Two undefeated teams are chasing starts they haven't seen in years, two winless teams are staring at 0–3, and a pair of franchises have a chance to put No. 100 in the record book. Welcome to Week 3.
Week 3 is where the standings start becoming a little harder to dismiss.
At 1–1? Fine. Plenty of season left.
At 2–0? Now we're interested.
At 0–2?
Well... nobody wants to hear "it's still early" while staring at 0–3.
This week's GLFL schedule gives us a little bit of everything: Tucson and Cedar Rapids trying to remain perfect, Boston attempting to start 3–0 for the second consecutive season, Chicago and Brooklyn fighting to avoid another historically ugly opening, and Cleveland and Miami each sitting one victory away from franchise milestones.
Let's get into it.
| Matchup | Projection | Chance to Win |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles @ Northern Arizona | LA 180.1 – NAZ 178.3 | LA 51% – NAZ 49% |
| Tucson @ Vegas | TUC 203.2 – LV 166.3 | TUC 64% – LV 36% |
| Philadelphia @ Boston | PHI 176.5 – BOS 168.5 | PHI 54% – BOS 46% |
| Brooklyn @ Miami | MIA 174.7 – BKN 164.6 | MIA 53% – BKN 47% |
| Cleveland @ Cedar Rapids | CLE 169.6 – CR 160.0 | CLE 54% – CR 46% |
| Chicago @ Milwaukee | MKE 194.0 – CHI 172.5 | MKE 57% – CHI 43% |
Projection: Tucson 203.2, Vegas 166.3 • Chance to Win: Tucson 64%
No, this isn't the closest matchup of Week 3.
It might be the most revealing.
Tucson enters the week 2–0, sitting atop the latest GLFL Power Rankings and projected for a league-high 203.2 points. Vegas enters from almost the exact opposite direction: 0–2 and looking for anything capable of changing the trajectory of its September.
For Tucson, a victory would produce its best start in more than a decade. The Sugar Skulls opened 2–0 in both 2022 and 2024, but haven't reached 3–0 since beginning the 2014 season 4–0.
Vegas?
Unfortunately, 0–3 wouldn't exactly be unfamiliar territory.
The Knight Hawks started 0–3 in 2017, 0–7 in 2019 and an almost impressively miserable 0–8 during the league's inaugural 2012 season.
So no, Dave Nguyen wouldn't be making history with another loss.
He'd just be wandering into a particularly unpleasant section of the Vegas record book.
What we're watching: Can Vegas make Tucson uncomfortable, or are the Sugar Skulls about to leave Week 3 looking even more like one of the teams everyone else is chasing?
Projection: Los Angeles 180.1, Northern Arizona 178.3 • Chance to Win: LA 51%
If you're looking for the matchup most likely to ruin somebody's Sunday night, congratulations. You found it.
Just 1.8 projected points separate Los Angeles and Northern Arizona, with the matchup sitting almost perfectly at 51–49.
The problem for Jason Richmond is that history hasn't been nearly as balanced.
Los Angeles owns a 12–5 all-time advantage over Northern Arizona and has won nine of the last 10 meetings. The Wranglers' lone victory during that stretch came in 2023.
That's not a trend.
That's ownership.
But this isn't a history simulation. Northern Arizona gets another opportunity to change the conversation this week, and the projections suggest these teams are about as evenly matched as it gets.
What we're watching: Northern Arizona doesn't need to erase 17 games of history in one afternoon. It just needs to win one.
Projection: Philadelphia 176.5, Boston 168.5 • Chance to Win: Philadelphia 54%
Here's something we don't see very often:
Boston is an underdog.
The defending champions enter Week 3 at 2–0, but Philadelphia carries the slight projection advantage into a matchup that has been overwhelmingly controlled by Boston in recent years.
Philadelphia trails the all-time series 7-10 and spent years trying to solve the Brawlers. Before the Soul knocked off Boston in Week 10 last season, Boston had won six straight meetings dating back to 2019.
Now Philadelphia gets a chance to prove last year's victory wasn't just an interruption.
Boston, meanwhile, can open 3–0 in consecutive seasons with a victory. The franchise also accomplished the feat in 2019.
What we're watching: The projections like Philadelphia. Recent history likes Boston. Something has to give.
Projection: Miami 174.7, Brooklyn 164.6 • Chance to Win: Miami 53%
Eight wins apiece.
That's where Brooklyn and Miami enter the 17th chapter of one of the GLFL's longest-running relationships.
And "relationship" might be the polite word for it.
Cory Colvin has managed to find friction with Miami regardless of who's sitting in the other GM chair. The early years featured classic battles with Cody Coppersmith. The Adam Levetzow era turned considerably less friendly. Richard Head's tenure has been suspiciously peaceful by comparison.
Maybe everybody grew up.
We doubt it.
There's considerably more at stake than old grudges this week. Miami can record the 100th overall victory in franchise history, including regular season and playoffs.
Brooklyn is trying to avoid 0–3.
The Bolts haven't opened with three straight losses since 2022, when they proceeded to start 0–5. They also began 0–3 in 2016.
After losing Jaxson Dart on the opening drive last week and falling to 0–2, Cory Colvin probably isn't interested in revisiting either season.
What we're watching: Miami can celebrate No. 100. Brooklyn can prevent another September from turning into a disaster.
Projection: Cleveland 169.6, Cedar Rapids 160.0 • Chance to Win: Cleveland 54%
Cleveland gets another shot at history.
The Gladiators entered Week 2 needing one victory to become the fourth GLFL franchise with 100 regular-season wins.
Milwaukee responded by hanging a regular-season record 259.7 points on them.
Try again.
Cleveland still holds a commanding 12–7 advantage in the all-time series against Cedar Rapids, but the Titans have won the previous two meetings.
And suddenly, Cedar Rapids has a little history of its own to chase.
A win would move the Titans to 3–0 for the first time since 2015, when they opened the season with four consecutive victories.
Despite Cedar Rapids' perfect record, the projections actually favor Cleveland.
What we're watching: Cleveland's century mark versus Cedar Rapids' best opening act in 11 years.
Projection: Milwaukee 194.0, Chicago 172.5 • Chance to Win: Milwaukee 57%
Congratulations, Chicago and Milwaukee.
You're about to get very familiar with each other.
The Erie Division rivals meet this week in Milwaukee and then turn around and do it all over again in Week 4.
Milwaukee owns a 12–7 advantage in the all-time series and has won four of the last five meetings, although Chicago took the most recent matchup.
The Mustangs enter after scoring 259.7 points in Week 2 — the highest regular-season total in GLFL history.
Chicago enters 0–2.
And while Marcus Reed reported this week that GM Darrien Clay isn't treating the season as lost and has been exploring ways to add star talent, the standings aren't going to wait around for a blockbuster.
An 0–3 start would be only the second in Chicago franchise history. The only other came in 2021, when the Slaughter began 0–4.
Meanwhile, Milwaukee has an opportunity to turn an 0–1 start into 2–1 in the span of two weeks — and with Chicago waiting again in Week 4, this stretch could reshape the Erie Division quickly.
What we're watching: Chicago says the season isn't over. Milwaukee gets the first of two consecutive opportunities to test that theory.
| Team | What's at Stake? |
|---|---|
| Tucson | First 3–0 start since 2014 |
| Cedar Rapids | First 3–0 start since 2015 |
| Boston | Back-to-back 3–0 starts |
| Cleveland | 100th regular-season franchise win |
| Miami | 100th overall franchise win |
| Chicago | Avoid only the second 0–3 start in franchise history |
| Brooklyn | Avoid first 0–3 start since 2022 |
| Vegas | Avoid 0–3 — again |
It's only Week 3.
We're contractually obligated to remind everyone of that before somebody in the league chat starts planning a championship parade or listing half their roster on the trade block.
But this is also the week where records begin acquiring context.
Tucson, Cedar Rapids and Boston can leave the weekend 3–0.
Chicago, Brooklyn and Vegas can leave it 0–3.
Cleveland and Miami can put No. 100 in the record book.
And somewhere in between all of that, six teams are going to spend Monday explaining why none of this means anything yet.
We'll see you then.