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+---- Thread: *Woah, we're halfway there (/showthread.php?tid=29964)
*Woah, we're halfway there - Ephenssta - 02-15-2021
The games tonight will kick off the second half of the ISFL season. I feel the first half of the new sim being over deserves a nice little look at the updated power ranking standings.
ASFC
1. Honolulu: 10.1 (previously 2nd with 7.7). The Hahalua regain first place after tumbling into second in week five. Since then, the Hahalua have beaten the Silverbacks, Copperheads, and Wraiths. In two of those games, their margin of victory was two scores, and the third was a narrow road win. Those three wins power them to a 6-2 record, which is good for a three-way tie for first in the conference. The strength of this team is clearly their defense, which has allowed the fewest points in the conference and the second fewest in the league. Despite having the 12th lowest Total Effective TPE in the tracker, the Hahalua appear poised for a playoff run a season after their disastrous last place finish. Even finishing with an even or winning record would have been impressive after that season, but the Hahalua appear poised to shatter expectations this season. Their schedule contains a pair of road games against Berlin and New York before they come back home to take on New Orleans.
2. Arizona: 9.4 (previously 1st with 9.0). With the Hahalua coming on strong, the Outlaws drop back down into second place, though they also have a very strong 6-2 record at the midway point in the season. Their win streak is now responsible for all of their wins on the season and they have officially covered from a terrible start that saw them in 7th and 6th place respectively during the first two weeks of the new sim. And with their next game featuring a trip to Baltimore to take on the struggling Hawks, they look to extend that streak to a seventh consecutive win. This team is simply strong all around. They have scored the second most points in the conference and lead it in yards per game. As if that was not enough, their defense has allowed the second fewest points per game. After finishing last season in the bottom half of the conference despite a winning record, Arizona looks strong in the first half of the new season and could be taking advantage of some other teams that were in that massive tiebreaker last season struggling to adapt to the new structure of the league.
3. San Jose: 3.3 (previously 3rd with 2.9). With Honolulu and Arizona both hovering around ten points, there is a substantial drop off to the middle of the pack, where San Jose sits in third with roughly a third of the points the top teams have. Despite their struggle to earn Power Points, the Sabercats sit third in the index in that three-way tie at 6-2. Their offense and defense are both the fourth most proficient in the conference in terms of scoring, and they too are on a win streak, though their last two games have certainly been close. They have a chance to continue improving their record and earn some bonus points by taking on a four game road trip that will see them facing off against Philadelphia, New Orleans, Orange County, and Austin. All of those games are winnable on their own, but it is hard to carry on win streaks and even harder to do it four times in a row on the road. They clearly showed they have the stuff, though, by taking out Chicago in a high scoring contest last week.
4. New York: 2.4 (previously 4th with 0.4). New York made a quick improvement, jumping up two points from their previous score, but remaining in fourth place. In their last contest, they shut out the Hawks in front of the home fans and winning their second in a row as they continue to look past the blemish of a three game losing streak. Unfortunately, things do not get easier for the Silverbacks as they travel to take on the Yeti before hosting the Hawks at home. New York struggled slightly on offense in the first half of the season. They got shut out against San Jose during that aforementioned three game losing streak and are currently fifth in the conference in points scored. Their defense is a brighter spot, though, sitting at third in the conference and sixth in the league as a whole. If they can find a way to increase their output on offense, they could be a legitimate contender in the second half. There is still plenty of work to do, though, as they would currently be the first team out at 5-3. That said, the Silverbacks are clearly trending up, as they were at -2.5 points and in fifth a couple weeks ago. It is entirely possible that a strong second half sees them in the playoffs again, though the coveted #1 seed seems to be slipping farther and farther away.
5. New Orleans: 0.3 (previously 5th with -1.1). New Orleans has an inverse record of New York at 3-5 and has already nearly caused me at least one embarrassing typo. Thanks for being so close together, you two…The SecondLine bounced back a little bit, rejoining the ranks of the teams with positive Power Points after beating the Liberty by two scores and stopping their losing skid that was perilously close to becoming a losing streak, the second time this season they have avoided such an embarrassment (as a little aside, I do not consider something a streak until it has happened three times in a row). The Secondline have a positive point differential, but have not managed to turn that into many wins. Their offense leads the league in scoring, but their defense sits near the bottom of the table at sixth, allowing a dismal 25.6 points per game on average. The Secondline were one of those teams last season involved in the massive tiebreaker that shook the ASFC. This season, though, they look to be a little more out of it as they are now three games off the lead.
6. Orange County: -7.1 (previously 6 with -4.4). Speaking of teams that were once in that massive tie for the playoffs who are not anymore, Orange County has fallen into sixth place both in the power rankings and the index. Despite having the third most Total Effective TPE in the league, the Otters find themselves at 2-6. Their offense has the fewest points scored per game in the conference and is second worst in the league as a whole, and their ground attack has even fewer rushing yards per game than the Hawks. And while their defense is stringy in terms of yards allowed, sitting at first in the conference and second in the league in that category, they struggle to prevent teams from scoring. The Otters have now lost four in a row and are tied with Austin, who have also lost four in a row, for the worst record in the division at the midway point in the season. Something that many people wondered whether it would happen last season may actually be happening this season: the Otters seem likely to miss the postseason entirely.
7. Austin: -8.2 (previously 7 with -6.6). As Valor tweeted recently, “We (Austin) need to start winning, I mean really.” Austin find themselves at the bottom of the conference and one of the three teams that could have been in competition for the 1oa pick were it not for Baltimore’s incredible efforts. The Copperheads are one of three teams currently on a four game losing skid and don’t look to be turning things around anytime soon as their next two games pit them against Chicago and Sarasota. Their offense is sixth in the league and their defense is somehow worse at seventh. The Copperheads have now been in last in the ASFC for four consecutive weeks and the only way I see them turning it around is managing to find a win with Orange County losing another one. But even then, their ceiling is probably 5th or worse in the division.
The ASFC is hectic, though not quite as hectic as last season…yet. There are three teams atop the division with 6-2 records, New York in close pursuit, and then the rest lagging behind. Honolulu leapfrogs Arizona and returns to their first place slot, sending Arizona to second while San Jose remains in three. Despite an improvement, New York remains in fourth and the bottom three show no change.
Without any further ado, we move on the NSFC.
1. Colorado: 7.2 (previously 4th with 3.0). In a shocking move, the Yeti springboard from fourth to the top. Their previous high on the season was a brief third place appearance in week two. The last couple weeks had been spent in fourth, but now they rise to claim the top position at the midway mark, joining a handful of other teams at 5-3 overall. The Yeti have now won four in a row, winning three of those four on the road. Those consecutive road wins were enough to launch the Yeti up the board, especially with two of the last three being blowouts games. The Yeti now have the most points scored in the league, averaging 28.8 points a game. The defense has improved, allowing the third fewest points per game in the conference and the fewest yards per game in the league. The home team is red hot right now, which is unfortunate because objectively yellow is the better color. The Yeti look ahead to hosting three games in a row, featuring New York, Chicago, and Baltimore. Those three games could likely have a huge impact on the season’s finish, particularly the game against Chicago, who will be looking for revenge after dropping a game at home to the Yeti in week 5.
2. Chicago: 7.1 (previously 1st with 7.5). After losing their second in a row, the Butchers lose first place. This is the first time since week five that Chicago has not been in first, and oddly enough they have the same Power Points total they had in that instance too. Chicago lost a tight and weird contest on the road in Berlin that really looked more like a baseball game, with the final score being 8-5. Apparently still confused by that scoreline, they then lost on the road at San Jose, though in a much higher scoring contest. Those two being road losses and relatively close games hurts them less, but the butchers are certainly hurting as they are now a part of the four-way tie for first in the conference instead of running away with things like they appeared to be on track to do in the early season. The Butchers are strong on both sides of the ball, though, and look to bounce back against a struggling Austin team before going in search of revenge at the kickoff of a three game road trip that will pit them against Colorado, Yellowknife, and Arizona in a pivotal stretch of games.
3. Sarasota: 5.8 (Previously 2nd with 6.2). The first not-red team on the list is the Sailfish, who also dropped a place to make way for the Yeti’s rapid rise to the top. The Sailfish lost a tough one on the road to end their three game win streak, falling 17-13 to Arizona. The Sailfish offense has been hot, averaging 28 points per game through the first half. Their defense, though, has struggled a little bit, coming in at the midpoint of the conference and the league in points allowed. Their rush defense, though, has been stingy. They allow less than 60 rushing yards per game on average, which could be a sign of a strong defense or a league that has become far more pass heavy. You be the judge of that one, though. The Sailfish will take on New Orleans before hitting the road in back to back games against Austin and Philadelphia. The Sailfish, and the rest of the division by extension, will likely have to wait until the very end to know how things shake out, though, as their final games see them playing a gauntlet of division games, including trips to Chicago and Baltimore and home games against Yellowknife, Colorado, and Berlin.
4. Yellowknife: 2.5 (previously 3rd with 4.9). Another victim of the Yeti’s quick rise and their own losing is the Wraiths. Yellowknife has now lost two in a row, and neither of them were close. They are average or worse in both points per game and points allowed per game and don’t seem to shine in any particular category. Still, they find themselves positioned well in the index, keeping pace by putting up a record of 5-3, keeping them right in the mix. The Wraiths will challenge a struggling Orange County team before hitting the road to take on the Fire Salamanders. It is hard to really make much of a judgement on the Wraiths. They certainly are not running away with things like they did last season and theya re the worst of the four teams tied atop the division in the power rankings, but they have managed to keep themselves in that group and could very well be competitive moving forwards. Similar to Sarasota, their schedule contains a lot of important games late, although they get the benefit of facing Baltimore and Philadelphia in their last two on the season.
5. Berlin: -1.4 (previously 5 with -3.0). Despite making up some ground, Berlin remains in fifth place with their 4-4 record. They have one more point scored than allowed, but have three home losses on their resume. They have won two close games in a row, including an odd low-scoring affair against Chicago and a tight contest on the road against Austin. The Fire Salamanders actually lead the entire league in points allowed, averaging only 17.1 points per game scored by their opponents. With an improved offense, this team could be scary good. Unfortunately, the offense averages only 17.3 points per game, outpacing only Baltimore. Their next few games will be challenging, as they take on the Hahalua and Wraiths, then travel on the road to face the Silverbacks. Their final four games are all road games, in what has to be some of the worst scheduling I have ever seen out of this league. If Berlin can keep this defense intact and make some improvement on the scoring side of things, they could really shake up the league next season. Unfortunately, it seems they will have to wait until next season to get a shot.
6. Philadelphia: -5.9 (previously 6th with -4.5). The Liberty continue to struggle and will be competing with a few ASFC teams for the second overall pick in this recreate heavy Reddit class. The Liberty have dropped four games in a row, all of them on the road. They are near the bottom of the conference and league on both sides of the ball, although their rushing attack has produced an average of 127 yards per game. While I have confidence the new GMs will turn things around in time, these kinds of things take time, so the Liberty will continue to struggle. They look to finally get a decent mix of home games, though, as four of their next five contests will be in front of the home fans.
7. Baltimore: -24 (previously 7th with -22). The Hawks are running away with things, but in the wrong direction. With zero wins to their name, they are on a league-leading eight game losing streak and are giving up nearly three times as many points as they score. They are worst in the conference and league in both points scored and points allowed per game. Simply put, the Hawks are bad. Their most recent contest saw them get shut out by the Silverbacks, the first time in this season they have accomplished that feat, though they have scored only once in three games this season. The Hawks are looking at first overall in this draft and will have a lot of holes to fill.
The NSFC is no less interesting than the ASFC. Not wanting to be outdone in the category of ties, they have four teams sitting at 5-3, with the Yeti now rejoining the ranks of the playoff contenders. The Yeti jumped from fourth to first after their most recent win, though they were aided by Yellowknife, Chicago, and Sarasota all dropping a game. Who doesn’t love a little help from their friends? Yellowknife and Chicago are both on streak-alert, losing two of their last three games. Berlin, Philadelphia, and Baltimore all remain unchanged at the bottom of the table. Berlin could have a real chance, though, as they are only one game behind that mix. To do so, they will have to find some more points on offense and overcome a tough road schedule in the second half of the season.