The Football Forge Power Rankings: Week 22A less chaotic week in the Forge Rankings
Things are back in their proper order, and the upcoming obvious Game of the Week couldn’t be better prepped.
| Rank | Team | Previous | Change | Record | Forge Factor | Notes |
| 1 | Birmingham Legion | 9 | 8 | 12-6-5 | 7.05 | Another big win for the Three Sparks. 9 points and an aggregate score of 13-1 over the past 3 games will get you rising high in the Forge rankings no matter who your opponents have been lately. Next up though… |
| 2 | San Diego Loyal | 1 | -1 | 14-5-4 | 6.68 | The Loyal made a statement this week, beating the top team in the league 3-0 and looking fairly clinical doing so, at least after Kyle Vassell entered the game in the second half. |
| 3 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2 | -1 | 14-3-6 | 5.52 | The Rowdies peppered Detroit with 29 shots on the way to a 1-0 win and a 13-game unbeaten streak.1 point point off the Eastern Conference lead and seriously contending for that top spot. |
| 4 | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | 6 | 2 | 13-6-4 | 5.42 | Pittsburgh lost Marc Ybarra to a second yellow but were already 2-0 up over Indy and held that scoreline. Overall, it was a rather listless game with 5 shots on target but the Hounds remain 2 points ahead of the Legion for the last home playoff spot. |
| 5 | The Miami FC | 14 | 9 | 9-7-7 | 5.35 | Miami were dominant in Albuquerque, winning 3-0 over a team that seems to have forgotten how to attack and made some appalling defensive errors. They are in 7th place in the East and well clear of Tulsa in 8th. |
| 6 | Sacramento Republic | 17 | 11 | 10-5-7 | 4.84 | The Republic had a strange week, winning 2-1 in New Mexico fairly handily and then needing a 90th minute equalizer at home against RGV in a game that had just 5 shots on goal combined. Still, they are closing in on the home playoff spots with games in hand. |
| 7 | Monterey Bay Union | 8 | 1 | 8-11-2 | 4.78 | Monterey left it until the 88th minute to get a shot on goal. But that’s all they needed to beat the Locomotive 1-0. In 12th place but amazingly within sight of the playoff spots: they are 7 points short but have games in hand on almost everybody. |
| 8 | Phoenix Rising | 5 | -3 | 8-10-5 | 4.73 | The Rising have scored 4 times in the last 5 games. All of them were last week against Colorado. Luckily, their opponents have scored 0 goals in those 5 games. That includes Las Vegas this week, with both teams woefully short on shooting accuracy. |
| 9 | Louisville City | 3 | -6 | 15-3-4 | 4.70 | Lou City didn’t really need the Battery to go down a man, but it didn’t hurt. The 4-1 win was only surprising in that the visitors actually scored first. City hold on the the Eastern Conference lead by a point, but they have a game in hand over the Rowdies. Still, it’s tight. |
| 10 | Orange County | 7 | -3 | 5-10-8 | 4.32 | It’s emblematic of the season that Orange County were 3-1 up over the Switchbacks with less than 11 minutes to play and ended with a 3-3 draw. They are now 3 points adrift at the bottom of the West. |
| 11 | Memphis 901 | 13 | 2 | 14-5-3 | 3.63 | Midweek Area Code FC outshot the Baby Bulls 23-7 but didn’t really have it all their own way, winning 2-1. At the weekend they had to come from behind to beat Hartford 3-1, but capped it off with an incredible bicycle kick goal by newly signed 17-year-old Nighte Pickering. |
| 12 | FC Tulsa | 11 | -1 | 7-12-4 | 3.63 | FC Tulsa were on a bye this week. |
| 13 | Oakland Roots | 15 | 2 | 6-7-11 | 3.35 | Oakland Roots were on a bye this week. |
| 14 | San Antonio | 4 | -10 | 16-4-2 | 3.09 | San Antonio remains atop the Western Conference, but they got their noses bloodied in San Diego 0-3. They still have a 4-point lead and a game in hand, so there’s no need for panic. They face Loudoun United at home this week, who could be in for another beatdown. |
| 15 | Detroit City | 10 | -5 | 9-5-8 | 2.43 | Nate Steinwascher continues to make a case for Goalkeeper of the Year with a 7-save performance in the 0-1 loss in Tampa. The one he couldn’t stop was off a rebound from a save. HIs 0.95 GAA probably won’t get him that honor though. |
| 16 | Indy Eleven | 22 | 6 | 6-12-4 | 1.83 | Another week, another poor performance by the Eleven. The 0-2 home loss to Pittsburgh extends the misery streak: they have not won since June 4th, going 0-8-2 in the last 10 games. |
| 17 | Hartford Athletic | 19 | 2 | 4-14-5 | 1.55 | The Athletic looked fairly good early against Memphis but couldn’t maintain the lead, eventually going down 1-3 to a clearly superior side. |
| 18 | El Paso Locomotive | 24 | 6 | 9-10-6 | 1.54 | When you have just 2 shots on goal and a PK wasn’t one of them, you know its going to be a bad night. The 0-1 loss in Monterey extends the losing streak to a league-worst 4 games. |
| 19 | Las Vegas Lights | 16 | -3 | 9-8-6 | 1.37 | The draw with the Rising was the only scoreless game this week. 7 shots on target combined wasn’t the lowest number, but the two teams seemed bent on avoiding the net anyway. The LA loss keeps the Lights above the playoff line. |
| 20 | Charleston Battery | 18 | -2 | 3-16-4 | 1.35 | The Battery were perfect in converting shots on goal. That didn’t prevent a 1-4 loss though, and they lost Enoch Kwakwa to a red card into the bargain. Just 3 wins in a totally abject season thus far. |
| 21 | New Mexico United | 12 | -9 | 10-5-8 | 1.17 | 2 home losses in one week, 1-2 to Sacramento and 0-3 to Miami will get you sinking in the rankings pretty quickly. Right now they are clinging to the last home playoff spot by their fingernails. |
| 22 | Rio Grande Valley Toros | 21 | -1 | 7-11-5 | 1.10 | The Toros took the lead in a game that was almost entirely lacking in attack but couldn’t prevent a last gasp equalizer by SacRep. Hard-earned points, but they still slip in the rankings. |
| 23 | Loudoun United | 26 | 3 | 5-14-3 | 1.09 | Yet another low-offense game this week. Loudoun’s Kristian Fletcher had 2 shots on goal. He finished both. The rest of the team had 0. But that was enough to beat LA who were equally ineffective n front of goal. |
| 24 | New York Red Bulls II | 20 | -4 | 2-17-3 | 0.58 | Losing 1-2 to Memphis isn’t anything to be ashamed of, especially when you keep it close. They have a chance to tighten the wooden spoon race to 1 point when they host Charleston this week (and they have a game in hand). |
| 25 | LA Galaxy II | 23 | -2 | 9-11-4 | 0.08 | After the disturbing news that broke late last week, it was entirely fitting that Los Dos should travel the entire country and lose to a team that would be dead last in the Western Conference. |
| 26 | Atlanta United 2 | 25 | -1 | 4-16-4 | 0.01 | Twonited ran into the buzzsaw that is the Legion press and counter-attack executed in lethal fashion. They now have the worst goal difference in the league at -36, or -1.5 per game. |
| 27 | Colorado Springs Switchbacks | 27 | 0 | 13-8-2 | -0.12 | The 3-3 draw in Orange County was notable for both teams giving up a handball PK. Colorado’s PK was in second half stoppage time to eke out the draw. Their current form also includes a draw with Charleston and a loss to Phoenix. The promise to get better is ringing a little hollow. |
