Arena Football Power Rankings: Bye week drops Soul to No. 6

1. Arizona Rattlers (2-0) Last week: 1

The Rattlers absolutely dominated the Utah Blaze, 77-49, in Utah. Nick Davila and the offense didn’t even have to do much. The defense forced seven turnovers, including picking off the reigning MVP Tommy Grady five times. The Rattlers had six interceptions overall, returning three of them for touchdowns. For the foreseeable future, the Rattlers have a stranglehold on the No. 1 spot.

2. Spokane Shock (2-0) Last week: 4

For the second week in a row, the Shock beat up on a bottom feeder from the Central Division, but they also did it in dominating fashion again. Another thing that happened for the second week in a row was the only thing that prevented the Shock from scoring was the end of a half. The Shock scored a touchdown on every other possession against the Chicago Rush. With all of that said, the jury is still out on Spokane. The Shock are No. 2 this week, but will face their first test in Iowa against the Barnstormers this week.

3. San Jose Sabercats (2-0) Last week: 6

The Sabercats looked much better against a better opponent in the Orlando Predators this past week. The Sabercats narrowly defeated Orlando, 65-62, in what was the most entertaining game of Week 2. Aaron Garcia looked better as well completing 22-of-36 passes for 288 yards and seven touchdowns. They faced a better opponent last week, but they will face the best in Arizona next week on the road. We’ll see how much San Jose has improved by then.

4. Jacksonville Sharks (2-0) Last week: 5

Jacksonville did exactly what they were supposed to do against the Pittsburgh Power: dominate. I believe defeating a team 61-35 qualifies as domination. Quarterback Bernard Morris didn’t have a stellar game, completing 26-of-37 passes and tossing four touchdowns, but he didn’t have to. The defense forced four turnovers and that was enough to shut off the Power in Pittsburgh.

5. Iowa Barnstormers (2-0) Last week: 9

The jury is definitely still out on the Barnstormers, but it’s hard to deny them of high ranking after a 2-0 start. It wasn’t pretty, however. By AFL standards a 48-34 win is a defensive struggle. Quarterback J.J. Raterink completed only 15-of-30 passes for 253 yards and four touchdowns, but it was just enough to down the VooDoo in New Orleans. At the end of the day, no matter how ugly it was, a win is a win is a win. It all counts the same. But the Iowa can not afford to have a performance like against Spokane this week, who literally haven’t been stopped on offense so far this season.

6. Philadelphia Soul (0-1) Last week: 3

It’s hard to keep a team very high when they didn’t play a game last week. It’s even harder to put them above a bunch of 2-0 teams. But the Soul will be back on the field this week against former head coach Doug Plank and the Orlando Predators. A win on the road for the Soul against their former coach could definitely boost them back up a spot or two in the rankings.

7. Utah Blaze (1-1) Last week: 2

The Blaze went from looking elite one week to looking in sort of disarray the next. Quarterback Tommy Grady looked nothing like the reigning league MVP against the Rattlers last week, throwing only four touchdowns and five interceptions. Grady does not look 100 percent early on in the season. Add that to the fact that his top target from a year ago, wide receiver Aaron Lesue, has yet to suit up for the Blaze this season, things all of a sudden don’t look so good. But, that terrible game was against the best team in the league and Utah will play a lesser (although improving) team in Tampa Bay this week.

8. Tampa Bay Storm (1-1) Last week: 10

Storm quarterback Adrian McPherson seems to be improving by the week and it showed during the team’s win over the Cleveland Gladiators, 69-47. Sure, the Gladiators are arguably the worst team in the AFL, but there were some very encouraging signs from the Storm’s win. McPherson looked much better passing the ball, completing 25-of-38 passes for 362 yards and eight touchdowns. Not to mention gaining 31 yards rushing and scoring twice on the ground. McPherson totaled nearly 400 yards of offense against the Gladiators, further proving that he could be the most dangerous quarterback in the league — only if he keeps improving every week.

9. New Orleans VooDoo (1-1) Last week: 7

The Iowa-New Orleans was ugly by AFL standards and the ugliest part of it for the VooDoo was that they came out on the short end of it. The VooDoo as a team, but mainly quarterback Kurt Rocco looked out of sorts against Iowa. Rocco completed 23-of-46 passes, meaning he threw as many incomplete passes as he completed — not something you want strive for. Some of his passes weren’t even close either. He was all over the place and cost New Orleans a winnable game at home. The VooDoo will have a week off to get on the same page, but things don’t get easier for them as they have a date with Jacksonville April 12.

10. Orlando Predators (0-2) Last week: 8

If there’s a team that needs a win more than Orlando (outside of Chicago, Pittsburgh and Cleveland of course) I’d like to see them. After losing for the second week in a row on a last-second interception, the Predators open up the home schedule against the Soul with the threat of dropping to 0-3 — not how they envisioned starting the season. Orlando fell to 0-2 by virtue of a loss to San Jose despite Kyle Rowley throwing nine touchdowns and the defense forcing two turnovers.

11. San Antonio Talons (0-1) Last week: 11

The Talons had the week off during Week 2, but face an improving Storm squad. Hopefully for the Talons, the week off did them some good.

12. Chicago Rush (0-2) Last week: 12

The Rush lost again last week and there weren’t a whole bunch of encouraging signs, except one. Quarterback Carson Coffman played a very good game against Spokane. Coffman completed 29-of-39 passes for 294 yards and seven touchdowns. Unfortunately for the Rush, the defense never stopped the Shock from scoring touchdowns. If Coffman has another game like he did last week then the Rush should be looking at their first win of 2013 over the Talons this week.

13. Cleveland Gladiators (0-2) Last week: 14

The Gladiators improved a bit. They are now next to last as oppose to being dead last. Jokes aside, Cleveland showed a lot of fight in their loss to the Storm last week. It was a one-possession game until the Storm pulled away in the fourth quarter. Despite some fight, the Gladiators are still a long ways away from being remotely good.

14. Pittsburgh Power (0-2) Last week: 13

Poor Pittsburgh. They already had an inexperienced starting quarterback in Jordan Jefferson and then he gets hurt during the second quarter against Jacksonville. The poor backup Shane Austin never really had chance neither. Between the two quarterbacks, the Power completed 19-of-33 for 229 yards and only two touchdowns. Oh by the way, tack on three interceptions as well. For the foreseeable future, the Power are a complete mess of team.