Is it my imagination, or did the whole complexion of the Revolution’s 2009 season appear to change over a four-day span? OK, there’s still one third of the season schedule yet to go. And the Revs have not come closed to having clinched a playoff spot. But with their back-to-back wins against Seattle and Salt Lake, New England has rocketed up the power ratings charts and put everyone watching MLS on notice that Steve Nicol’s men are a force to be dealt with.

The Real Salt Lake game was particularly encouraging because of some of the players on the field for the Revs. Obviously, it was great to see Kheli Dube notch the hat trick. This was a well-earned reward for a man who struggled late last season and for stretches earlier this year, but battled through it and is really seeing his game come together. The finishing was obviously terrific, but Dube’s holdup play, movement off the ball and overall hustle were terrific as well.

And what about Mo Castro? There were some who may have thought he wasn’t even on the team anymore – but in his first start since last October; Castro may have had his best game in a New England uniform. Wells Thompson and Mike Videira had good outings, too. Dube, Castro, Thompson and Videira are not who we’ve come to think of as regular starters which means that the Revs may have more squad depth than people have been giving them credit for.

Matt Reis also deserves big credit. Though it helps to have a settled back line, Reis has allowed just four goals in seven games since July 11, for a 0.57 goals against average, four shutouts and a 4-1-2 record. On Sunday evening, Reis made eight saves. He leads the league in saves (79) in just 15 games this campaign. He’s averaging nearly two more saves per game than any other keeper in the top ten list and his saves percentage (82.3) is number one in MLS.

So, as good as the young Revs back line has been, Reis has been a great deal more effective than some people have been willing to admit. Yes, he has had a couple of mistakes this summer. Newsflash – every goalie does or we’d have almost no goals scored.

If you watched RevsWrap this week, Greg Lalas and I showed the Revs upcoming schedule and circled three of the Revs’ four upcoming games as ones they should win (the exception being Chivas USA in LA, a point from that would be fine). But that may be getting ahead of ourselves. San Jose is 2-1-1 in their last four games and may have turned the corner. Kansas City is never an easy game for the Revs. And New York is reenergized and will be looking to play spoiler with little left to lose this season.

But (and you knew there was a but) if the Revolution can get nine or 10 points from those games – wow…then they are 95 of the way into the postseason. OK, that’s too much. But these last two games have put everything in a new light….

In the Net this week features San Jose TV play-by-play man John Shrader, Monique Walker of the Boston Globe and Jonah Freedman of SI.com.