Imagine having to bite your tongue while Mike Burns, of all people, was complaining about your work performance...
What makes it improbable? They played well down the stretch and outplayed everyone up to the final. They played well and got the result they deserved. This season is really a Jekyll and Hyde act, so which one is "far more accurate"? You seem to be judging and setting expectations excluding the team MVP. Is that how you rate all teams?
It's statistically unlikely for a team to lose 9 of 10 then go 9-1-1. Are you telling me it isn't? That's the "improbable" portion of my statement. The revs did exactly that last year essentially relying on a career year from a player who had been slightly above avg in '12 and '13 then lights out in '14(Nguyen). They then benefitted as much if not more from a great signing (Jones), the latter being the catalyst for the late season run. If the revs had matched their record prior to the midsummer swoon (7-3-2) they may have missed the playoffs entirely - the margin of error was that small. It was very slim odds the revs would make the playoffs as of August, to expect them to repeat that feat 2 years in a row is damn near impossible. The difference is Nguyen never got going before the swoon this year, where last year at least he was scoring. Take away Lee's production and move Jones to CB because of their poor planning for the Soares departure and the revs are not able to provide the same threat going forward, while being more of an adventure at the back. It's really simple. With Jones and Nguyen firing on all cylinders: the revs are above average, playoff caliber. Without Jones and with Nguyen struggling: the revs are mediocre, not playoff caliber.
A team that is below the red line and finishes the season on a 9-1-1 run is improbable, no matter how it happens.
Yet the Revs have done similar stuff several times in their history, so how improbable is it really? When that 9-1-1 run is primed by signing a DP who checks off virtually all the critical boxes for a team that was pretty streaky up until then, it doesn't seem so improbable to me. Well, we need someone firing on all cylinders (and no one is right now). It doesn't have to be those two necessarily - even if they are the most likely candidates. In '13, Agudelo, Rowe and Fagundez were much more effective than they are now - if they could return to a level they've already proven to be capable of, that would be a big help.
Interesting that the reviewers appear to have disagreed with two of Kelly's PK decisions (per the Bent Musket). At the very least 3-2 would have felt better than 4 - 1 and would have made for a much more interesting finish. Certainly 4 -1 felt like a "fair" result from the run of play.