Crunchy Power Rankings: Week 26

Nearly 4 weeks after the previous edition the CPR has become pretty stable. There are only 4 teams that gained or lost 10 or more points (versus 7 in the last update), but that list contains some interesting teams.

Here are the new rankings:

So among the double digit movers we have Seattle. Their loss at Houston hasn't hurt them much in the rankings. Lots of good teams lose in Houston in August. Instead, the fact that they have the only away win in the last 19 MLS matches (over Toronto) is a sign that they're doing well in a league drunk on parity. The stat that was really killing them was net shots in the box, and now they've climbed into the top half of the league in that stat. And with the addition of Dempsey, I wouldn't be Dempseyed if they continued to Dempsey in that regard.

The other double digit movers are all sinking. Chicago has flirted with a late playoff run since the addition of Mike Magee and they were undefeated in 4 up to their loss to New England last week, but the CPR is not impressed with their play. Their next three matches are against Kansas City, Houston, and Seattle, so if they're going to stay in it they'll need some impressive wins.

Then we have New York, who's dropped into an erratic mediocrity. They scored 7 goals in two games against Sporting and Real Salt Lake, then scored 0 in two games against Columbus and Philadelphia. Figure that out. They're still near locks to make the playoffs in the East, but are in real danger of dropping out of the top 3 and into the wild card game.

And finally there's Real Salt Lake. They were already low in the rankings in the last update and now they've dropped further. My question last month was whether they'd follow the path of previous low-ranked Supporters Shield leaders FC Dallas and Montreal and drop out of the top spot. And the answer is. . kind of. They're still on top by points, but have some games in hand on Montreal and Portland, who are both ahead of them in points per game. If the CPR is any judge at all, the Timbers are the best bet to come out of that three team race, and indeed they match up tonight at Jeld Wen.

Chivas has returned to a legendarily low value and Sporting maintains their high standing. Given the lack of competitive Eastern Conference teams around them, they're probably the most likely team to reach the MLS Cup at this point, though the odds are it'll be an away trip to a Western Conference venue.