Toronto FC's playoff hopes on life support after 3-1 loss to Red Bulls

And that just about does it.

A season that began with such promise after the organization proclaimed their high-profile offseason maneuvering to be "a bloody big deal" is almost sure to end with Toronto FC missing the playoffs again.

Desperately needing a win from Saturday night's game against the New York Red Bulls to have any real shot at playing in the postseason, TFC slumped to a 3-1 loss, which dropped their odds of making the playoffs from 18.2% to 4.9% according to Sports Club Stats. Three points would have boosted those odds to 56.6% with two games remaining.

"Our playoff drive is over," acknowledged head coach Greg Vanney after the loss.

The gap between sixth-place Toronto (40 points) and the fifth-place Columbus Crew (46 points) in the Eastern Conference standings is now six points after the Crew rallied late to beat Philadelphia 3-2 on Saturday. Mathematically the Reds are still in the race but they'll be eliminated after the Crew earn their next point.

TFC only has one way in. They must win their final two games, home against Montreal and on the road at New England, Columbus must lose their last two matches, at New York and home to Philadelphia, and Houston (on 39 points with a game in hand) must lose or draw at least once over their next three games.

Despite shocking the league earlier in the year by adding Jermain Defoe and Michael Bradley to the roster, Toronto FC finds itself back in the same place it has finished in each of their eight seasons in MLS — out of the playoffs and still searching for the right formula to get there.