MLS Cup, FC Dallas vs. Colorado Rapids: Unfortunate Ending Mars Perfectly Respectable Season

It’s unfortunate that so much of the postgame commentary is going to be negative. This was an ugly game, after all. There was one good goal and a pair of rather ugly ones. The referee lost control early and the game was far too physical. The crowd was nonexistant before extra time had even started. A showcase this was not.

But it shouldn’t overshadow the Rapids’ winning. Colorado is as worthy a champion as just about any other in MLS Cup history.

They won three playoff matches without needing penalties, as many as any champion during eight years of the current playoff structure. Their regular-season goal difference was +12, better than seven of the previous 14 MLS Cup winners. At 1.533 points per match during the regular season, they were better than five other Cup winners.

The Rapids had two of the best strikers in MLS, two very good central midfielders, a decent goalkeeper and a solid group of defenders. Their starting 11 was as good as any in MLS.

Maybe history will be more kind to this team than the immediate aftermath was when the immediate consensus seemed to be “Ugh.”

That’s the problem with the current playoff structure, though. Too much is decided in too short a time. A roughly 30-game schedule is boiled down to a four-game playoff run in which the champion often wins no more than two games without needing penalty kicks.

In Colorado’s case, they never had to play the Supporters’ Shield winner, the team with the second most points or a regular-season conference champion.

We shouldn’t hold that against them, but we should keep searching for a better way to crown our champion.