Open Thread: Have the New England Revolution become MLS Cup favorites? | Q&A with the Armchair Analyst

Going back to the middle of August, the Revs are 10-1-1. I admit I thought that was a little bit misleading, since a bunch of those were single-goal victories that were, frankly, real struggles. They eeked it out against a bad Toronto FC team; they needed a late comeback against Houston; and they were quite honestly outplayed in the second half of a 2-1 win over Columbus, one in which New England's game-winner came courtesy of a botched offside call.

So last week I picked the Crew to win. I thought they'd do it comfortably. I was very, very wrong.

The Revs, as we all know, smashed Columbus into tiny little bits and would now need a choke job of "Brazil vs. Germany in the World Cup semifinals" proportions to fail in their quest to the make it at least to the Eastern Conference championship round.

From there they'd face either D.C. United, who looked entirely overwhelmed this past weekend, or the New York Red Bulls, who did the overwhelming. As good as RBNY have been, New England would be favored against either team.

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This season has been mostly about the dominance of the West, and all four teams left are legit. The Sounders could end up winning the first MLS treble; the Galaxy had the second-best single-season goal differential in league history; RSL are ageless and indomitable; and FC Dallas, with Mauro Diaz healthy, were the best team in the league back in March and April.

But the Revs are party crashers. They're playing the best soccer in the league right now, have answers at every line on the field, and I'm not going to risk picking against them again. Not after what they did to a Crew team that had been annihilating almost everyone over the last 10 weeks.

One other note about the Revs: Three of their four goals last weekend came from guys born and raised in the Greater Boston area, while 10 of the team's 11 starters are Yanks.

New England are playing beautiful, dynamic soccer, and they've done it with organic, locally sourced talent.