The LOC Report

Tuesday, 14 November 2017

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.


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