I'm Not Down

Sorry for going AWOL for a couple of days, things have been pulling me away from this writeup.  At this point I assume everyone reading knows the details of our smash and grab win in San Jose on Saturday.  Colorado was blitzed by the Earthquakes but Steffen stood tall and kept us in the game while Bassett, Fernandez, and Calvin Harris teamed up for a couple of goals against the run of play to steal the 3 points on the road.

This is the first time in their 30 years that the Rapids have started the first 4 league games undefeated and nobody should be complaining about 8 points in those 4 games.  You are who your results say you are and right now that says that we're a top 10 team in the league, which is a great start.

That said I see storm clouds on the horizon.  Colorado has the worst expected Goals Against in the league at almost 2 a game.  Steffen leads the league (tied) with the most saves.  And the eye test is that teams are getting a lot of shots off.  We've faced 80 shots, 26 on target, in 4 games.  San Jose has the most shots in the league right now, at 67, with 31 on target.  So essentially the Rapids defense is allowing shots at a rate higher than the best offensive team is creating them.  And if you're wondering our other 3 opponents are all outside the top 10 in shots and in the bottom half of the league for shots on target, so this isn't just "we've played some of the best offenses".

We can't rely on Steffen saving our bacon every game, especially this week since he's with the National Team and it will be Beaudry in goal.  The good news is that the Timbers are arguably the second worst offense in the league (sorry New England) so if there's a time to get better this week is it.  Of course fourth-to-last in shots/shots on target is...the Rapids.  So work to do on offense too.

But again, you are what your record says you are and we're a good team right now.  The key is to not let our good results blind us to where we need to improve.

Man of the Match: Zack Steffen, obviously.  12 saves, second all-time in team history (Scott Garlick against DC on July 4th, 2001 had 13).  He has played his way into real contention for the Nats and I hope/expect to see him starting during this Nations League weekend.