Originally Published: May 16, 2007
Dallas back on top after big win
On the strength of a big win, there's a new No. 1 in the power rankings.
(Heading into Week 12) |
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1. (3) Dallas (10-1)Last week: Beat Chicago 52-48 This week: Bye The Desperados overcame some uncharacteristic mistakes by QB Clint Dolezel to beat the gutsy Rush in the final seconds in a classic battle between two of the best teams in the AFL. |
2. (1) Georgia (9-1)Last week: Bye This week: at Los Angeles The Force, coming off a bye week, remain one of the hottest teams in the AFL thanks to a versatile passing game that is almost impossible to slow down. |
3. (2) Chicago (8-2)Last week: Lost to Dallas 52-48 This week: vs. Nashville While the Rush played without star WR Bobby Sippio (injured ankle) for most of the second half, they still showed great poise, determination and fight, but came up short in the last minute against Dallas. |
4. (4) San Jose (7-3)Last week: Beat Las Vegas 61-34 This week: vs. Grand Rapids The SaberCats received a good performance from QB Mark Grieb and a huge defensive effort that produced four interceptions, two fumbles and two key defensive stops. |
5. (5) Colorado (7-4)Last week: Beat Nashville 57-35 This week: vs. Columbus The Crush defense totally humiliated the Nashville offense with five sacks, three interceptions and a fumble recovery. |
6. (7) Orlando (6-4)Last week: Beat New Orleans 42-33 This week: at Austin The Predators had to depend on their defense to pull out a win. But their lack of converting turnovers into points and shoddy special teams play continues to be a concern. |
7. (9) Columbus (6-4)Last week: Beat Grand Rapids 59-56 This week: at Colorado The Destroyers won their fifth straight home game with an almost perfect night by QB Matt Nagy and solid defense late. |
8. (8) Kansas City (6-4)Last week: Beat Utah 60-41 This week: at New York The top-ranked Brigade defense won its battle versus the top-ranked Blaze offense, forcing Utah QB Joe Germaine to throw four costly interceptions and the Blaze offense to commit 11 penalties. |
9. (6) Los Angeles (5-5)Last week: Lost to Tampa Bay 40-37 This week: vs. Georgia Inconsistent Avengers gave a winnable game away as they failed to hold a 10-point fourth-quarter lead. They just can't seem to put complete games together. |
10. (10) Utah (5-6)Last week: Lost to Kansas City 60-41 This week: vs. Las Vegas Fading Blaze not only played bad defense, but their usually reliable offense sputtered with four costly interceptions versus an opportunistic Kansas City offense. |
11. (11) Philadelphia (4-6)Last week: Lost to New York 69-49 This week: vs. New Orleans The Soul continue to slide without injured QB Tony Graziani. After a 4-0 start, they lost their sixth straight game. |
12. (14) Tampa Bay (4-6)Last week: Beat Los Angeles 40-37 This week: vs. Arizona The gutsy Storm battled back from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit. Their defense played well all night, making three big defensive stops in an unexpected win over Los Angeles. |
13. (12) New Orleans (4-6)Last week: Lost to Orlando 42-33 This week: at Philadelphia Too many turnovers and the inability to control the Orlando defense ruined a gutsy effort by the VooDoo. Right now, they lack explosiveness. |
14. (13) Nashville (4-7)Last week: Lost to Colorado 57-35 This week: at Chicago The young Kats did not show up versus Colorado. Their pass protection and passing game were awful and the Crush defense totally controlled the game. |
15. (18) Arizona (3-8)Last week: Beat Austin 53-41 This week: at Tampa Bay QB Sherdrick Bonner threw six TD passes and surpassed the 40,000 passing yards milestone, but the real story was a maligned defense that finally made some plays. |
16. (16) New York (3-7)Last week: Beat Philadelphia 69-49 This week: vs. Kansas City This is a different team when it's run by QB Aaron Garcia, who threw eight TD passes against a slumping Philadelphia Soul defense. |
17. (15) Grand Rapids (3-7)Last week: Lost to Columbus 59-56 This week: at San Jose The Rampage played a solid game on offense with QB Chad Salisbury and a great performance by WR/KR Timon Marshall, but they couldn't make enough defensive stops versus Columbus. |
18. (17). Austin (3-7)Last week: Lost Arizona 53-41 This week: vs. Orlando New QB Lang Campbell didn't play a bad game, but the usually porous Arizona defense came up with some big stops and turnovers as the Wranglers continue to slide. |
19. (19) Las Vegas (1-10)Last week: Lost to San Jose 61-34 This week: at Utah The Gladiators have lost nine games in a row and were out of this one early with a 34-0 second-quarter deficit and five turnovers in their first five possessions. |
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