May 1, 2013 by Charlie Eisenhood in Analysis, Other, Rankings with 2 comments
Two road trips, four wins, zero losses. The Toronto Rush, while expected to dominate the Eastern Division, have kicked off the AUDL season in style with the league’s best record (and the title as the only remaining undefeated team). Is it too soon to consider a perfect regular season for the Rush?
They only have four road games remaining, two of them coming in Rochester, just a short drive from Toronto, against the Dragons, the league’s worst team. Their toughest remaining game may be their late season matchup on the road against Philadelphia. Last week, they had to pull out a 26-25 win there, and Philly will want revenge on their home turf. But with their other three wins all blowouts, it’s hard to see where the Rush lose a game. Check out this week’s AUDL Power Rankings, and see below for discussion.
1. Toronto Rush (4-0) — The Rush have four straight road wins and are the league’s only undefeated team. There’s no better way to get to the top of the Power Rankings than a resume like that. It’s already time to start considering the playoff picture: will they be able to take down the Midwestern Champion?
2. Madison Radicals (2-1) — The Radicals got another quality win this week, 22-20 on the road in Minnesota. Aside from a fluky loss to Detroit, they have the strongest record in the league. If we had to pick a team as the early favorite to win the AUDL crown, we’d put our money on Madison.
3. Windy City Wildfire (3-1) — The Wildfire got back on track this week with two blowout wins over Cincinnati and Indianapolis. We’re just waiting for them to play Madison again. Best matchup in the league.
4. Minnesota Wind Chill (1-2) — The Wind Chill lost a close game at home against Madison this week to fall below .500. They absolutely have to win at home to stay in contention for a playoff spot. Expect more good games against Madison later this season.
5. Indianapolis Alleycats (1-2) — Indy was the latest victim of a Wildfire blowout, as Brodie Smith and Goose Helton returned to their former stomping ground with Windy City. Tough start to the season for a team accustomed to winning.
6. Detroit Mechanix (2-1) — Detroit continues to rise up the Power Rankings with another win this week. They are now 2-0 in the Ken Porter era. Although a 15-11 win over Cincinnati isn’t exactly inspiring, a road win in their first game outdoors this season is still an achievement.
7. Cincinnati Revolution (1-3) — Tough weekend for Cincinnati who lost back-to-back games to fall to last place in the Midwestern Division. They have the bright spot of a win over Minnesota, but they need wins against teams like Detroit at home to have a chance of staying above .500 this year.
8. New York Empire (1-1) — After hanging with Toronto in the first half, New York got dominated in the second and didn’t look good. The offense had a lot of execution errors and the defense never put much pressure on the Rush. They have now beaten the league’s worst and lost to the league’s best — hard to get a read on where this team stands.
9. Philadelphia Phoenix (1-1) — Philadelphia also has a win against Rochester and a loss to Toronto. You could make the case that Philly, with a one point loss against the Rush, has a better resume than New York. They won’t get a chance to prove it on the field against the Empire until early June.
10. New Jersey Hammerheads (1-1) — What do you know? W vs. Rochester, L v. Toronto. Ranking the teams in the Eastern Division is not an easy task. The Hammerheads will get another game against each of those teams this weekend on their road trip up north.
11. DC Breeze (1-1) — It took a double game point, double overtime game to do it, but the Breeze hoisted themselves out of the bottom of the Power Rankings with a win over Rochester this weekend. They have a big road trip this weekend with games against New York and Philadelphia. This could be a pivotal of games for the Breeze.
12. Rochester Dragons (0-4) — It’s tough to start the season all on the road, but Rochester needed to find a way to win at least one. They lost to the Breeze on double game point when they had a chance to score but dropped the disc just yards outside the endzone. While getting back some SUNY-Buffalo players will improve the squad, they simply haven’t looked like a good team yet this year.
