On September 5th, 2015 the Rapids hit what we hoped was their low point. This was the infamous Joe Nasco game where the Rapids went down a man in the first minute in LA, and eventually set an all time worst team loss (and at the time a top 3 all-time league loss) at 6-0. Sadly, that wasn't the low point even of that era.
Three years later, on August 25th 2018, it got worse. This time at home the Rapids would go down a man in the 9th minute and a second man in the 45th minute, and again lose 6-0. This time though, it was to their Rocky Mountain Cup rivals FSL. That is still the worst loss in team history, because it was at home and who the opponent was.
On Saturday Colorado repeated their 2015 game, losing 6-0 on the road to the Union. This one might even be a little worse than that, considering that they were down 3-0 in the first 30 minutes while playing 11v11, then got a red card and gave up the last 3 goals in the last 10 minutes of the match. Against LA all 6 goals were given up down a man (since the red card was in the first minute). Colorado showed up not ready to play as individuals or a team and the second best squad in the league was surgical in taking advantage of that.
There's no need to break down the details of this game. The match exposed everything the fans have been saying about the team this season. No depth, no pride, and not enough skill or effort. Fraser put out a B lineup, trying to rest players for the more winnable games in this 3 game week, and our reserves are no longer good enough. The only players in the starting XI for this one that I'm confident I'd be happy to see in the starting lineup for the opening game of 2023 were Yarbrough and Rosenberry. Everyone else needs to be playing for their jobs the rest of the season (there are players like Rubio and Price who didn't start for various reasons that don't need to worry about their jobs either). Even including the subs only Drew Moor should have a guaranteed spot in 2023 (if he doesn't retire).
The worst part about it, as a fan, is that we see the same disinterest from the organization as we saw after the other two 6-0 losses. No attempt to address it, no statements by leadership or even the players* taking responsibility, and no reason for the fans to think the club sees the deeper problems this team has right now. For a Front Office that has talked about earning the fans' trust, the last two months has done nothing but throw away whatever they had managed to earn. Right now they look like every other leadership team this club has had over the last 15+ years.
If anyone was still thinking about the playoffs, this weekend pretty much put paid to that idea. The Rapids looked nothing like a playoff team while at the same time the teams they are chasing made a strong move to separate themselves from the back. The playoff line is now at 47 points, to to get to 48 and avoid any tiebreaker scenarios Colorado would need 16 points in the last 7 games, a Bodmer Line of 2.29 pts/game. And we still have to go to Austin, who just ripped the Shield winners apart on Friday night. Its quite possible that the Rapids could lose to Nashville on Wednesday and DC on Sunday, leaving us a max possible total of 47.
Obviously, nobody deserves a MOTM award after this one. On to Nashville with a patchwork defense against the 2nd scorer in the league.
* - if I remember correctly a couple of players did make an extra effort to make a statement taking responsibility after the FSL loss
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