The Football Forge Power Rankings: Week 3It's still early; the rankings are confused
Three weeks into the season there are plenty of upsets and other strange events going on that make the rankings something of a guessing game still. That being said, some of the front-runners are already beginning to emerge.
| Rank | Team | Previous | Change | Record | Notes |
| 1 | Louisville City | 3 | +2 | 3-0-1 | A predictably comfortable midweek win in New York was followed up by a home draw against previously hapless Indy. First to 10 points, but have yet to look totally dominant doing so. |
| 2 | San Antonio | 4 | +2 | 3-0-0 | Statistically dominated by RGV, San Antonio maintained the perfect start with a 2-1 win thanks to two very odd goals. Not quite convincing yet as a major contender. |
| 3 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 1 | -2 | 2-0-2 | Easily handled a strong Twonited side (even without Aidan McFadden) on the road before being stymied by a stingy Hartford defense at home, only getting the draw on a bone-headed error. |
| 4 | San Diego Loyal | 5 | +1 | 3-1-0 | 2 road games in a week is a tough assignment. The Loyal were edged 0-1 in Tulsa before edgng Phoenix 3-2 in an exhilarating game. The Loyal are not longer perfect, but they are for real. |
| 5 | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | 2 | -3 | 2-0-1 | The Hounds had the help of refereeing the first two games (2 red cards) but were probably unlucky to get called for a very soft PK at Detroit to come away with just a draw. Their own goal was kinda lucky too though. |
| 6 | Colorado Springs Switchbacks | 9 | +3 | 3-0-0 | One of only two perfect teams left, a very solid Colorado Springs side took advantage of Birmingham’s offensive struggles and weakened defense for the 2-0 win. |
| 7 | Sacramento Republic | 7 | 0 | 2-1-0 | SacRep are still not completely convincing, but the win over a difficult Tulsa team was probably their best performance yet. Next up is Monterey. |
| 8 | New Mexico United | 8 | 0 | 2-0-1 | United probably thought they were headed for 3-0-0 only to have a stoppage time goal nix that idea. Overall, the game against Orange County was very even. |
| 9 | Phoenix Rising | 6 | -3 | 1-2-0 | The Rising have not started the season as expected. They worked their way back from a 2-goal deficit against the Loyal only to have the tying goal wiped out immediately with the red smoke stretching to the opposite end. Might want to rethink the pyrotechnics. |
| 10 | Orange County | 10 | 0 | 1-1-1 | OC played NMU toe to toe throughout the entire game, although they have keeper Alex Rakovsky to thank for some great saves. A win over San Antonio this week could create some believers. |
| 11 | Loudoun United | 12 | +1 | 2-0-1 | Still undefeated, but only a 0-0 draw in Miami (the only scoreless game so far in the USL). A well-conctested match, but the late card to Sami Guediri will hurt against Pittsburgh this week. |
| 12 | FC Tulsa | 13 | +1 | 2-2-0 | Sean Lewis is making an early case for keeper of the year. He was critical in the 1-0 win over San Diego and the 1-2 loss in Sacramento was partly due to a PK. Overall, Tulsa are looking tough so far. |
| 13 | The Miami FC | 14 | +1 | 1-1-1 | Both teams were stymied entirely in the game with Loudoun. Miami remains a question mark as they seem not to have found their identity yet. |
| 14 | Memphis 901 | 18 | +4 | 2-1-0 | Area Code FC traveled cross-country and picked up a 1-0 win in Las Vegas. This team looks like it’s the real deal and does not appear to miss Kyle Murphy. |
| 15 | Detroit City | 16 | +1 | 1-1-1 | An impressive expansion team, City played Pittsburgh to a well-earned draw with both teams scoring in somewhat fortunate manners (a pinball play in the 18 and a soft PK). |
| 16 | Hartford Athletic | 19 | +3 | 0-1-1 | Took the lead against Tampa Bay early and held the Rowdies off save for a terrible mix-up between Joel Johnson and Austin Pack. A road draw is a very good result though. |
| 17 | Las Vegas Lights | 21 | +4 | 2-2-0 | The Lights were outpossessed almost 3:1 and outshot 21:11 but still beat El Paso 5-4 in a midweek goalfest. Then they lost 0-1 at home to a quality Memphis team. Looking better than most thought. |
| 18 | Rio Grande Valley Toros | 11 | -7 | 1-3-0 | In three straight losses RGV have not been completely manhandled and can probably count themselves unlucky in all three. The double-loss week was rough, however. |
| 19 | Birmingham Legion | 15 | -4 | 0-2-1 | The Legion continues to struggle to score. Missing two starting centerbacks against the Switchbacks also didn’t help. They need to get out of the Eastern Conference basement but Lou City is up next. |
| 20 | Charleston Battery | 17 | -3 | 1-2-0 | After beating Tulsa in Week 1 Charleston has since lost to Detroit and Atlanta and not looked great in the process. The Matthew Sheldon red card didn’t help matters. Now they face a surprising Las Vegas without him. |
| 21 | Atlanta United 2 | 23 | +2 | 1-3-0 | After being pummeled by Tampa in midweek Atlanta went down a goal early against Charleston only to take advantage of a red card right at half time to demolish the Battery 4-1 with a Jackson Conway hat-trick for their first win. |
| 22 | LA Galaxy II | 24 | +2 | 1-2-0 | LA got a softish handball call in the box for a PK, which was saved only for the rebound to be out into the net. They came away from the game with RGV winners but only marginally so. |
| 23 | Monterey Bay | 25 | +2 | 1-2-0 | It took them until the 90th minute of their 3rd game, but Monterey finally found a winning goal. That being said, it was against Oakland, who have completely underwhelemd so far this season. |
| 24 | Indy Eleven | 27 | +3 | 0-2-1 | Indy’s poor start may have been turned around by an entertaining and even derby contest against Lou City in which they refused to be outplayed. |
| 25 | New York Red Bulls II | 26 | +1 | 1-3-0 | The Baby Bulls lost in midweek to Lou City, shocking no one. The late Lamine Conte red card had no impact on the game. The win over Atlanta is looking increasingly like an outlier. |
| 26 | Oakland Roots | 22 | -4 | 0-3-0 | One of the two teams still to register a point, Oakland tried to play their typical keepaway tactics against Monterey. It didn’t work well enough. Last year’s surprise success are in the doldrums. |
| 27 | El Paso Locomotive | 20 | -7 | 0-3-0 | Losing 4-5 at home to the Lights only added to El Paso’s woes as they remain without a point and dead last in the West. They need to wake up soon. |
