The Revolution’s current 7-6-6 record does not look bad, all things considered. The Revs still have a good shout to make the playoffs for an eighth straight season. With 11 games remaining on the schedule that means there are 33 points out there for the taking.

By my calculations, if the Revs gain points at the same rate as they have done over the first 19 matches they should squeeze into the post-season with 42 or 43 points. But I think they’ll do better than that.

The reason for that optimism is that Revs looked like their old selves on Thursday night. They marched into a heaving cauldron of noise at Qwest Field and did the business. It was a big win in their quest for post-season soccer.

On the lone goal in the match, Jeff Larentowicz, Edgaras Jankauskas and Steve Ralston were all involved in the tic-toc, build-up to Shalrie Joseph’s gutty second-effort finish.

Once they had the lead, the Revs then rode a bit of luck with Fredy Montero’s penalty miss, and then, under the watch of goalkeepers coach Gwynne Williams, New England stayed organized and compact to ride out the last forty-five minutes.

Special praise should go to Joseph and Larentowicz. The Revs’ central midfield axis bossed play in the middle third for most of the night.

I’m always surprised, by the way, when I hear people criticize Jeff for making possession passes. You can’t complain that the Revs give the ball away and at the same time get upset when your holding mid completes a short pass to help the team keep it.

Ralston, as we saw, is the man to play the defense-unlocking killer ball. If Jeffers wins a tackle and gets the ball to feet then the Revs are steps ahead. For me, Larentowicz was so much better than SFC counterpart Osvaldo Alonzo it wasn’t even close.

Other than that weird deflection that led to Montero getting nailed in the head with Steve Zakuani’s blast, Emmanuel Osei had a “moment” free game, which for me is noteworthy. Osei, as I’ve said, is a fantastic defender, and if he can get rid of a few of his unorthodox habits (wacky back passes, controlling the ball instead of clearing when under pressure in his own box, etc.) he is a top defender for MLS.

Again, why are people criticizing when Osei tries to pick out Jankauskas as a target man? Ed’s 6’4” and has a good movement and a clean first touch. Anyway, Osei and central defensive partner Darrius Barnes both played very well versus the Sounders.

Now, can the Revs produce more of the same at home on Sunday evening versus Real Salt Lake ? I say they will, especially since they have that 6-0 loss to RSL from earlier this season to avenge.

Salt Lake posted its largest margin of victory in team history – and condemned the Revs to their heaviest-ever regular season defeat – in RSL’s 6-0 win on April 25 at Rio Tinto Stadium. So, there’s bit of get-back at stake and an even more important three points in the playoff chase on the line.

Generally-speaking, home-field has not really been that big of an advantage in the Revs-RSL series, going back to 2005. The Revs are just 1-1-2 against Real in Foxborough and 2-2-1 in Utah. Salt Lake, however, is just 1-7-2 on the road this year with a mere five goals scored. It’s tough playing at low altitude, ya know?

Four of the six players who scored in the second half barrage against the Revs back in April will not be on the field this time around. Clint Mathis and Jamison Olave are suspended. Luis Miguel Escalada is no longer on the roster. Yura Movsisyan is listed as injured and likely won’t play.

Still, RSL has a couple of seriously dangerous attacking players in Javier Morales and Robbie Findley. All-star attacking mid Morales is a string-puller with great vision and a sublime touch on the ball. He also is adept at drawing fouls (he was the most-fouled player in the MLS going into the weekend) and can make a meal out of a challenge with the best of them. The Revs need to find that balance between not letting Morales turn to face the goal with the ball, and not giving away free kicks around the penalty area.

Findley, meanwhile, is a speedster who leads RSL in goals (8). The Revs have good speed at the back this year, but you can be sure Findley will get in behind once or twice.

In midfield, if Red and Dread aren’t too knackered from the quick turnaround from the Seattle trip, I like them to overrun RSL’s all-stars Kyle Beckerman and Will Johnson.

I have to mention, it’s incredibly strange to me that the USSF has assigned referee Edvin Jurisevic to work the middle for this Revs-RSL match. Maybe it was too late to change the plane tickets, but given Jurisevic’s apparent involvement in New England acting head coach Paul Mariner’s sending off just before halftime against Seattle on Thursday night, it seems like this particular assignment is setting up a tense situation in a spot where the powers that be should instead be looking to diffuse it.

Speaking of which, if I were Jurisevic, I wouldn’t be too happy with the man in the middle on Thursday night, Baldomero Toledo. While following through on Jurisevic’s apparent recommendation to dismiss Mariner, Toledo used some demeaning, officious-looking body language to excuse his own 4th official from the Mariner ejection “conversation”. Weird.  There’s a definite communication breakdown happening at several levels with the refs right now.

The men in charge of the officials, Paul Tamberino at the federation and Joe Machnik at the league, are experienced, respected soccer men who get the big picture. But it feels like the referees they develop and supervise are looking for an excuse right now, at least with the Revs coaches. I’m not suggesting that the coaches are angels, and there are certain boundaries that must be respected to keep an appropriate level of decorum in a match. But it’s not clear to me that the referees think that in a professional game that there is some leeway that has to be given, and that a coach questioning one of their calls is not the same as a personal affront.

Referees have a difficult job and they should be given a buffer to be human and make mistakes like we all do, but the refs also should try to get over the prickliness many of them seem to be displaying right now. Or maybe chose another line of work where they won’t hear so much yelling and language.

Jason Kreis, the RSL head coach, has had his run-ins with the refs, too, so it will be interesting to see if both benches can get through 90 minutes without any ejections.