Revolution Struggle to Clinch Playoff Birth

The tale of two seasons continues for the New England Revolution after suffering a humiliating 3-1 defeat versus the Chicago Fire, the worst team in the league based on standings.

After quickly asserting their dominance early on in the 2015 campaign, the Revolution had a abysmal start to their summer, in which they produced seven points over the span of June and July, producing a 2-6-1 record.

The team was able to turn things around from their though after superstar Jermaine Jones returned from his sports hernia surgery in August. With his return, the team was able to quickly shoot up the Eastern Conference standings, where at one point, they found themselves in sole possession of first place.

However, with this loss to the Fire, the Revolution have now failed to clinch a spot in this years postseason for the third consecutive week in a row and have now dropped to third place in the Eastern Conference behind the New York Red Bulls and D.C. United.

"“All three of the games were different in how frustrating they’ve been,” said Revolution head coach Jay Heaps. “Whatever the situation is, for today we didn’t have a great second half. And that’s frustrating. Points and all that those go with it. It’s more frustrating from a performance standpoint.”"

Oct 3, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; New England Revolution midfielder Jermaine Jones (13) reacts after a foul call against the Chicago Fire during the second half at Toyota Park. The Chicago Fire defeat the New England Revolution 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

“We are not pointing fingers.We will all look in the mirror and take the loss like men together and look to win at home in two weeks.”

-Chris Tierney”

While the Revolution were able to put together an impressive first half at Toyota Park, scoring the only goal of the half off of a Juan Agudelo header, it seemed as though they didn’t have the mental stability of maintaining the lead in the second half. Between sloppy giveaways in the middle of the pitch, a lack of ability to clear the ball out of their own defensive third, and an overall lethargic approach towards winning possession, it felt as though the Revolution played themselves out of clinching a spot in this postseason once again.

"“I thought it was a tale of two halves,” said Heaps. “We came in with the right mentality, and it was a very good [first] half, and the second half we absolutely lost our way. We did not play well.”"

While there were not many happy words from Revolution players after the game, the team will still have two more chances to clinch a spot in the 2015 playoffs, starting two weeks from now, when the Revolution travel back home to Gillette Stadium, where they will face the Montreal Impact, a team they lost to two weeks ago.