Losing is never fun, and it always means, on some level, your team failed. But there are degrees of losses. Some are disastrous (the Chicago Fire’s 5-1 loss to Nashville comes to mind). Some are confusing (the 2-1 loss to Toronto FC, where the Fire had 31 shots). Some are infuriating (take your pick this season, but the 2-0 loss early in the season to the Red Bulls is up there).
But some are respectable. Not ideal, but fine. For the Fire, Wednesday night’s 1-0 loss to New York City FC at Yankee Stadium would probably fall under that category.