Sep 28, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Sounders FC midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro (10) applauds the fans as he walks to the locker room following a 1-0 victory against the Chicago Fire at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

The Seattle Sounders are in a playoff spot for the first time this season and fans are starting to realize that this season is far from over.

Who knew that Sounders fans would be singing and dancing right now? It feels like just yesterday that the Rave Green went 12 games with 8 losses. But thanks to the addition of Nicolas Lodeiro and Brian Schmetzer taking over as interim (for now) head coach, the Sounders have found their way above the red line with a win against the Chicago Fire Wednesday night. The best part about all of this is that Seattle still have a game in hand over Portland and Sporting Kansas City. That game is a home match against the Houston Dynamo, a game that should be fairly easy for the Sounders.

But what has changed so much about this team? Though Lodeiro has been a huge part in it, he can’t be the only reason. Everyone expected the Sounders to be better with his addition, but no one expected them to be destroy-LA-at-home good. So what’s the difference?

I think it is Brian Schmetzer.

I’ll be honest with you: when I saw the official news that Sigi was sacked, I thought it was a huge mistake. Sigi had given us so much over the years; so many great memories and trophies. But when he hit a hard time with the squad he was given, they got rid of him. I thought it was only going to get worse from there.

To my surprise, Schmetzer took over and now the Sounders are in 6th place in the Western Conference and have gone 10 games with only 1 loss. Schmetzer won’t take credit for the way Seattle is playing, though.

That is a committed group. From the day I took over, they’ve given me everything. They’ve given everything for themselves. They truly believe that they have ownership of the team.

Now, with 4 games left of the regular season, Seattle has a chance to make the playoffs for their 8th consecutive year. One could argue that they even have a shot at making a deep playoff run. Regardless of where you stand on that, Schmetzer, Lodeiro, and the entire Sounders team has restored my faith in Rave Green and I once again believe that the sky is the limit for Seattle.