Red Bulls Chasing The Playoffs?!

By: Dave Martinez | August 25th, 2009

Indulge with me, if you will, in the new, optimistic, feel good Red Bulls story, as I take you through what needs to be happen for the team to make the playoffs.

Yes Jim. The playoffs.

If the Red Bulls win every game from now till the end of the season, the best they will be able to pull off is a solid 34 points for the season. It has been a fairly well established fact in the post – 12 team era MLS that a team needs at least 38 points to sniff the postseason. Here is what it will take:

- Again, I must stress, RBNY can not lose nor tie a SINGLE game.
- Toronto, and New England stand with 30 points TODAY. TFC has played 22 games, while New England has only played 20. DC United, with 29 points, has played 22 games as well.
- None of these teams plays each other till seasons end.
- Only Columbus and Chicago seem to be a lock for the top two spots in the East, leaving the three mentioned teams above in contention for the remaining two.
- New England faces three quality opponents four times towards the end of their run against Columbus twice, Seattle and the Fire once. Other games are against bottom dwellers. 5 of 10 games are away.
- DC faces a light opposition, but alot of games, as they balance the regular season playoff push with the Champions League tournament, which will inevitably take its toll on the team. Home field is on their side, as they only have 2 games away out of the final 8.
- TFC’s schedule includes hit and miss teams, such as RSL and the Galaxy, along with two trips to ever unpredictable Colorado. 5 of 8 games are away.
- These teams must not WIN nor accumulate points by TIE in order for the tides to flow Red Bulls way.

In a perfect storm, DC United would choke itself out of competition, drowning in a sea of games till the very last day of this campaign. They face more congestion in their schedule then the pills felt in Michael Jacksons stomach (too soon?).

TFC being away from home is not going to help their prospects either. Their three home games include a shoe in victory against the Earthquakes, a visit from RSL and a face off against Colorado. New England, meanwhile, has the most room for error against a variety of teams. Provide that they can continue to overcome injury issues, New England seems to have the least hectic schedule of the teams, which will create a positive atmosphere for the final push of the season.

As for Red Bull New York, they host the Crew, Revolution, TFC and the Wizards and will be guests at RSL, San Jose and Chivas. Don’t count on 7 straight wins people. But IF THAT HAPPENS, they may have some sort of a shot, even facing two of the three teams they would be fighting for that final slot. Again, this is provided that TFC, DC and New England do not accumulate more than one win and possibly a tie in their final games, but hey! As Lloyd Christmas would say . . .