One week in, some teams surprised us, while others left us wanting more. This week’s power rankings still heavily weigh offseason moves, with results a secondary factor. Be sure to air your grievances in the comments.
1. Los Angeles Giltinis
The most hyped team in MLR might’ve looked like the most professional team in Round 1. Give credit where it’s due: this team looks real.
2. Rugby United New York
RUNY, along with Toronto, are frontrunners for the Eastern playoff spots. A win over the Legion, even in week one, is impressive. Its a shame we didn’t get this matchup later on when teams are rounding into form. Although, there’s a non-zero chance we’ll still get a rematch…
3. San Diego Legion
Is it fair to have a losing team above 3 teams with wins? When you’re San Diego, yes. This has been the premier franchise (despite Seattle’s postseason success). Sleep on the Legion at your own risk.
4. Toronto Arrows
A bonus point loss on the round after relocating their entire operation gives the Arrows more than a bit of leeway. This team has a significant amount of talent still coming in. I expect round two with ATL to be very different.
5. NOLA Gold
If NOLA wants to crash the playoffs, (and they should be the third Eastern team in terms of expectations,) they simply need to either get over the line or eventually kick for goal. While an argument can be made for tiring a defense, the score is still the stat that matters. One short kick, instead of a turnover, and this team is up a spot.
6. Old Glory DC
OG might have proved a stellar red zone defense, but they were flirting with disaster multiple times. If anything, their penalties (paired with NOLA’s refusal to kick for goal) spared them a crushing loss. The set piece still needs a lot of work. However, considering they had no preseason games and no practice during match week makes this team look like it might have some unexpected upside.
7. Houston SaberCats
The only Texas team that didn’t make a ton of noise this offseason is the only one with a win. Is this the year Windsor and the Cats burst through? We shall see.
8. Austin Gilgronis
Much like their sister squad, Austin made a ton of offseason noise. Don’t run down the Gilgronis yet, but it’s important to set realistic expectations.
9. Rugby ATL
Robbie Coleman is down. I’m not sold on this team being a serious playoff competitor. They’ll need to string a couple more wins together, but their schedule get tough quickly. If they don’t beat DC next week, they could find themselves in a hole after the first quarter of the season.
10. Seattle Seawolves
Seattle has a history of not coming together until they have to. Hard to get too excited over a close loss, except last year was looking rough. But, like last year, we haven’t given them time to come together. They’re at 10 because that’s where they should be now. I don’t expect them to stay here.
11. Utah Warriors
I have Utah as the team least likely to make the playoffs in the entire league. They don’t have quite the talent of the top teams. The top of the West looks better than the top of the East.
Naturally, they’re 1-0.
12. New England Free Jacks
Look. New England flew across the country to play their first game against the team at the top of this list. Losing wouldn’t automatically put them at the bottom of the rankings. Even not keeping it tight wouldn’t be a death sentence. But the utter lack of discipline has to be cleaned up ASAP. This team has a fair amount of talent, but they can’t get in their own way like that again.
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