Playoffs Still Possible?

With the New England Revolution eight points out of the playoffs with nine games remaining, there is little doubt the playoffs are a long shot, but is it still realistic to say they have a chance? According to Sports Club Stats, the Revolution would need to finish the season with 42 points to have a greater than 50% chance of making the play-offs and only winning out the season would guarantee them a spot. This means the Revs need at least 21 of a possible 27 remaining points.

In order to do so, the Revs would need to win 7 of 9 or go 6-0-3, neither of which seems very realistic with 5 of the remaining games on the road where they have managed only one win all season. The Revs would need to do even better than their impressive 5-0-1 finish that vaulted them into the play-offs in 2002.

Matt Reis, who has been in MLS longer than any other current Revolution player, knows the team is in a tough spot. (Photo by Art Donahue/artdonahue.com)

But what do the players think?

Starting goalkeeper Matt Reis put things in perspective after Wednesday’s disappointing loss in the SuperLiga final.

“We have a handful of games left and we’re pretty far out of the playoff picture,” the 13-year MLS veteran said. “We’ve really got to hunker down and get some results. We’re probably going to have to win 90% of the games left.”

Second-year defender Kevin Alston expressed similar sentiments.

“You can’t dwell on [the SuperLiga loss],” he said. “We know that we have a tough task ahead of us. We need to start getting points. Our playoffs start now so that’s all we’re thinking about now.”

Serbian attacker Marko Perovic, who just joined the team this season, was perhaps the most realistic about the Revs play-off chances.

“[SuperLiga] was important because I think we don’t have chance for playoffs and we only look for this game,” he said after Wednesday’s loss. “We must look for next season.”

Anything less than win on Saturday against Seattle at Gillette Stadium and even the most optimistic hopes of the play-offs will be all but erased.

“We need to win Saturday to still have a chance for the playoffs,” said Roberto “Betu” Linck.

The Revs clearly know they can’t afford any slip ups going forward, but whether or not they are capable of avoiding them in a tough nine game stretch to end the season is an entirely different issue.

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