It is an almost difficult pill to swallow that in a week which saw two Houston Dynamo victories; the Dynamo are probably still in the same position they were last week. Sadly, this is the case. Even though Houston picked up victories against both Sporting Kansas City and Montreal Impact, everybody else vying for the 4th and 5th playoff spots also obtained important results.

Two weeks ago I stated that current trends indicated a 45 point finish would get us a playoff spot. That meant that winning out at home and getting a victory and two draws on the road would have gotten us there. Houston took a major step by getting a road victory at Kansas City, which according to my prediction meant that Houston would only need two more draws in 4 road games to fulfill the away game requirement.

Something terrible happened to Houston after that week. Since practically no result from those listed went our way, the new pace is 46 points. That not only means that Houston still needs to win out at home, but they must now try to pick up yet another victory on the road from the four remaining road trips. Obviously, the Dynamo can also fulfill this requirement by getting three draws out of 4 of those games, but that means that they would be accomplishing something they rarely did this season, not losing away games.

Currently the only team that we can realistically get a victory over on the road is Toronto FC on October 8th; which in itself is tragically hilarious since the Dynamo have probably the worst record in Canada in Major League Soccer. Considering Toronto FC’s recent skid this seems to be only realistic opportunity, though.

Playoffs Pace Explained

Currently, the Philadelphia Union and Columbus Crew are holding on to the 4th and 5th playoff spots. They are tied in points at 36 with a points per game average of 1.33. Taking into account their points per game average and the fact that they each have 7 games left, they are both currently predicted to end the season with around 45 points.

Houston would need to finish above that at 46 points in order to account for rounding up and the possibility of tie-breakers. The Dynamo currently sit at 31 points with 8 games left to be played. That leads us to the conclusion that the Houston Dynamo are in need of 15 points from their final 8 games or 15 out of 24 possible points.

Since we cannot depend highly on Houston’s road form, and we play better at home, winning out at home is a must. There are currently 4 home and 4 away games left; an even split. 4 home victories gets us twelve of those 15 desired points.

That would mean three points would be required from those 4 remaining road games. Those can be split by 3 draws or 1 victory. I know all of this seems repetitive, but I wanted to provide complete transparency on how I came up with these numbers. This also allows you to keep track at home or while scoreboard watching.

Rooting Interests for this Week

In order to make the playoffs an even more realistic goal. We are going to need some help from other teams around the league. Here are your rooting interests for the upcoming week of games:

*Home teams in bold

D.C United over New York Red Bulls (Wednesday, 7PM, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes)

(Wednesday, 7PM, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes) Chivas USA over Sporting Kansas City (Friday, 9:30PM, MLS Live) [Due to SKC’s point cushion this game is practically a non-factor]

over Sporting Kansas City (Friday, 9:30PM, MLS Live) [Due to SKC’s point cushion this game is practically a non-factor] Philadelphia Union draw New York Red Bulls (Saturday, 2PM, NBC Sports Network)

draw New York Red Bulls (Saturday, 2PM, NBC Sports Network) Montreal Impact over New England Revolution (Saturday, 6:30PM, MLS Live)

(Saturday, 6:30PM, MLS Live) Houston Dynamo over Columbus Crew (Saturday, 7:30PM, LIVE IN PERSON or CSN-Houston Plus and MLS Live)

over Columbus Crew (Saturday, 7:30PM, LIVE IN PERSON or CSN-Houston Plus and MLS Live) Chicago Fire draw Toronto FC (Saturday, 7:30PM, MLS Live)

draw Toronto FC (Saturday, 7:30PM, MLS Live) Vancouver embarrass FC Dallas [This game doesn’t affect us, but ALWAYS root against Dallas. Also no home team is bolded because Dallas plays in Frisco]

Facts to Keep in Mind