2018 Power Rankings: Week 9

2018 Power Rankings: Week 9

Good afternoon gentleman! Apologies for the slightly late edition of the Power Rankings this week, but we’re still getting to you before TNF and, as they say, good things are worth waiting for! We had some huge divisional games in Week 8 and a real chance for some division leaders to pull ahead. But they all lost… so there goes any of that clarity we were hoping for! We’re back to 10 teams with a record of either 5-3 or 4-4, which I must say, really doesn’t help with these rankings, but any, lets have a go…

12. Gridiron Gang (0-8-0) – No change

Yeah, ouch. Coach Stubbs Jr. has often (and rightly) pointed out that everyone seems to have their best week against him, and that was the case here, but there wasn’t a lot of fight from Gridiron Gang. 43% of their Week 8 score came from the DST and Kicker. This roster needs a spark, badly.

11. Patistan (2-6-0) – No Change

I said last week that this team was looking brighter than it had done more or less since draft day and they backed that up with their second win and highest weekly total on the year! They would have to win out, and have some sizeable luck, to make the playoffs at this point, but they at least look likely to be a spoiler team, which is more than could be said most of the season.

10. Obi Wan Ganobi (4-4-0) – No Change

A vital win for Coach Gardner, simultaneously ending a four game losing streak and keeping their playoff hopes alive. They were very close to a rankings boost as well, but I have held fire for now, just until I see more evidence of the stable looking RB duo of Jones and Carson and another 100+ score. Editors note: horrible spot start of Keelan Cole who is now, unsurprisingly, a FA.

9. The Jackson 5 (4-4-0) – Down 1

I mentioned that starting Alfred Blue stank of desperation back in Week 7, he did nothing and the proceeded to make his second consecutive start in Week 8, where he did nothing. Still more than an IA Cooper Kupp however. This team has a high weekly ceiling thanks to Luck, Elliot, Evans and Kupp, but Coach Nunn hasn’t done them any favours in the bye weeks.

8. Forge Flyers (4-4-0) – Up 1

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One recurring theme during the brief Power Rankings segment of the podcast is a dismissal of Forge Flyers ranking as being too low. This is not a direct knock on the team; the record, points total and weekly ceiling are decent, especially when taking the absent 1^st rounder into account. The low ranking comes from the basement spot in the league’s toughest division making them, realistically, perhaps the third least likely team to make the playoffs.  So there you have it, prove me wrong Coach/Co-host Leach.

Please feel free to continue the podcast.

7. IKSAN (5-3-0) – Down 2

Hmm, may have been a bit hasty bumping them up so far last week. The combination of the 5-2 record and the trade for White got me well on the bandwagon, enough to ignore the 75 point week, two sub-80s in a row is harder to ignore. White is clearly going to be a contributor, and they still have Nuk and Jones, waiting for the rest of the roster to prove they’re special enough.

6. Bear Necessities (5-3-0) – Up 1

Wow is this team a far cry from where I (we all?) thought they would be at this point in the season. The roster has had key pieces added to it all season, culminating at a 140 point week in a game that you felt they had to win. They did. I was close to bumping them a little further, but lets see how they cope with Week 9 byes first.

5. Burdettinators (4-4-0) – Up 1

Well, Diggs did start helping out a bit more. (If you don’t get that, re-read Week 8 (If you cba, you’re probably all smart enough to put two and two together (probably))). This team has a feel for one that could get hot when it matters, I’ve said they are all about potential, stashing Jack Doyle was a very smart move.

4. The Dream Team (5-3-0) – No Change

Ooh they gave it there all last week, losing after putting up 135 points is always horrible, but they should remain encouraged by a strong roster. Latavius Murray isn’t going to last forever, but squeezing him for everything he has got in the meantime is only fair. They continue to get closer to the top, without physically moving up the rankings.

3. ADRZ (5-3-0) – Down 2

This could be an overreaction, but they had a poor week and reminded everyone that there was some bust left to go with their boom. You could argue that no team is scarier to face on any given week, but they still need to find a better solution than Gore at RB2. Shipping some WR talent in a buzzer-beating trade could pay dividends.

2. Tom’s Tyrants (5-3-0) – No Change

Arguably lucky not to drop, but hang on to their spot having bypassed the worst of their bye weeks, unlike teams around them reliant on KC and the Rams. A dud week was on the cards after the panic start of Alex Smith. This team missed a big chance to go alone at the top on 6-2, could prove costly in coming weeks.

1. The Tuckfards (5-3-0) – Up 2

Back to the top with a boom and the high score on the week, The Tuckfards reminded everyone of their early season dominance. Seeing off their big divisional rival in style, Coach Merritt breathed new life into Adrian Peterson and (the pricey but seemingly very worth it) Lamar Miller. The only negative was losing Will Fuller for the season; he had made some key contributions.