AFL Power Rankings: 2006 Week 2
John Hoh
Wednesday February 8, 2006
Being week two of the season means there is still some shake-out to occur. Surprisingly, Chicago is at 0-2 while Austin leads the Southern Division at 2-0. Grand Rapids hasn’t built on last year’s momentum as I though the Rampage would but so far the Kats in Nashville are. Arizona likewise hasn’t rattled out of a slump that appeared destined to end with last year’s somewhat decent finish. And what’s happened to San Jose? Have the ‘Cats been defanged or declawed?
As Utah has already shown, injuries still will make an impact on this season. After starting strong with a resounding road victory over the SaberCats, the Blaze lost a close home opener to the Desperados after losing key players, especially expansion draft pick Kelvin Hunter.
Has anyone noticed that ESPN’s "Bottom Line" now has an "Arena" tab for Arena Football League scores? Too bad they think the Blaze is "Salt Lake" instead of Utah.
Herein are the 2006 week 2 Power Rankings. And remember, these are only my opinions and are not scientific. Any attempt to use this information for betting purposes is solely at the gambler’s discretion.
| Rank | Team | Record | Previous Rank | Next Up |
| 1 | Colorado Crush (COL) | 2-0 | 1 | LV |
| Crush crushes the revenge revolt of the Force. Host Gladiators next in what has to finally be a breather for Team Elway. | ||||
| 2 | Georgia Force (GA) | 1-1 | 2 | @TB |
| Close loss in the ArenaBowl rematch. Force goes into the Storm to reassert divisional dominance. | ||||
| 3 | Nashville Kats (NAS) | 2-0 | 5 | @CHI |
| Destroyed Columbus. Trip to Chicago should be a test, especially with Chicago down 0-2 and needing a win badly. | ||||
| 4 | Philadelphia Soul (PHI) | 2-0 | 6 | @ORL |
| Defense continues for Soul as Philly beats the Avengers. Soul goes to the Jungle in Orlando next. | ||||
| 5 | DallasDesperados (DAL) | 2-0 | 8 | @CLB |
| Close win on the road against Blaze. Columbus may seem an easy game, but Desperados need to remember the loss against the Destroyers early last year. | ||||
| 6 | Austin Wranglers (AUS) | 2-0 | 9 | @KC |
| Wranglers now 2-0. Next face a winless expansion team. Could be trouble as this will be Kansas City’s first home game and the players could be pumped for their new fans. | ||||
| 7 | Los Angeles Avengers (LA) | 1-1 | 4 | @GR |
| Philly shows little Brotherly Love to LA. Game at Grand Rapids should help the Avengers recover their stride. | ||||
| 8 | Utah Blaze (UT) | 1-1 | 7 | NY |
| Losing Kelvin Hunter hurt the Blaze against Dallas. Can Utah rebound against the Dragons? | ||||
| 9 | Orlando Predators (ORL) | 1-1 | 10 | PHI |
| Predators get in the win column and get set to host the Soul. | ||||
| 10 | Tampa Bay Storm (TB) | 1-1 | 11 | GA |
| Win over Grand Rapids was easy. Test comes against the Force in a pivotal divisional game. | ||||
| 11 | New York Dragons (NY) | 1-1 | 12 | @UT |
| Dragons breathe fire in Chicago and slow the Rush down to a crawl—much like Chicago traffic. Next up is a tilt in the Salt Valley against the Blaze in a fire breathing showdown. | ||||
| 12 | Chicago Rush (CHI) | 0-2 | 3 | NAS |
| OK, I might be a little harsh on the Rush after they lost two close games. But then again, good teams find a way to win those close games—especially at home. They’ll have to earn their way back up again. Of course Nashville is on a roll coming into Allstate Arena. | ||||
| 13 | Las Vegas Gladiators (LV) | 1-1 | 15 | @COL |
| Gladiators get big win over S’Cats. Face big test at the home of the defending champs. | ||||
| 14 | Columbus Destroyers (CLB) | 1-1 | 14 | DAL |
| Destroyers live down to expectations again. Can they surprise the Desperados again? | ||||
| 15 | San Jose SaberCats (SJ) | 0-2 | 13 | @AZ |
| The SaberCats 0-2? Has the league EVER seen San Jose and Arizona a combined 0-4? | ||||
| 16 | Kansas City Brigade (KC) | 0-2 | 16 | AUS |
| Kansas City finally gets a home game—against the suddenly surprising Wranglers. I guess inheriting the VooDoo core players didn’t guaranty a Brigade of wins. | ||||
| 17 | Arizona Rattlers (AZ) | 0-2 | 17 | SJ |
| Another long year for fans in the Valley of the Sun. | ||||
| 18 | Grand Rapids Rampage (GR) | 0-2 | 10 | LA |
| What happened to the momentum Grand Rapids seemingly started at the end of last season? And was signing Philyaw worth it? | ||||
John L. Hoh, Jr., is a free-lance writer from Milwaukee who grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin, as an avid Dolphins fan. He followed Arena Football since its inception, at one point watching tape-delayed games on low-powered WAV-TV in Waukesha. His happiest day was when Milwaukee was awarded the Mustangs franchise; his saddest when the Mustangs were contracted out of the league. John is married to his wife Maija (13+ years) and has a young son, Matthew. John pines for the return of the Arena Football League to Milwaukee.
