Chicago is on fire in the East

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2012 Power Rankings: September 17
 RK (LW)TEAMRECCOMMENT
San Jose1 (1)San Jose17-6-5The Quakes have a reputation for playing direct, but one had only to watch Alan Gordon's well-constructed second tally against Chivas USA to realize Frank Yallop's side can play pretty when needed.
Chicago2 (5)Chicago15-8-5When manager Frank Klopas kept adding attacking pieces to his roster, you wondered if it would hurt team chemistry. Not so, as Sherjill MacDonald, Alex, and Alvaro Fernandez all found the net in a 3-1 win over Montreal.
Seattle Sounders FC3 (2)Seattle Sounders FC13-6-9The Cascadia Cup is still within reach for Seattle after its 1-1 draw against Portland. Winning the Supporters' Shield is a possibility as well, and Seattle will have a huge chance to make up ground when it hosts San Jose next weekend.
Kansas City4 (3)Kansas City15-7-6C. J. Sapong played his part in making up for the absence of injured teammate Teal Bunbury, as his stoppage-time equalizer against Houston allowed SKC to stay ahead of the pack in the Eastern Conference.
New York Red Bulls5 (4)New York Red Bulls14-7-7Thierry Henry turned on the style in New York's 3-1 win over Columbus, which saw Rafa Marquez return to the lineup and actually contribute something positive. Dax McCarty continued his outstanding season with a header for the game-winner.
Los Angeles6 (6)Los Angeles14-11-4The Galaxy are peaking at the right time, with a 2-0 win over Colorado just the latest impressive performance. Not only is the team winning, but the champs are deeper than they were a year ago. No one will want to face this side in the playoffs.
Houston7 (7)Houston12-7-10The Dynamo probably would have taken a 1-1 draw heading into Friday's tilt in Kansas City. But following Sapong's aforementioned goal, Dominic Kinnear is hoping the two points dropped don't come back to haunt his side at the end of the season.
Real Salt Lake8 (8)Real Salt Lake14-11-4With a CONCACAF Champions League tilt on Tuesday against Tauro F.C., RSL was grateful for the weekend off. With the playoffs looming, manager Jason Kreis will want to see his team get results with more consistency.
Columbus9 (9)Columbus12-10-6Two straight losses have halted the Crew's surge up the Eastern Conference table, and complicating matters further is the bruised foot that saw Federico Higuain start last weekend's game on the bench.
DC United10 (11)DC United13-10-5In a week that saw DCU lose captain Dwayne De Rosario to a season-ending knee injury, United came through with a rejuvenating 2-1 win over New England thanks to goals from Chris Pontius and unlikely hero Lewis Neal.
FC Dallas11 (12)FC Dallas9-12-9Julian De Guzman has quietly strung together some solid performances since being traded from Toronto to Dallas, but the Canadian international put an exclamation mark on his Texas tenure with a priceless stoppage-time winner against Vancouver.
Montreal Impact12 (10)Montreal Impact12-15-3Montreal's playoff hopes have flat-lined following a second consecutive road defeat, in this case to Chicago. If the Impact do fall short in their playoff quest, they can look to their poor road form as the problem -- seven away points all season.
Portland Timbers13 (15)Portland Timbers7-14-7The Timbers delivered a gritty performance in a 1-1 draw against Seattle, but that's expected at Jeld-Wen Field. Away games this week at San Jose and Real Salt Lake will reveal if Portland is any closer to curing its Jekyll and Hyde ways.
Philadelphia Union14 (13)Philadelphia Union7-13-6The Union eked out a draw at woeful Toronto thanks to Sheanon Williams' late equalizer. It was just the eighth road goal of the season for the Union. Only Portland's mark of six road tallies is worse.
Vancouver Whitecaps15 (14)Vancouver Whitecaps10-12-7The Whitecaps are officially in free-fall after dropping their fifth in a row, a soul-crushing stoppage-time defeat at Dallas. Amazingly, Vancouver still controls its postseason fate thanks to having four of its last five matches at home.
Colorado16 (17)Colorado9-18-2Colorado looked every bit like a team playing out the string in falling to L.A. 2-0. There's still time for the Rapids to play the role of spoilers as they take on a reeling Vancouver side on Sunday.
New England17 (18)New England7-15-7As the Revolution's playoff hopes were officially extinguished, New England delivered a performance against D.C. United that was in line with its season -- loads of creativity, poor finishing and untimely breakdowns in defense.
Toronto FC18 (16)Toronto FC5-17-7TFC's struggles are best illustrated in its failure to close out games. Toronto has conceded four game-winners after the 80th minute and another four equalizers during the same period. TFC's latest letdown came when it failed to hold off Philly.
Chivas USA19 (19)Chivas USA7-13-7The Goats were left fuming over the fourth official's role in awarding San Jose a first-half penalty. Never mind that the referees correctly penalized Chivas defender John Valencia for his forearm shiver to Alan Gordon. Chivas is winless in seven..