High-water mark
511.3944
career-best overall
142.1% of a perfect 360
Their best day on record: 511.3944 at Smoke on the Water BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) — 142.1% of a perfect 360.
- Backyard
- 2023-04-28
Word Brothers BBQ
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1519
peak 1526 · rated over 5 contests ⓘ
Contests
6
in the data
First seen
2023-04-28
latest 2026-05-01
Best ToY finish
#271
Backyard 2024
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
1 podiums
Overall top-10s
1
of 6 contests
Avg finish
top 56%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
369.67
last 5 Backyard vs avg 369.67 (+0.00)
Walk rate
50%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±71.42
std dev of Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 170.47 · weakest Chicken (165.88)
Road miles
798
mi across 6 mapped stops · furthest 140 mi
Schedule strength
60%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1576)
Purse competed for
$107K
listed at 6 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
GCs in 2 state-championship entries
Backyard avg
369.67 / 360
5 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
This team cooks the Backyard series — its own boards, records and Team of the Year are here.
Storylines (4 found in this team's record)
Each card leads with the number that made it a story — read straight out of their results, no editorialising.
A tough matchup
4–1
behind in the head-to-head
Deviant Smoke ahead in 80% of their meetings
Deviant Smoke has come out ahead in 4 of their 5 shared contests.
The weak link
−4.6
points behind their best meat
Chicken is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 4.59 points below their pork ribs, and turns into a call 17% of the time against 50%.
- Chicken avg 165.88
- Pork Ribs avg 170.47
- 1 calls in 6 entries
A strong matchup
4–1
ahead in the head-to-head
Ahead in 80% of their meetings
They've finished ahead of Modest Meats in 4 of their 5 shared contests.
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The nearest teams in the power rankings, with a different reason on each card — six teams on one rating are rarely on it for the same reason. Rating decides who makes the list; where teams tie on it, the ones this team has actually cooked against come first, then teams at a similar point in their own career. KCBS doesn’t publish where a team is from, so nothing here is inferred from geography.
83 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#2525 of the rated field
- Contests
- 60
- GCs
- 1
- Top-10s
- 28%
- Peak
- 1575
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to Word Brothers BBQ)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team Word Brothers BBQ has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#2518 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1519
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 6, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#2514 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1519
No shared contest yet.
Level with Word Brothers BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#2524 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1519
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2023, 3 years before Word Brothers BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#2526 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 60%
- Peak
- 1519
No shared contest yet.
They were already cooking in 2013, 10 years before Word Brothers BBQ's first contest.
⚔ Head-to-head#2529 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1532
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2018, 8 years before Word Brothers BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-headFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modest Meats | 5 | 4 | 1 | 80% | ⚔ compare |
| Bentley Que | 5 | 2 | 3 | 40% | ⚔ compare |
| Deviant Smoke | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
| LEE LA Q | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
| NORALA BBQ TEAM | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 174.2744 | 159.9544 | 165.88 | top 56% |
| Pork Ribs | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 175.4400 | 162.8228 | 170.47 | top 35% |
| Pork | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 167.4056 | 167.4056 | 167.41 | top 58% |
| Brisket | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — |
“Calls” = top-10 category finishes (getting called to the stage). Scores here are the final weighted totals KCBS publishes; per-criterion appearance/taste/tenderness marks aren’t in the public results feed.
By state / province
| Where | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| AL | 5 | 0 | top 47% |
| TN | 1 | 0 | top 100% |
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 3 | 0 | top 69% |
| Large (40+) | 3 | 0 | top 43% |
Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poosa Q | 2 | 6 | 0 | top 39% | 2024-10-04 |
| Smoke on the Water BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2 | 13 | 0 | top 43% | 2024-04-26 |
The story so far (17 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
3 yrs
2023-04-28 → 2026-05-01
Busiest season
2024
2 contests
Contests a season
1.5
across 4 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
AL
5 of 6 contests · 2 states/provinces in all
Contests visited
4
2 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
6 entries · 0 wins · 1 calls
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
averages 170.47 · weakest Chicken (165.88)
Walk rate
50%
a top-10 call in 3 of 6 contests
Overall top-10 rate
17%
1 of 6 contests
Backyard average
369.67
out of 360 · 5 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
255
209–163 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
798
6 mapped stops · furthest 140 mi
Schedule strength
1576
average field rating faced — tougher than 60% of rated contests
Purse competed for
$107,100
listed at 6 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0
from 2 state-championship entries
Longest layoff
1 yrs
2024-10-04 → 2025-10-10
Power rating
1519
peak 1526 · #2523 of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2023
- First tracked contest Smoke on the Water BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First call Smoke on the Water BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score511.3944 Smoke on the Water BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Career-best overall score511.3944 Smoke on the Water BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First overall top-10 Poosa Q
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)175.4400 Poosa Q
- 2024
- Peak power rating (1526) Smoke on the Water BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
- 2026
- Most recent contest Dr. George Smith BBQ Brawl (COMPETITOR SERIES)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +16.5 | Poosa Q | 2023-10-05 |
| +7.5 | Smoke on the Water BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2023-04-28 |
| +1.9 | Smoke on the Water BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2024-04-26 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -3.7 | Poosa Q | 2024-10-04 |
| -3.4 | Scottsboro BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2025-10-10 |
Category scores over time
Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)
Where they finish (overall)
Best vs average (by meat)
How entries end (by meat)
Team of the Year rank by season
Season by season
| Season | Contests | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 100% | — | — |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 70% | 89.7% | 89.7% |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50% | top 60% | 93.2% | 92.3% |
| 2023 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 22% | 142.1% | 119.6% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-01 | Dr. George Smith BBQ Brawl (COMPETITOR SERIES) unrated Murfreesboro, TN | 23 / 23 (337.1204) | 11 (167.4288) | 11 (169.6916) | — | — |
| 2025-10-10 | Scottsboro BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Scottsboro, AL | 21 / 30 (322.7772) | 26 (159.9544) | 17 (162.8228) | — | — |
| 2024-10-04 | Poosa Q 🏅 Montgomery, AL | 41 / 59 (329.1088) | 47 (161.1316) | 35 (167.9772) | — | — |
| 2024-04-26 | Smoke on the Water BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Florence, AL | 20 / 40 (335.3716) | 30 (161.6572) | 8 (173.7144) | — | — |
| 2023-10-05 | Poosa Q 🏅 Montgomery, AL | 6 / 73 (349.7144) | 9 (174.2744) | 3 (175.4400) | — | — |
| 2023-04-28 | Smoke on the Water BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Florence, AL | 13 / 36 (511.3944) | 13 (170.8228) | 7 (173.1660) | 21 (167.4056) | — |
Career map (orange GC · green top-10 · grey the rest — tap a pin)
Team of the Year standings (rank per category by season — year links to the full board on kcbs.us)
| Year | Series | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 ↗ | Backyard | #351 (75 pts) | #410 (55 pts) | #347 (95 pts) | — | — |
| 2024 ↗ | Backyard | #271 (145 pts) | #302 (120 pts) | #223 (215 pts) | — | — |
| 2023 ↗ | Backyard | — | #179 (265 pts) | #150 (400 pts) | — | — |