The Football Forge Power Rankings: Week 25Orange County can't stop winning
Only two teams stayed put this week, one of which is really no surprise. But the biggest mover is something of a shock.
| Rank | Team | Previous | Change | Record | Forge Factor | Note |
| 1 | Orange County | 1 | 0 | 13-9-4 | 28.054 | No Milan Iloski, no problem. Orange County went to Sacramento and won a club record 7th straight game 2-0. Rhetorical question: can they extend the streak in Las Vegas? |
| 2 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 6 | 4 | 14-6-5 | 22.612 | The Rowdies had their hands full with Miami but won 2-0 thanks in part to 5 saves by Connor Sparrow. They trail Pittsburgh by 4 points but have 3 games in hand. |
| 3 | Indy Eleven | 4 | 1 | 10-9-8 | 18.842 | Indy Eleven tied with Memphis 0-0 despite playing over half down a man, then spotted Loudoun an early lead before taking over and winning 2-1. 13 points from the last 5 games. |
| 4 | San Antonio | 2 | -2 | 13-4-9 | 16.688 | San Antonio’s second straight 0-0 draw, this time with Pittsburgh, was a fair stalemate between two heavyweights. Neither side generated much in the way of attacking threats. |
| 5 | Phoenix Rising | 10 | 5 | 9-8-8 | 16.504 | Phoenix scored twice after the 80th minute to win 3-2 in Las Vegas, but they made it far harder than it should have been. |
| 6 | Birmingham Legion | 18 | 12 | 11-12-3 | 14.595 | The Legion ran riot in Tulsa, winning 3-1 on a Neco Brett hat-trick then made some huge errors at home losing 2-3 to Detroit. The loss in Colorado drops out and they jump in the rankings. |
| 7 | The Miami FC | 3 | -4 | 7-11-8 | 14.344 | Miami tried pretty much everything but couldn’t get a ball past the Tampa defense, losing 0-2. 1 point below the playoff line; they aren’t out of it. |
| 8 | Memphis 901 | 7 | -1 | 10-7-8 | 14.192 | Memphis played a man up for 46 minutes over Indy but couldn’t score, ending 0-0. They also couldn’t score in Charleston, losing 0-1. They head to Detroit next. |
| 9 | Sacramento Republic | 5 | -4 | 13-4-9 | 13.558 | Sacramento’s 10th season celebration at Hughes Stadium was ruined by Orange County as they lost 0-2 despite taking 19 shots to 5. They now lead the West only on tiebreakers. |
| 10 | Detroit City | 13 | 3 | 8-12-6 | 13.552 | Detroit made some howlers but the Legion made more and they won 3-2 to move into a playoff spot. Another big game in Memphis this week. |
| 11 | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | 8 | -3 | 14-5-9 | 13.465 | Pittsburgh got cocky with an early 3-0 lead over Hartford and needed a late game winner to finish 4-3. Then they were held to just 4 shots and 1 on goal in San Antonio to finish 0-0. The lead in the East is thinning. |
| 12 | Charleston Battery | 15 | 3 | 13-7-7 | 12.645 | The Battery took an early lead and held it, winning 1-0 over Memphis. Charleston isn’t quite falling off the pace in the East, but that’s getting close. |
| 13 | Rio Grande Valley Toros | 11 | -2 | 7-8-10 | 11.314 | The Toros don’t have much trouble scoring, but their defense is entirely suspect. The 2-3 home loss to San Diego keeps them 4 points out of the playoffs. |
| 14 | San Diego Loyal | 17 | 3 | 11-7-7 | 11.290 | San Diego started their trip towards oblivion with a 3-2 win over RGV, but the game was more or less lacking in defense on both sides. Legion is next. |
| 15 | Oakland Roots | 12 | -3 | 11-8-7 | 11.074 | The Roots went to New Mexico, winning 2-1 in a very tight game. They then traveled to Louisville and took the initial lead, but gave up a last gasp goal to lose 1-2. SacRep next. |
| 16 | Colorado Springs Switchbacks | 9 | -7 | 11-12-3 | 10.658 | The Switchbacks went down 2 men, but took the lead. They then gave up 2 PKs and later saw a 3rd red card. They lost 1-2 to Monterey Bay. |
| 17 | Louisville City | 16 | -1 | 11-8-7 | 9.846 | Louisville fell behind in the first half but peppered the Oakland goal. They eventually got the game-winner 8 minutes into second half stoppage time that had been announced at 7 minutes. |
| 18 | Loudoun United | 14 | -4 | 7-18-3 | 9.477 | Loudoun led after just 39 seconds in Indy but then got pummeled by a ferocious attack and ended up losers 1-2. |
| 19 | Monterey Bay Union | 19 | 0 | 8-11-7 | 8.866 | The good news: the first win in 9 games. The bad news: Colorado Springs pretty much handed it to them. |
| 20 | New Mexico United | 21 | 1 | 9-11-5 | 8.094 | New Mexico United lost a close one to Oakland Roots 1-2 then reversed that score, beating Tulsa 2-1. They led after just 90 seconds and never looked back. There were also 9 yellow cards issued in the game. |
| 21 | FC Tulsa | 22 | 1 | 7-12-8 | 1.665 | Tulsa got their butts handed to them 1-3 by the Legion, then lost in New Mexico 1-2. Just 1 point from the last 6 games and they fall below the playoff line. |
| 22 | Hartford Athletic | 20 | -2 | 4-18-4 | -0.431 | Hartford predictably fell 3 goals behind to Pittsburgh, amazingly scored 3 in 8 minutes only to give the game-winner 2 minutes later. Then they had nothing… |
| 23 | El Paso Locomotive | 24 | 1 | 10-10-5 | -0.969 | The Locomotive’s 10-game winless streak finally ended with a 2-0 victory. But it was over Hartford, so does it really count? |
| 24 | Las Vegas Lights | 23 | -1 | 1-15-8 | -1.447 | Las Vegas took 22 shots and led twice but still managed to lose 2-3 to Phoenix. 17 points adrift now at the bottom of the West. |
