As bleak as the postseason picture has looked during the final weeks of the Major League Soccer season, Crew SC actually still controlled its destiny.
Had it finished the season with five or six straight wins, despite only five wins in its first 27 games, the Crew would have crept into the final playoff spot. That control ended Wednesday in a 3-0 loss at D.C. United.
Now, in the final regular-season game at Mapfre Stadium, the Crew plays the Chicago Fire — the only team to be eliminated from the postseason. The list of what needs to happen for the Crew to make the postseason is as lengthy as the list of late-game goals allowed this year that have put the team in this predicament.