2017: Power Rankings Week 12

This next week has the potential to be a season defining one, for many reasons. We have crucial playoff match ups taking place, as well as crucial tank bowl match ups. A lot of teams hit their stride last week, and some faltered. These last 3 weeks are going to be a wild ride. Who will come out on top? Let's find out.

Power Rankings

1. Forge Flyers, 9-2 (4): Turns out, Forge Flyers weren't on the come down, they just went on holiday for a couple of weeks. Go figure. And who could blame them? With so many more wins than the rest of the division they deserved some time off. And they promptly reasserted their dominance last week, securing the division title against the only team who could stop them, and their first playoff appearance since 2011 to boot.

2. ADRZ, 7-4 (1): Confession - Ben bribed me to put ADRZ at the top, as we all know what being at the top of the power rankings does to a team. Joking aside, this is the worst week ADRZ have had in a long long time, and they still got an acceptable 84 points. While they look decidedly more shaky now than they did, I'll wait another week before I lose faith in them, they're still a good team.

3. IKSAN, 7-4 (3): Much like Coach Leach, Coach Sherwood crushed a division rivals playoff hopes in a thrilling victory last week, and now face a showdown for the division lead with ADRZ this week. Despite losing Elliott, this team is still rolling and they'll get the benefit of the doubt until otherwise. With their bye players back, they're now at full strength and have a repeat in mind.

4. Patistan, 6-5 (2): That's not how Patistan drew it up. In fact, that's the complete polar opposite of what they drew up. In a game against a struggling division rival, Coach Allen's side disappeared, a trait they've shown a few times this season. It's a concern of course, but they're good more often than not so they should recover. They face a crucial game against division rival Cash4Gould this week.

5. Burdettinators, 4-7 (7): With the byes and (most of) the injury woes out of the way, Burdettinators could be back to kicking ass and taking names. They didn't quite pull it off last week against the league leaders, but they've showed some tenacity that wasn't there the last few weeks. I'm betting on them regaining their form, and they should be able to pick some wins up to end the season. Playoffs are sadly just out of reach however.

6. Gridiron Gang, 7-4 (6): Turning in another solid week and bringing home a crucial divisional victory, Gridiron Gang now takes sole possession of the Portsmouth division - at least for a week. I'll cop to the fact they've not conceded as much as other teams, no doubt that's been a part of it, but they've also been consistently posting decent scores. They face a Father Son Bowl this week.

7. Tanky McTankface, 4-7 (5): Coach Merritt's slide hear doesn't have much to do with the team's performance. Yes they're inconsistent, but they had a great week last week, of which they're always capable of. They lost an absolute must win game against division rival IKSAN, who now moves (with ADRZ) to 3 games ahead of them in the division. They're realistically out of the playoff race, but they should be good enough to avoid the tank bowl. But the cutlery however? Stick a fork in 'em, THEY DONE.

8. Cash4Gould, 6-5 (8): Coach Gardner had a prime opportunity to seize control of the division with an epic comeback last week, but fell just short. With a fairly sizable points defect, they could have done with a W. But the season definitely isn't over, and they've had a few good weeks of late. This week against a Patistan is a must win. Let's see what the sophomore coach has up his sleeve.

9. The Southampton Narwhals, 4-7 (9, FORKED): Coach Nunn's team continues to impress me. Let's not forget, at one point in the season we were wondering if this team would set the record for losses in a season. Now, while they're in the running for the Tank Bowl, they're doing a damn fine job of trying to avoid it. The roster has its flaws, but it's not unreasonable to see a good finish from them at this point.

10. The Dream Team, 3-8 (10, FORKED): In a week where we finally saw some teeth from Coach Nathwani's side, they run into a buzz saw against division and tank bowl potential rival Southampton Narwhals. Now at 3-8, they're at high danger of featuring in the Tank Bowl this year. But the team showed grit, and they've had some decent scores the last few weeks, so there is still time for them to avoid it.

11. Tom's Tyrants, 4-7, (11, FORKED): Ok, so you all had Coach Barnes beating division leading, white hot ADRZ last week right? Right? Yeah, me neither. Tom's Tyrants is a volatile team. This is a fact. Another fact is you have no idea when they will go off. Last week was that week, and it could have been even better with Keenan Allen on the bench. Let's see if the two time champ can finish the season strong.

12. Bear Necessities, 5-6 (12, FORKED): Did I prematurely fork Coach Stubbs Sr' team? Perhaps? Perhaps not? I guess we'll find out. But there's no doubt they pulled off a great upset against division leading Patistan last week. As we've said all season long, with a stud QB in the roster this team can put up points - and that's exactly what they did led by a 37 point outing by Big Ben. There is still an outside chance at playoffs for this side.

2017: Power Rankings Week 11

Let me set the scene for you right now. Week 11. 4 games to go. One 8-2 team, one 7-3, and four 6-4. This playoff race is wide open folks. No one has secured a playoff berth yet (albeit one is close). There's a 3 way tie in one division, and another is close. Everything is to play for, and the next two weeks will be crucial as they are division games. Let's roll.

Power Rankings

1. ADRZ, 7-3 (2): Hello, my old friend. ADRZ makes their way back to the top of the power rankings. And deservedly so. They've been on an absolute tear of late, ripping off 4 wins straight in impressive fashion. Now with a game lead in the division, at this point playoffs is theirs to lose. This team is hot heading into the dance, seeking their 3rd straight Corona Bowl appearance. Not bad for a coach who nearly retired this season.

2. Patistan, 6-4 (3): Patistan have been on a consistent slow burn up the rankings for a few weeks now, and with good reason. The rookie RBs are finally pulling their weight, and the rest of the roster is clicking as well. With a reasonable points lead in the division, they have the edge right now, and just need to continue doing what they're doing. They're prone to trap weeks here and there, but right now they're sitting pretty.

3. IKSAN, 6-4 (4): The impressive 4 game win streak has finally been snapped. It was impressive while it lasted, but the last couple of weeks they have been running on fumes a bit. Still, I like this team. Yes, losing Zeke is like removing a limb from the team, but they still had a decent day despite that. Once they figure out the recovery plan, and get some players back from byes, they should be back to being a strong team.

4. Forge Flyers, 8-2 (1): Have the wheels come off for Coach Leach? After posting 90+ points in their first 6 of 7 games, their last 3 they have only amassed points in the 80s. Now that's been a combination of byes and other happenings, but you have to wonder what's going on here. Is this permanent, or just a blip? My ranking hedges the two, but I have a feeling this is just a blip. They might not return to power house status, but they're still a good team.

5. Tanky McTankface, 4-6 (7): This is the true definition of a boom or bust team if I've ever seen one. One week Coach Merritt is stinking up the joint, the next he is ruling the roost. As such, it makes them difficult to rank, but given their propensity to score I have to put them here. They won an absolute must win game last week, and now at 4-6 they need to keep winning for a hope at playoffs.

6. Gridiron Gang, 6-4 (6): Coach Stubbs Jr. continues his giant killing ways, taking down a team with a 4 win streak. This rag tag bunch of warriors feels like they struggle their way to points at times, but given the injury issues they had at the start of the season it's surprising they're at 6-4 at all. Gridiron Gang have been in the hunt, but just missed out, for the last 3 years. Will this be the year they finally push through and return to the playoffs?

7. Burdettinators, 4-6 (5): I questioned if the wheels were off Forge Flyers. I don't even need to question here. The wheels are firmly rolling down the road. After topping 90 points 7 weeks straight to start the season, the last 3 they've scored 84, 45 and 62. A plague of injuries and byes have caused this, but this just feel like a different team to the one we saw at the start of the year. They've still got enough talent to win some games I think, but being 2 games behind the wildcard means they've got a lot of work to do.

8. Cash4Gould, 6-4 (9): Coach Gardner is having a fine sophomore season, as he's coaxed a 6-4 record out of his team so far. But once again, this team just seemed to be lacking some juice as they failed to follow up on their strong week by only posting 82 points. But, they did have 3 players on a bye, so I'll give them a pass this time. This roster does have talent, no doubt. But consistency is still a bit hit and miss. They are firmly in the hunt though.

9. The Southampton Narwhals, 3-7 (10, FORKED): Don't look now but Coach Nunn has won two on the trot now. This team is pretty decent, and if it wasn't for early injuries that cost them a lot of wins they may have had an outside chance at the playoffs. As it stands, they're out to play spoilers and avoid the Tank Bowl, of which they seemingly have a good chance of doing right now. Keep it up!

10. The Dream Team, 3-7 (8, FORKED): Coach Nathwani is in the midst of his worst year since 2013. I said at the start of the season that it's hard to have such prolonged, sustained success in the LOC. I also predicted that The Dream Team had one more year in them and they'd win it at the end of their run. I was wrong on this, but the reasons are injuries and poor play. Coach Nathwani's job now is to ensure his first silverware isn't a tank trophy.

11. Tom's Tyrants, 3-7 (12, FORKED): Inconsistency continues to dog this team, and if it wasn't for a great day by Jared Goff their day would have looked a lot worse. This team definitely has some nice assets, but none of them came off for them this week. In their continued voyage to avoid the Tank Bowl, they should be able to sneak a few wins here and there to avoid it. In the mean time, they'll have their eye on next year.

12. Bear Necessities, 4-6 (11): Now, we all know that losing Rodgers effectively ended this team's season (unfortunately, as they started very well). After that, they've had some ok days, some not great ones, but the team does still have some players to rub together who are capable of a good day. What I cannot overlook however is intentionally playing bye week players and not even trying. Fantasy is random, and any team can win on their day, but this is a sure fire way to guarantee a loss. I hope this doesn't happen again, because it's a shame to see something like this happen. But, with another loss, I have to stick a fork in 'em, THEY DONE.

EDOTLOCCA's Corner: Week 10

Evening all! You’d think that having a week off would mean that this article would find its way to your Facebook notifications a little earlier, but instead it just meant I procrastinated even more, so we find ourselves posting just before the Thursday night game again. In other news, if it wasn’t for Forge Flyers turning the last few year of hate into results in the win column, the rest of the playoff spots are tight as! And I am excited! Let’s not waste time listening to me, we’ll get straight into the juicy stuff.

Coaches Award

Too easy. There’s been a lot of 90s and even an agonising 99.48 point week, but triple digits was only a matter of time. And making 100 points for the first time this year was not the only thing to celebrate this week, this coach put his faith squarely in the hands of his favourite players, who may have just elevated himself to hero status. Cutler was a great play, a great pickup in The Narwhals’ talisman’s bye week and utterly critical to their second win of the season. Oh, and side note, highest scoring team of the week. Congrats to Coach Nunn, well played.

Honourable mention: Great pickup by Coach Leach with Kenyan Drake (which is a great name for a tribute act for Canadian Drake, just saying, make it happen.) who played a pivotal role in the win this week. Hey, Dolphins making people win, who would have thought it?

Wooden Spoon

One coach fell into my cardinal sin, my wooden spoon magnet (wood magnet doesn’t really work, but hey), this week and left points capable of winning their matchup on the bench. Rob Kelley may not have been drafted as a starter, but he could have replaced three separate players in Tanky McTankface’s starting lineup and changed the result of that game. Unlucky Coach Merritt, but on the upside you may just keep the Tyrants out of the Toilet Bowl – or whatever it is called this year.

Bold Predictions

Well, what can I say, the Gods intervened. My most outlandish prediction of last week became an absolute gimme when Zeke’s suspension was lifted (again). But they all count, another correct prediction in the books! Whlst we’re on the subject, the boldness of Coach Sherwood in drafting Elliott should really be credited at some point during this series of EDOTLOCCA’s Corner. And it just was. Time for the predictions.

The Dream Team vs. Tanky McTankface: Coach Merritt starting Bortles is really tempting here, really really tempting. However, I am going to take the high road and go for 600 scrimmage yards by starting RBs.

Burdettinators vs. Cash4Gould: What is crazier, Ryan Fitzpatrick starting in the LOC in 2017 or Coach Gardner being in single digits in the power rankings?? Probably the latter, therefore Fitzpatrick will throw 4 TDs, none of which go to Brate.

Forge Flyers vs. Patistan: This is going to be the highest scorer this week and the highest scoring (non-QB) player is going to be Evan Engram, career highs in yards and TDs.

Gridiron Gang vs. IKSAN: Bryant and Nelson, the second rounders! Not time for celebration though, they are the lowest and second lowest skill position players in the matchup this week.

Bear Necessities vs. ADRZ: Fitzpatrick and McCown!? We live in crazy times! Well, surely only one of them can do well and I have already gone all in on the Amish Rifle, sooooo Wilson sends McCown back to school by tripling his score.

Tom’s Tyrants vs. The Southampton Narwhals: The Miami boys do it again and go to work. 45 points on Monday night make for a spectacular comeback win.

And that is another EDOTLOCCA’s Corner in the books. Hope you all enjoyed it and I hope you are all ready for another thrilling week of the LOC. I know I am! Well; ready, set, go! It’s Week 10!

2017: Power Rankings Week 10

Back by popular demand, it's your week 10 edition of the power rankings! (pauses for applause). This time of year is a crazy time in the LOC, as teams are rising, falling and stabilizing all over the place! Let's try to figure it out.

Power Rankings

1. Forge Flyers, 8-1 (1): The more things change, the more they stay the same...but I'm going to leave a little warning flag here. That's two decidedly average weeks in a row now for Coach Leach's side. We've seen it before, the best team in the regular season slowing down to end the year and one-and-doneing themselves in the playoffs. I'm not ready to say that, but it's a watch out for sure.

2. ADRZ, 6-3 (4): Coach Wells' side have really been hitting their stride the last few weeks, now winning 3 on the bounce. And this week they earned the W. With key players on a bye, the bye week fill ins all came through, some of them really heroic choices (much to my own chagrin). With a division in flux, if they can string a few more wins together they will probably lock up the division.

3. Patistan, 5-4 (5): Coach Allen rebounded nicely last week, and despite still getting little production from their elite receiver duo, they're chugging along just fine. While relying on rookie RBs is going to lead to some inconsistent scores, there's no doubt this is a good side, one that would certainly be playoff worthy. They're in a tussle for the division, and have the talent to win it.

4. IKSAN, 6-3 (6): Look, it was a down week for the side, but they still got the W and remain squarely in the running for the division. They would have been higher if it weren't for the Zeke news. That makes this team really hard to measure. With Zeke, they're in really good shape. Without, not so much. But they've won 4 in a row, you can't overlook that.

5. Burdettinators, 4-5 (2): The first time Coach Burdett's team has moved down in a long time, and I'll tell you why. The monkey was on their back for a long time, then it left. Then last week they posted 45 points. Now, they were missing a lot of players through byes, injury, etc. But this is certainly a team in flux right now. They'll stabilize I'm sure, but at 4-5, I'm not sure they have enough consistency to turn it around.

6. Gridiron Gang, 5-4 (7): Coach Stubbs Jr has missed a couple of good opportunities to seize control of their division the last few weeks, but this is a good side that is now done with its byes. A score of waiver adds and trades have masked the countless number of injuries this team has faced, now it's up to the coach whether they return to the promised land or not.

7. Tanky McTankface, 3-6 (3): Coach Merritt will be cursing my name for moving his side up again, as every time I've done it, it caused a collapse. They lost a tight one to a beatable side last week, and now at 3-6, 3 games behind in the division and wildcard, I don't think regaining their form will change their fortune. They're not getting cutlery this week, but they aren't far off.

8. The Dream Team, 3-6 (8): Coach Nathwani must be disappointed with what could have been a great season. Losing OBJ was a blow, but the number of games this team has lost that it had a chance of winning is the equivalent to a baseball bat to the face. At 3-6, 5 games behind in the division, 3 in the wildcard race, even if this team did recover a bit, I think they're just too far behind to catch up. Stick a fork in 'em, THEY DONE.

9. Cash4Gould, 5-4 (11): Damn you Coach Gardner for ruining my narrative of your team, damn you to hell!!! This team topped 90 points for the second time this season in a great performance...only to still go onto lose. Irony is bittersweet, but for the rest of us we say how are you 5-4? I digress. This team has a solid floor, and has the potential for upside. They're in the hunt, if they can realize that potential they've got a chance.

10. The Southampton Narwhals, 2-7 (12, FORKED): Just like I've been saying all along. This is the best team in the league, hands down....nearly fooled you didn't I? But I do actually like this team, they always seem to be in and around 80-90 points, and this week they had a terrific day with a heroic play of Jay Cutler to seal the W. Weeks like this will be few and far between, but it serves to remind us that Coach Nunn is certainly not a joke.

11. Bear Necessities, 4-5 (9): Ooo err. This is getting uglier by the week. Pulling Rodgers out of this roster is like french frying when you need to pizza. If you french fry when you need to pizza, you're gonna have a bad time! Only Pat probably got this reference, but basically everything has fallen apart is what I'm saying. But, they're still in the hunt, if some players can get their act together they could turn it around.

12. Tom's Tyrants, 3-6 (10, FORKED): What is going on with this team? Coach Barnes had another bad week, of which I'm sure he'd even agree the team has become too accustomed too. Yet, they won? This roster is all over the place. They might erupt. They might whimper. They might fall somewhere in the middle. Who knows, but they're certainly playing for spoilers, you can take that to the bank.

EDOTLOCCA's Corner: Week 9

Good evening (ladies and) gents! Well, I think the elephant in the room should be addressed. Our Lord High Commissioner has decided that the Tyrants are dead in the water, he cast them aside without a second thought for how this might affect the supply of the weekly EDOTLOCCA’s Corner. Why should I continue to feed his media culture when ‘the power got cut in the building’? Well, he should have thought of that before; your EDOTLOCCA, all the nonsense I spout and all Corners that I find myself associated with are on strike! Yeah!

…

On the other hand, my team does suck and I clearly have nothing to play for, maybe I’ll just focus on the article. Strike over, let’s get on with it.

Coaches Award

This Coaches Award feels a little bit strange to deliver, in fact I am not quite sure how it is even possible. This team pulled off the win, in tight circumstances, despite some truly horrible performances and enough bye weeks for the whole league, let alone a single team. It speaks volumes that, despite three (three!) players combining for a mere 0.5 points (0.5!), Coach Leach dragged the Flyers to, yet another, victory. Great roster depth and smart waiver play like Will Fuller and the Bengals D – who he picked up a week early ready for bye week coverage – show why he is sitting pretty atop the league.

Wooden Spoon

EDOTLOCCA’s Corner history incoming! The Wooden Spoon can only go to one person this week, Coach Barnes. This is the first time I have ever selected myself for an award (if you can call the Wooden Spoon that), and I didn’t want to do it, but after a poor performance, the resultant fork-ing and Andrew Luck confirming himself as the worst draft pick of 2017,  I was left with no choice. Fair is fair.

Bold Predictions

Here we go, we are back in business people! After reading through and article which has been largely me moaning about my own team, sorry for that, we can now all join arms and celebrate a correct Bold Prediction! 217 receiving yards from the RBs in the Gridiron Gang, Patistan fixture in Week 8, despite Le’Veon Bell of all people barely contributing. Also, I am counting this week a 1-4 seeing as Coach Sherwood sabotaged one of my predictions fresh out the gates, not cool bro. Right, Week 9.

The Southampton Narwhals vs. Cash4Gould: Jay Ajayi finally ends Coach Gardner’s misery with a big performance. Joining the high powered Eagles he rumbles for his first two TDs of the season.

Bonus Prediction: With Tom Brady on a bye week, Coach Nunn makes the obvious move and starts Jimmy Garoppolo.

The Dream Team vs. Patistan: With Dak Prescott carrying the load for the Cowboys and Drew Brees being Drew Brees, 800 passing yards are amassed in this one.

Forge Flyers vs. Tanky McTankface: Coach Merritt is left unsure of which way to cheer when Sacksonville return, taking down Dalton more 8 plus times.

Gridiron Gang vs. ADRZ: Classic Coach Stubbs Jr., starting two RBs that 50% of the league may not have even heard of at the start of the season. Less than 75 yards between them won’t be what he was aiming for however.

Bear Necessities vs. IKSAN: This could end up turning into a game of chicken after last week… but here is the prediction: Zeke outscores McFadden. Ball’s in your court Coach Sherwood, change your line up, I dare you.

Burdettinators vs. Tom’s Tyrants: Coach Burdett whiffed on QB roulette last week, but he can’t go wrong with the ‘on fire’ Watson against the ‘wet cloth’ Colts. Another week with 4 TDs.

Okay, that’s your lot people. Despite all those concerns about industrial action and what not, we made it, another week in the books. Good luck in the games everyone and can someone make sure they do something stupid this week so that I don’t have to give myself the Wooden Spoon again? Cheers. Ttfn.