For much of the season, second place Sporting Kansas City have been said to be overachieving because of their lack of quality opponents. Of the team’s five wins on the season, only two are against teams currently above the (admittedly very early) red playoff line (San Jose Earthquakes and Houston Dynamo). The other three wins over Austin FC, the Vancouver Whitecaps and the New York Red Bulls, are against “lesser” teams. Even the “good” teams aren’t consistently good.
Add to that the fact that Sporting KC have played more games than literally every other team in the league in 2021 and that second place positions seems more tenuous.