Big 9 rankings are hard to do in Week 1. Appreciate the #1 spot but in this case, the scores and stats lie. We didn't prove anything in Week 1 while Trojans/Rev and Sting/Lions were killing each other. IMO, one of those teams should be #1 (probably Trojans or Sting) this week.
__________________
Darrell Baranowski
Utah Shock #51
Player... just a player. Hallelujah, I'M ONLY A PLAYER!!
Darrell, All week one rankings are hard. Yes the stat line lies. I'm sure next week will clarify the situation more. For now, IT'S FOOTBALL SEASON BOOYAH.
Power Ranking Big 9 since I don't follow the North very much.
Its kind of difficult to rank after one week, but if you look at the statistics there are some glaring weaknesses in the offenses of the Preseason Big 3 or 4.
My rankings are:
1. Shock - They won and they won easily. I don't know if the Raiders are any good, probably not, but the Shock scored the most points, gave up the least points and didn't show any real weaknesses. QB had the highest QB Rating and TD passes, RB had the most yards, and the D gave up the fewest points. Style points count and the other winning teams even though they won, I think have some issues they need to work on this week.
2. Trojans - They won the defending Champs, usually that would be enough to secure the top spot in Week 1, but the game was very sloppy. They had way too many penalties. The Offense was lackluster. QB only completed 33% of passes for 85 yards, best RB only had 38 yards. The Defense played very well. They have some great athletes and will compete for the league title.
3. Sting - The Sting had what I consider one of the biggest upsets in the RMFL in the last several years. Off-season moves apparently really upgraded the defense, but they have some serious work to do offensively, the QB was only 1 for 12 with a QB ranking of 0 and the running game was mediocre. I understand the QB also struggled in a scrimmage a couple of weeks ago. Offense wins in this league and I'm not sure the Sting Offense is good enough. Defensively they look very strong. Maybe the Defense can carry them, but I doubt it.
4. Rev - I think they are still probably the most dangerous team in the league offensively, as long as Charlie is throwing the ball to his talented receiving core the Rev have a chance to win. I don't know the last time he had a QB ranking of 35. What happened to the Rev running game? Maybe the Trojan defense caused it, but I know there were a lot of dropped balls too. The Rev D is always one of the best in the league.
5. Lionz - The new QB experiment didn't work. Misi made the Lionz roll last year and he will probably be back in that role after the loss to the Sting. The passing game wasn't good, but that has never been the strength of the Lionz. Ball control was missing with lots of turnovers. There is just too much talent on the Lionz to put them any lower.
6. Vipers - They haven't played yet, but I expect them to be pretty good and they know what to expect in the League.
7. Wildcats - Big win for a first travel game in the RMFL. I just don't know enough about them or the team they played to move them up much. Statistically the offense was pretty good, the QB had the most passing yards in the league in Week 1. The running game didn't show a lot, but a win is a win.
8. Hawks - Played a close game against the Wildcats, both teams are new to the RMFL so I don't enough to rank them.
9. Raiders - Played against a superior team and lost convincingly, their stats aren't posted so I can't tell anything from them. I understand they have some really good athletes, but were over matched.
I expect these rankings to change quite a bit over the next couple of weeks as teams make adjustments and come together or fall apart.
there were a couple of reasons the Rev running game didn't take off last week. Probably the biggest was just getting in down and distance situations due to penalties and dumb mistakes.