The Crew are looking like a playoff team

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2012 Power Rankings: September 3
 RK (LW)TEAMRECCOMMENT
San Jose1 (1)San Jose16-6-5The Quakes needed some key saves from goalkeeper Jon Busch early, including a suspected handball outside the box, before turning on the style to thump Chivas USA 4-0, with three of the tallies coming from free kicks.
Seattle Sounders FC2 (2)Seattle Sounders FC12-6-8After a long week that included an away trip to Trinidad, the Sounders will take the road point they earned in Dallas. The sight of Steve Zakuani making his first league start -- and assisting on Mauro Rosales' goal -- will warm Sigi Schmid's heart.
Kansas City3 (4)Kansas City15-7-5SKC continues to pile up results, securing its fourth win in five games with a come-from-behind 2-1 triumph over Toronto FC. Newcomer Oriol Rosell scored the game winner to keep Kansas City within sniffing distance of Supporters' Shield leader San Jose.
New York Red Bulls4 (3)New York Red Bulls13-7-7Wilman Conde's late equalizer allowed the Red Bulls to snag a road draw against D.C. United, helping New York overcome some very suspect goalkeeping from Bill Gaudette. The Red Bulls have two more weeks off until their next outing against Columbus.
Chicago5 (6)Chicago13-8-5The Fire took advantage of two early gifts by the Houston Dynamo and went on to claim a 3-1 win in a key Eastern Conference showdown, while the contributions of recent arrivals Alvaro Fernandez and Alex will bring a smile to Frank Klopas' face.
Los Angeles6 (7)Los Angeles13-11-4The return of Omar Gonzalez in the back has also coincided with Juninho's return to his 2011 form. The Brazilian's goal led L.A. to a 2-0 win over Vancouver, and the Galaxy defense chalked up another clean sheet.
Houston7 (5)Houston11-7-9Given the way manager Dominic Kinnear has rotated his squad in the past couple of weeks, there's no excuse for the kind of giveaways that put Houston in an early 2-0 hole against Chicago. Houston is winless in four and in a dogfight for a playoff spot.
Real Salt Lake8 (8)Real Salt Lake14-10-4An 84-minute weather delay meant RSL had to work overtime against D.C. United. But Real's perseverance was rewarded with a badly needed 1-0 win courtesy of Will Johnson's second-half tally.
Columbus9 (10)Columbus12-8-6Two dramatic stoppage-time wins catapulted the Crew into fifth place in the Eastern Conference. They are looking more like a playoff team with each passing game. Federico Higuain showed no signs of cooling off, either.
Montreal Impact10 (9)Montreal Impact12-14-3With so many more games played than its conference rivals, Montreal had little margin for error. That made Saturday's stoppage-time loss to Columbus an absolute crusher, especially after Marco Di Vaio gave the Impact a lead.
DC United11 (11)DC United12-10-5United's onerous stretch of five games in 14 days is finally over, but not before the Black-and-Red dropped a 1-0 decision at Real Salt Lake after tying New York at home in midweek. Are we witnessing another late-season DCU collapse?
Philadelphia Union12 (12)Philadelphia Union7-13-5The Union named John Hackworth their manager on a permanent basis, but Philly continued to find wins hard to come by. The Union fell victim to Columbus' late-game magic in midweek before playing out a 0-0 tie with New England.
FC Dallas13 (14)FC Dallas8-12-9Dallas badly needed a win at home against Seattle, but could only manage a draw. Now its crunch match against Vancouver in two weeks takes on even more importance, especially since the Whitecaps have a game in hand.
Vancouver Whitecaps14 (13)Vancouver Whitecaps10-11-7Manager Martin Rennie tried to shake things up in Vancouver by tweaking his lineup, but there was no change in the team's fortunes as the Whitecaps fell to L.A. 2-0. Fortunately for Vancouver, Dallas has stumbled in recent weeks.
Portland Timbers15 (17)Portland Timbers7-13-6Portland has two things it didn't have a little over a week ago. A new coach for next season in Caleb Porter and a two-game win streak thanks to Friday's 1-0 triumph over Colorado.
Toronto FC16 (15)Toronto FC5-16-6Injuries forced manager Paul Mariner to put out a makeshift side against Kansas City. All the more reason for TFC fans to gnash their teeth when goalkeeper Freddy Hall failed to stop what looked to be a routine save on Rosell's game-winner.
Chivas USA17 (16)Chivas USA7-11-7The Goats showed plenty of fight in coming back from three goals down to tie New England in midweek, but a failure to convert some early chances was ultimately punished by a clinical San Jose side to the tune of a 4-0 defeat.
Colorado18 (18)Colorado8-17-2Not even a solid debut from new midfielder Hendry Thomas could prevent the Rapids from losing to Portland. The Rapids occupy last place in the Western Conference, and to think this was a solid playoff team less than a year ago.
New England19 (19)New England6-14-7New England's defense finally managed to put up a zero, but the Revs still saw their winless streak reach 10 games with a 0-0 draw against Philly. Even worse is the news that forward Saer Sene tore his ACL in a 3-3 midweek draw with Chivas USA.