The Football Forge Power Rankings: Week 7
The Forge Factor is now in full effect and so quality of recent opposition is now key. There were also some interesting results in the Championship this week. Combined, , those two elements made for some weird moves in the rankings.
| Rank | Team | Previous | Change | Record | Forge Factor | Note |
| 1 | Sacramento Republic | 1 | 0 | 5-0-2 | 22.726 | SacRep took an early lead and then cruised to a comfortable 1-0 win over Detroit City. Were they thinking of the USOC match with Oakland tonight? Almost certainly. |
| 2 | Charleston Battery | 2 | 0 | 4-0-3 | 17.619 | The Battery were probably slightly the better side in the 0-0 draw with Louisville City. Augustine Williams getting a late red card will hurt this week against Colorado Springs. |
| 3 | El Paso Locomotive | 4 | +1 | 3-3-1 | 17.298 | The Locomotive’s climb continues: 10 points from the last 4 games. Pittsburgh didn’t give them much trouble in the 2-0 win, even gifting Lucho Solignac the easiest goal of his career. |
| 4 | Phoenix Rising | 5 | +1 | 1-1-4 | 15.345 | Rocco Rios Novo’s 8-save performance was spoiled by a Carlos Harvey red card foul for a PK as the Rising impressively held on for the 1-1 draw in San Antonio. |
| 5 | Loudoun United | 16 | +11 | 3-2-1 | 13.929 | Loudoun are on a hot streak. 2-0 over Oakland this week and it was far from that close. Just 3 points behind the Legion and Lou City but with a game in hand. They go to Phoenix next in a big test. |
| 6 | Monterey Bay Union | 11 | +5 | 3-2-2 | 13.855 | The Union led early, then trailed, then led again in the 3-2 win in Indianapolis. A surprising performance from a strong defense that just shut out the San Jose Earthquakes, but still. |
| 7 | Louisville City | 14 | +7 | 4-2-1 | 13.036 | Lou City got no goals but split the points in Charleston. That’s 2 goals in the past 5 games. Not good, but those 2 disastrous games are moving out of the Forge Factor algorithm. |
| 8 | Colorado Springs Switchbacks | 7 | -1 | 4-2-1 | 12.390 | Neither goalkeeper covered himself in glory in the Switchbacks’ 2-1 win over New Mexico. Even so, the home side were clearly the stronger, brutally exploiting some defensive errors. |
| 9 | San Diego Loyal | 8 | -1 | 4-1-2 | 12.176 | San Diego weren’t challenged much in the 1-0 win over Tampa Bay. 8 points from the last 4 games, but an interesting clash with El Paso is next. |
| 10 | San Antonio | 3 | -7 | 3-1-3 | 12.167 | San Antonio outshot Phoenix Rising 19-3 and 9-2 on goal, but still needed a PK to salvage a 1-1 home draw against 10 men. Not time to panic, but that’s 3 games winless. |
| 11 | Memphis 901 | 22 | +11 | 1-2-2 | 11.581 | Memphis hadn’t even led in a game this season before they finally broke out 3-0 over RGV, and it wasn’t that close. A huge boost in the rankings results. Louisville next though. |
| 12 | Hartford Athletic | 9 | -3 | 1-3-2 | 10.690 | Hartford Athletic were on a bye this week. |
| 13 | Oakland Roots | 6 | -7 | 2-3-1 | 9.517 | The Roots’ 0-2 loss in Virginia would have been much, much worse if not for heroics by GK Paul Blanchette. 2 straight losses now and they head to a revived Miami next. |
| 14 | FC Tulsa | 13 | -1 | 1-3-3 | 9.351 | FC Tulsa were on a bye this week. |
| 15 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 17 | +2 | 1-4-2 | 9.131 | The Rowdies lost 0-1 in San Diego Loyal and are 1-4-0 in the last 5 games. Those losses were all to high-powered teams, though. They visit Detroit next in a matchup of the bottom 2 in the East. |
| 16 | Birmingham Legion | 15 | -1 | 4-2-1 | 8.512 | Despite a gritty win on the road late at night with a depleted squad, the Three Sparks actually drop a spot in the rankings. Blame Memphis. |
| 17 | Orange County | 18 | +1 | 1-3-3 | 6.681 | County scored first, but the lead lasted just 114 seconds of playing time before the Legion equalized and then took the lead and held on to doom the hosts. |
| 18 | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | 10 | -8 | 2-2-3 | 6.357 | The Riverhounds now have just 5 points from the last 5 games and are slipping off the conference pace. Jahmali Waite’s bone-headed error leaving the goal wide open didn’t help, but El Paso were already up a goal and finished 2-0. |
| 19 | The Miami FC | 24 | +5 | 1-2-4 | 6.267 | Miami’s 4-1 beatdown of Las Vegas was their first win of the season and enough to see them rise to 6th in the East. The game included two iffy goals, one for each team, but neither mattered. |
| 20 | Detroit City | 21 | +1 | 1-5-1 | 4.696 | Detroit City didn’t even get a shot on goal in the 0-1 loss in Sacramento. They have now gone 462 minutes without scoring in league play, but still edge up in the rankings. To Tampa Bay next. |
| 21 | Rio Grande Valley Toros | 12 | -9 | 1-2-3 | 4.038 | The Toros were entirely inept in the 0-3 home loss to Memphis 901 following the 0-2 loss in Pittsburgh. A trip to Monterey next and RGV is in some trouble. |
| 22 | New Mexico United | 20 | -2 | 1-3-1 | 3.262 | United’s visit to Weidner Field – with snow banked around the edges of the pitch – was as chilly as the 1-2 result. Some relief is possible with Orange County heading to Albuquerque. |
| 23 | Las Vegas Lights | 19 | -4 | 0-1-4 | 1.514 | The Lights looked completely incompetent in the 1-4 drubbing in Miami. Dead last in the West but they were incredibly 1 of only 3 unbeaten teams. |
| 24 | Indy Eleven | 23 | -1 | 1-3-2 | 0.064 | Indy Eleven have scored a meager 4 goals in 6 games. 2 of those were against Monterey Bay this week. I guess that’s progress. Except they allowed 3 goals. |
