Soccer America senior editor Ridge Mahoney puts the MLS playoff picture in focus following MiamiÆs Sept. 5 loss to the MetroStars: Miami slipped to the brink of elimination Tuesday night by falling to the MetroStars 2-1 at the Meadowlands. The loss kept the Fusion two points out of the playoff zone with one match to play. Miami finishes the regular season at D.C. United on Saturday, but could be eliminated Wednesday if Dallas gets a point in Los Angeles and Columbus wins in Chicago. If Dallas wins and Columbus doesn’t, the Burn clinches a playoff berth. The Burn holds the tiebreaker edge in head-to-head play over both Columbus and Miami. New England can clinch Wednesday night if it gets at least a point at home against Kansas City and Columbus doesn’t win. The Revs lost the season series to Colorado (0-2-0) and Columbus (1-2-1), so it would lose tiebreakers with those teams. By blowing a 1-0 lead and losing to Chicago 2-1 Sunday, Colorado lost the chance to keep its playoff hopes in-house. Instead, the Rapids — which occupy the No. 7 seed — are not assured of a playoff spot even if they win their season finale against Los Angeles at Mile High Stadium on Friday. With 40 points, Colorado is within catching distance of Miami and Columbus, both with 38 points. If it finishes on equal points, Colorado would win tiebreakers against Dallas (2-0-0), New England (2-0-0) and Columbus (1-0-1), but loses the tiebreaker against Miami (1-3-0). It finished even with the Fusion at 1-1-2, so a tie in points between those two teams would be broken by goal difference in all games (the Revs lead minus-2 to minus-5). Kansas City briefly took the No. 1 seed by nudging Tampa Bay 1-0 Saturday. That loss also cost the Mutiny the Central Division lead, which is now the property of Chicago. The teams are tied with 51 points, but Chicago won the season series 2-0-2. By beating the Fusion 2-1 on Tuesday, the Metros regained the top seed. The Eastern Division title assures the Metros a spot in the top three seeds. The top 8 qualify. The ladder as of Sept. 5: Clinched: 1. MetroStars 54 points 1 game to play: @Revs 2. Kansas City 53 points 2 games to play: @Revs, @Mutiny 3. Chicago 51 points 2 games to play: Crew, @Crew 4. Tampa Bay 51 points 1 game to play: Wizards Chicago leads Central Division by winning season series with Tampa 2-0-2. 5. Los Angeles 50 points 2 games to play: Burn, @Rapids The next three: 6. New England 42 points 2 games to play: Wizards, Mutiny. Tie clinches playoff spot unless Crew wins. 7. Colorado, 40 points 1 game to play: @Galaxy. Galaxy could be tired in finale. 8. Dallas, 40 points 2 games to play: @ Galaxy, Quakes. Clinches with win Wednesday unless Crew wins. Still alive: 9. Columbus, 38 points 2 games to play: @Fire, Fire. Tough end to season. 10. Miami, 38 points 1 game to play: @United. Needs a miracle. D.C. United (30) and San Jose (29) are eliminated. The playoff brackets would look like this: 1. Metros vs. 8. Dallas, winner plays winner of 4. Tampa Bay vs. 5. Los Angeles 2. Kansas City vs. 7. Colorado, winner plays winner of 3. Chicago vs. 6. New England One scheduling quirk is that none of the teams fighting for a playoff spot meet in the final week of the season. They either play teams that have clinched or those that have been eliminated. The MLS playoffs will open Sept. 14 with the higher-seeded teams hosting the first game of a best-of-three series. The Metros have set Sept. 15 as the date for their playoff opener.