MLS Examiner Week 23 Power Ranking: my ballot

August 25, 10:56 PMChicago Fire ExaminerRoman Kashuba

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The Crew inch ever-closer to a second consecutive
celebration.  (AP Photo)

By virtue of stockpiling 15 points in five games, the Crew hang on to their top spot in the rankings, despite their idle week.  Columbus can thank the lackadaisical Dynamo for making this week's decision easy.  

1)  Columbus Crew - The high-flying Crew added a convincing win against Puerto Rico Islanders in the CONCACAF Champions' League to bring their winning streak to six in all competitions.  As Schelotto works his way back into full fitness, Columbus has to be favored to repeat as MLS Cup Champions.  

2)  Houston Dynamo - Back-to-back draws in league play have dropped Houston within a point of the surging Crew, setting up a mouthwatering September 13th meeting in Columbus that could decide the Supporters' Shield. 

3)  Chicago Fire - The patchwork back line fell apart against the Galaxy and the Rapids, but more troubling was the 160+ minutes without a shot on goal.  Fighting back from a 2-nil deficit shows this squad's tremendous heart and knack for scoring late goals, but falling asleep early in matches will doom the Fire sooner or later.  

4)  Chivas USA - Easily dispatching with New York and Salt Lake has kept the Goats afloat, but Chivas needs to heal up quickly if they are to entertain any thoughts of a long playoff run.  

5)  LA Galaxy - A thrilling scoreless draw in D.C. has left the Galaxy treading water in second place in the West.  Yet, with remaining matches in Houston and Columbus and a date hosting the Fire, L.A. will need to find their finishing touch to make waves in the post-season.  

6)  New England Revolution - A hat-trick from Kheli Dube propelled the goal-starved Revs to a much needed victory and into the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.  

7)  Colorado Rapids - The Rapids haven't put two victories together since the third week of the season, but with eight of their nine remaining matches against the bottom half of MLS, the Rapids should sneak into the playoffs.  Just don't look for Colorado to make much noise once they get there.  

8)  Seattle Sounders FC -  With just one win in their last six matches, the early-season expansion darlings have fully come down to earth.  Positioned squarely on the playoff bubble, Seattle needs results on the road to ensure their post-season lives.  

9)  Toronto FC - Desperately clinging to their playoff lives, Coach Chris Cummins has "challenged" his club to take 12 points from their remaining eight games.  With San Jose, Real Salt Lake and New York awaiting TFC at the end of the season, reaching 42 points should come down to taking three points from the next five games.  

10) D.C. United - United hasn't won in league play since mid-July turning their slow march down the standings into a near free fall.  

11) Real Salt Lake - Realistically, Real is just a short winning streak away from playoff glory.  But in actuality the club hasn't looked playoff bound since their April 25th disembowelment of the Revolution.  

12) Kansas City Wizards - Three straight losses and a nine-nil aggregate score has shown how far the Wizards have sunk.  The club has scored just one goal in all competitions since the beginning of July.  

13) FC Dallas - Just when you thought their season couldn't get any worse, Dallas handed New York their first win in 17 games.  

14) San Jose Earthquakes - The Quakes edged ever closer to the point-per-game mark with a 1-nil victory against fellow bottom-feeder Kansas City.   

15) New York Red Bulls - Shedding Juan Carlos Osorio energized the energy drinks, lifting the Red Bulls to a short-handed victory -- their first in 17 matches.  

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