First year head coach Chris Redman has his Louisville Kings playing their best football of the year. The Kings are moving up the rankings and could be a thorn in the sides of other teams if they make it to the post-season dance. We go into the final week of regular season with three teams clinching a playoff spot. Two teams fighting for the final spot. Three teams that are eliminated could play spoiler because no seeds have been clinched yet. The number 1 seed is still open for business. We will sort it all out and paint the playoff picture for you with our latest addition of the power rankings.

WEEK 10 UFL POWER RANKINGS

#1. ORLANDO STORM (7-2) Same spot from last week as King of the UFL mountain.

Isaiah Buggs was a beast for the Orlando Storm defense last week. The Storm’s pursuit for the best record in the UFL and the number 1 seed meant they needed to fend off the Defenders and got the job done. Buggs plays defensive line on the Storm’s defense and he was a one man wrecking crew going after the quarterback and stopping the Defenders run which is their strong point right now.

The Beastman Buggs had 1 sack with 4 tackles. Three of them solo and three for yards lost on the play. He was consistently causing problems and being disruptive in the Defenders offensive game plan. The Storms offense was not well-balanced in this one. The running game is the team’s weakness averaging 2.2 yards per carry. The skies, Jack Plummer was once again lighting them up with three touchdown passes for 275 passing yards. He has multiple play-makers he can use every week. Chris Rowland had 8 catches for 117 yards and a touchdown. Elijah Badger had 5 catches for 82 yards and touchdown. Then Cam Camper had 3 catches for 49 yards and a touchdown. The Storm also have KJ Hamler who was quiet versus the Defenders, only catching 1 ball. If this team could run the ball like their passing game, they will be unstoppable in post-season. Plummer could carry this team if the defense can Bugg out like they are doing.

#2. LOUISVILLE KINGS (5-4) Moved up 1 spot from last week

It’s good to be a Louisville Kings fan in the UFL. They are one of the hottest teams in the league. They have won three straight games. They have won 5 out of their last 6 games. This is a team that started the season 0-3 and are right now in great shape to make it to the post-season. The Kings control their own destiny this weekend. If they beat the Aviators, they are in. If the Stallions lose, they are in. If the Storm beat the Defenders, they are in. Last week they completed the sweep on Dallas scoring 37 points which was the week high in week 9. In two games versus the Renegades, they have scored 84 points. Chandler Rogers is getting better each week at the Kings’ quarterback position. He completed 16-21 passes for 266 passing yards with two touchdown passes. No mistakes.

Another play-maker is emerging for the Kings. Wide receiver Tarik Black caught 4 balls for 82 yards while hauling one of those passes for a touchdown. The Kings running game ran wild versus the Renegades. They tallied up 205 rushing yards on the ground. Their two-headed monster running backs both had big games. Ian Wheeler gained 93 yards on the ground with a rushing touchdown. Then James Robinson gained 88 yards on the ground. If the Kings get to the post-season I really don’t think anyone will want to face them.

#3. ST.LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS (6-3) Dropped 1 spot from last week.

Are you impressed with the BattleHawks since the King of the Spring Fling took over as the starting quarterback? I thought Luis Perez would put a jolt into this BattleHawks offense with him behind center. The BattleHawks get their revenge on the Gamblers beating them at their place in week 9. This after the Gamblers beat them in Arch-City in week 8. The BattleHawks clinch a playoff spot with the 21-15 win over the Gamblers. St.Louis is only 1 game behind the Orlando Storm and have a chance at the number 1 seed in the UFL post-season.

The Gamblers use two dum-dums every game at the quarterback position. Both guys are not very good and somehow Houston wins one and makes a game out of the other. Luis Perez is not in sync with his new teammates. He threw the ball 39 times. He’s always good for an interception. He did throw a touchdown pass. Why not give Perez some help with the running game instead of putting everything on his shoulders?

The BattleHawks’ featured back is Jarveon Howard who had 55 rushing yards on the ground. The BattleHawks averaged 3.9 yards per carry as a team vs the Gamblers. Kylin James only carried the ball 6 times for 31 rushing yards as well as a touchdown. James needs to get the ball more often if he is averaging 5.2 yards per carry. The BattleHawks defense were gashed by the Gamblers running game. The mighty, at one point this season, hawks definitely have more than one kink in their feathers that will need to be addressed before post-season. Or it will be one and done for St.Louis like last season.

#4. DC DEFENDERS (5-4) Moved up 1 spot from last week.

The Defenders will get a chance in post-season to defend their title from last year. Despite the loss to the Storm, the Defenders have clinched a playoff spot. The Defenders have lost three straight games. They were once on top of the UFL world with a balanced offense that could light the scoreboard up. They lost their starting quarterback Jordan Ta’amu to a season ending injury back when the Defenders played the Kings in Louisville. Ta’amu was the guy that played a big role in helping this Defenders team win it all last year. Now this team has to rely on a run first kind of quarterback in Spencer Sanders.

Sanders completed 10 passes out of 21 attempts for 160 passing yards. He completed 47.6% of his passes which is not good. He did use his legs for 75 rushing yards. The Defenders last week averaged 5.8 yards a carry. They can run the ball. The passing game has suffered with Sanders being QB 1. Their defense needs turnovers to thrive. They most likely will get the number 4 spot and pretty much get back into the post-season. They play the Storm once again this weekend. They could be playing the Storm for a 3rd time in the post-season if Orlando lands the number 1 spot. Three games in a row the UFL will throw Defenders vs Storm at you.

The Defenders fan-base dresses like they are going to Comic-Con. At least they can enjoy the new spin off of the Big Bang Theory coming soon. We do know that Spencer fails to save the Defenders universe.

#5. BIRMINGHAM STALLIONS (4-5) Dropped 1 spot from last week.

The Stallions did drop the big one losing to the Aviators last week. The Stallions have been playing well in the second half, but lost in a shoot out against Columbus’ second string quarterback who had the game of his life. The Stallions are not dead yet for post-season hopes. However they need lots of help. First, in week 10 the Stallions have to beat the Gamblers. Last time Houston and Birmingham met, the Gamblers beat them. The Stallions also need the Defenders without their starting quarterback to take down the top team in the league, the Storm. Then they must rely on the team they lost to last week, the Aviators, to come through and knock off the red hot Kings team.

My prediction is the Stallions get to 5-5 for the season. No soup for them in the post-season. The Stallions dynasty comes to an end.

#6. COLUMBUS AVIATORS (3-6) Moved up 1 spot from last week.

I hate when teams find the answers to their lingering problems at the very end of the season. The Aviators finally unplugged the Jalan McClendon experiment that failed this season.

The Aviators replaced Jalan with another Jalen, just spelled differently. Who knows nowadays which spelling is correct. I’m not sure the Aviators had the answer at the quarterback position all along. Only completing 46.7% of your passes is not the long term fix either.

Despite only completing 14-30 passes & 213 passing yards, Jalen Morton earned himself player of the week. Morton and the Aviators scored 36 points to knock off a hot Stallions team. Morton threw three touchdown passes with 1 interception. He is a duel threat QB who also ran for 96 yards and scored a touchdown using his legs. It would take the other Jalan weeks to get that production that the new guy got in only 1 week. We will see how Morton does in week 10. Will he have pepper or salt?

#7. HOUSTON GAMBLERS (3-6) Dropped 1 spot from last week.

The Gamblers made a game out of almost beating the BattleHawks in back-to-back weeks.

The Dueling banjos Houston has playing quarterback for them combined for 146 passing yards. Only completing 15-29 passes for 1 touchdown pass and an interception. John Rhys Plumlee along with Hunter Dekkers should be traded to the Arena League. It’s that simple. Houston has a problem at the QB position that has been lingering for years. Either the Roughnecks or the Gambler uniforms can’t hide their issues.

It was the Gamblers running game and defense that helped Houston stay in the game. Kirk Merritt found pay dirt with a rushing touchdown. It was the Gamblers featured back, Marcus Yarns, who gashed the BattleHawks defense with 98 rushing yards on 13 carries. The Gamblers should consider distributing the ball to their running backs more often than relying on their Deliverance theme song at the QB position to get the job done.

#8. DALLAS RENEGADES (3-6) Still under the stairs buying up all the real estate in the bottoms.

The head coach of the Renegades this season is Rick Neuheisel. His first season as head coach in the UFL has been a complete disaster. The Renegades started out strong 3-0, but have lost 6 straight games and have been eliminated from post-season play. Spring football is not Ricky’s thing. When he played quarterback for the San Antonio Gunslingers back in the USFL during the 1980’s, they were not a good team. In two seasons in San Antonio, the team went 12-24 overall. Or it could be a Texas thing that does not go well with Rick. Dallas’ present day is San Antonio in the past. Austin Reed looked like he was going to be MVP of the league. Last week he hit rock bottom as he completed 7-21 passes. That equals out to 33.3% which is awful. Reed did throw two touchdown passes and an interception. He may have done better versus the Kings than he did in his first meeting. Reed’s confidence has to be broken in a million pieces. One time he showed promise in this league and in the NFL in Bears camp during pre-season. What his future will be, I don’t know. Rick should be worried too.

The bright side of the Renegades came from running back Lorenzo Lingard who had 56 rushing yards on the ground versus a difficult Kings defense. He also scored a rushing touchdown. Will the Renegades ever win again?