The Football Forge Power Rankings: Week 24Sanity reigns for once in this crazy league.
The top three and the bottom two in the rankings don’t budge this week, but there was some movement everywhere else. The league is perhaps settling into tiers, but both conferences are extremely tight.
| Rank | Team | Previous | Change | Record | Forge Factor | Note |
| 1 | Orange County | 1 | 0 | 12-9-4 | 25.900 | Beating the top two teams in the East in the same week to extend a win streak to 6 games will keep you at the top of the rankings. Big game in Sacramento coming up. |
| 2 | San Antonio | 2 | 0 | 13-4-8 | 21.047 | San Antonio trailed briefly but ultimately beat Rio Grande Valley comprehensively 2-1 in midweek but were probably a little lucky to draw 0-0 with Monterey Bay. |
| 3 | The Miami FC | 3 | 0 | 7-10-8 | 21.035 | Miami had little difficulty beating Hartford 3-0. 4 wins in the last 5 games and they are below the playoff line only on tiebreakers. |
| 4 | Indy Eleven | 9 | 5 | 9-9-7 | 20.881 | Indy extended the win streak to 3 games, but it was harder than expected, 3-2 in El Paso. They remain 1 point ahead of the Legion with 1 more game played. |
| 5 | Sacramento Republic | 7 | 2 | 13-3-9 | 20.118 | SacRep struggled again on the road in the East but ultimately got the 3-1 win over Loudoun. That was enough to retake the top spot in the West. |
| 6 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 10 | 4 | 13-6-5 | 17.901 | After a frenetic but scoreless first half, Tampa took control in the second for a 2-1 win in Tulsa. That moves them up to second in the East with Pittsburgh well within reach. |
| 7 | Memphis 901 | 11 | 4 | 10-6-7 | 15.723 | Memphis 901 were on a bye this week. |
| 8 | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | 6 | -2 | 13-5-8 | 14.888 | The Riverhounds couldn’t penetrate the solid Orange County defense, ultimately losing 0-1. The East title race just got much tighter. |
| 9 | Colorado Springs Switchbacks | 18 | 9 | 11-11-3 | 14.293 | The Switchbacks’ solid run of form continued with a gritty 3-2 win in Oakland. They are comfortably in the playoffs now with a trip to Monterey upcoming. |
| 10 | Phoenix Rising | 5 | -5 | 8-8-8 | 13.712 | Phoenix looked a completely different team in Rio Grande Valley to the one that routed El Paso 5-0. The 0-1 loss to 10 men was not good. |
| 11 | Rio Grande Valley Toros | 13 | 2 | 7-7-10 | 13.151 | The Toros led for all of 2 minutes before losing 1-2 to San Antonio, then easily handled Phoenix Rising 1-0 despite playing with 10 men the entire second half. |
| 12 | Oakland Roots | 4 | -8 | 10-7-7 | 12.956 | Oakland fell behind twice in the first half but couldn’t come back from the Switchbacks’ only goal in the second half. That was the Roots’ first loss in 7 games. |
| 13 | Detroit City | 14 | 1 | 7-12-6 | 11.344 | Detroit beat Las Vegas 1-0 in a very close game. 10 points in the last 5 games now and they are within reach of the playoff spots. |
| 14 | Loudoun United | 15 | 1 | 7-17-3 | 10.428 | The 1-3 scoreline doesn’t really do justice to Loudoun’s performance against Sacramento, especially keeper Hugo Fauroux. Only 7 games left and the playoffs are getting more distant. |
| 15 | Charleston Battery | 12 | -3 | 12-7-7 | 9.920 | The Battery did not look like much of a contender in the 0-2 loss in Orange County. Recent poor results have seen them drop to 3rd in the East now. |
| 16 | Louisville City | 8 | -8 | 10-8-7 | 9.227 | Louisville were thoroughly outplayed in Birmingham, losing 0-2. Only 2 points in the last 3 games and they are looking vulnerable. |
| 17 | San Diego Loyal | 16 | -1 | 10-7-7 | 8.659 | San Diego have looked rather shaky lately and the 2-2 draw with New Mexico continues that trend. Still 5th in the West but in danger of dropping from there. |
| 18 | Birmingham Legion | 21 | 3 | 10-11-3 | 6.683 | The Legion’s solid 2-0 win over Louisville pulls them out of the doldrums. Tulsa and Detroit this week could help matters even more. |
| 19 | Monterey Bay Union | 22 | 3 | 7-11-7 | 4.286 | The Union had some of the better chances against San Antonio as well as a man advantage late, but neither team could break the 0-0 deadlock. The 5-game losing streak is over though. |
| 20 | Hartford Athletic | 17 | -3 | 4-16-4 | 3.893 | A deflected goal and a PK didn’t help matters as the Athletic lost at home 0-3 to Miami. 8 points adrift at the bottom of the East now (but with 3 games in hand). |
| 21 | New Mexico United | 19 | -2 | 8-10-5 | 3.818 | New Mexico United trailed twice to the Loyal but came back for the 2-2 draw. They break a 3-game skid; however, they remain extremely inconsistent. |
| 22 | FC Tulsa | 20 | -2 | 7-10-8 | 3.340 | Tulsa got a late consolation PK to finish 1-2 against the Rowdies. 9 goals conceded in the last 4 games; Legion and New Mexico this week. |
| 23 | Las Vegas Lights | 23 | 0 | 1-14-8 | -1.661 | A bad goalkeeping error by 19-year-old Carlos Zuluaga doomed the Lights to a 0-1 loss in Detroit. Just 2 wins all season and easily the weakest team in the league. |
| 24 | El Paso Locomotive | 24 | 0 | 9-10-5 | -10.204 | The Locomotive led twice but still lost to Indy 2-3. 0-6-3 in the last 10 games and a 5-game losing streak. Still above the playoff line – barely – but Hartford comes t town this week. |
