close. Take away Mexico City's double-digit home win over the Vancouver Legion and none of the Legion's games have been decided by more than one possession. If this team can build on what they've done so far then they might be able to sneak into the playoffs for the first time since Season 9. |
| 13 | Queen City Corsairs | 2 - 2 (-3) | Queen City has started to pass the baton onto the next generation of coaches, and they've had mixed results so far. The defense has looked on point through much of the early goings of this season, but was just shredded by the three-time defending champion Alaska Storm. It's hard to make an accurate assessment of this team at the moment given the state of flux they are in, but it's safe to say that they aren't performing as well as they have recently, given that neither unit ranks in the top half of the league scoring-wise. |
| 14 | Las Vegas Fury | 2 - 3 (-1) | After a hot start by new coach Tom Ramen, the Fury have started to slow down the past few weeks with some warm welcomings by league legends Eddie Gauge and TJ Cags. This team is starting to look like a more complete unit, however, with improved play through the air and a continued ground presence. The main issue for this team may lie on 3rd down, as they stand with a 25% conversion rate, more than 12 percentage points lower than the next poorest scoring team. If this team can figure this out to become more efficient, it's hard to not like them moving forward. |
| 15 | Charleston Predators | 2 - 3 (0) | Charleston hasn't been able to knock off a true heavyweight yet, but they've managed to play some really good teams close and really hand it to teams that they should. We've seen offensive explosions out of this team unlike any other team in the league. Along with their newfound top five scoring defense, this team could become incredibly dangerous, incredibly fast. |
| 16 | San Francisco Sharks | 2 - 3 (+1) | San Francisco is the team that always seems to be hanging around right on the periphery of the playoff picture. Currently, they stand only one game below .500 as we near the midway point in the season, and contain a top ten scoring offense (can we get some applause for the stellar play of UDFA QB Angus MacLaine?), but they rank dead last in defense. It'll be interesting to see how Gabriel Manning moves this team forward given this team's opportunistic position. |
| 17 | Houston Hyenas | 1 - 4 (-1) | It seems that since Season 11, Houston just hasn't been able to recapture their offensive magic. They have had major trouble not turning the ball over and that looks to be more often than not this team's downfall (Houston ranks fourth in turnovers). Overall, this team has taken some tough losses over the past two weeks, but we need not forget their 34-6 thrashing of the Las Vegas Fury just three weeks ago. This team has the pieces and it feels like it's only a matter of time before Demond Simien gets his offense humming again. |
| 18 | Tulsa Desperadoes | 1 - 3 (0) | This is an interesting case. The Desperados are 1-3 but rank near the middle of the pack in scoring on both the offensive and defensive ends, and they average scoring one less point per game than they allow. Of all the teams towards the bottom of this list, Tulsa seems the most primed to catch a couple breaks and make a late run. This will specifically be achieved by staying the course behind AJ Jackson and by continuing to allow Gib Leedoo room to work with his league-best pass rushing, with nine sacks only a third of the way through the season. |
| 19 | Carolina Skyhawks | 0 - 5 (0) | Carolina just hasn't been able to put it together on the offensive side of the ball this season. It's a frustrating sight to say the least, considering the defensive ability we have seen thus far from this team, specifically from players such as Trystan Hatley and DJ Majesty. If this team can find an offensive ability, then they may be next season's version of the Chicago Wildcats. |
| 20 | Oklahoma City Renegades | 1 - 3 (0) | It hasn't been smooth sailing for Oklahoma City this season since they their week one victory over the one-win Houston Hyenas. Reality may have began to set in with last week's 18-point loss to a San Francisco team that hasn't proven to be a worldbeater. Overall, this team ranks below Carolina by virtue of being a less complete team than the Skyhawks (Carolina has a top ten scoring defense while neither of the Renegades units rank better than the bottom three across the league), and they have suffered on-average much worse defeats than Carolina (the Skyhawks have averaged losing each game by eight points while the Renegades have averaged losing each game by seventeen points). If this team can find some sort of defensive cohesion as they did against the turnover-happy Hyenas, then the Renegades could very well be playoff dark horse contenders. |
| 21 | St. Louis Gladiators | 0 - 4 (0) | It's been a rough stretch since the Power Rankings team has gone on hiatus. They have produced three-straight double-digit losses, capped off by a 31-0 shutout at the hands of a Sioux Falls team that was not at their sharpest. The team has seen strong individual performances over the early course of the season from such players as Cody Scott and Shane Masters, but the Gladiators clearly have much still left to put together the rest of the season. |
