Photo credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 28 of the 2017 MLS season.

1. Toronto’s March Continues

Toronto FC’s season for the ages continues to pick up steam.

TFC have now won their last six games by a combined score of 21-3. They pounded the LA Galaxy 4-0 on Saturday night in Carson with Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore resting back in Canada.

Should they take care of business next week against Montreal and New England, or if NYCFC drops points against Houston in Hartford, the Reds will clinch the Supporters’ Shield earlier than any team in the history of the league.

Depth has been a massive reason why. Tosaint Ricketts, who hadn’t started since May, walked into the team in LA and scored twice. Nick Hasler, signed from Liechtenstein in July, has been tremendous – and the list goes on and on.

TFC has the kind of depth that an MLS club couldn’t possibly have amassed even five years ago. The vision for TAM is that it would better the middle of clubs’ rosters, and Toronto has been a shining example of how it’s working.

2. Meanwhile For LA…

After a very solid performance yielded a point in Sigi Schmid’s return to Seattle last weekend, the Galaxy went limp again on Saturday night – losing at home for a staggering ninth time this season.

LA’s performance so riled their manager that the club had to clear reporters away from the locker room door so that they couldn’t hear Schmid lay into his team after the game.

Considering the Galaxy’s stature – and considering their financial outlay – their 2017 season has to be considered one of the most shocking in MLS history.

After eight straight seasons of playoff soccer and three championships, LA sits in 21st place in the league – behind an expansion team in Minnesota United that some thought could be one of MLS’s worst sides ever. It’s been an amazing fall from grace.

3. What Happened to Montreal?

About a month ago, it looked like Montreal Impact were gearing up to go on another one of the late-season runs that colored Mauro Biello’s first two seasons at the helm of the club.

The Impact had, at that point, won four straight and climbed up to the Eastern Conference red line after a characteristically slow start to the season.

Since then, however, the wheels have fallen off. Starting with a loss to Toronto at the end of August, the Impact have dropped four straight – and their 3-2 to Minnesota on Saturday night at Stade Saputo seems like the back-breaker.

Montreal now trails the Red Bulls by six points for the East’s final playoff spot – and with Patrice Bernier’s retirement looming, the futures of Igancio Piatti and Ballou Tabla up in the air, and Joey Saputo at the helm, this could be the end of the road for an Impact team that ever-so-close to MLS Cup last season.

4. How About Houston?

FC Dallas’ slide over the last two months has been well documented. Oscar Pareja’s team, which drew Seattle 0-0 in Frisco on Saturday night, hasn’t won since July 22 and now sits, incredibly, in eighth place in the Western Conference.

But the Houston Dynamo, such a good story over the first half of the season, haven’t been much better of late.

The Dynamo lost 1-0 on Saturday in San Jose, and were passed in the standings by both the Earthquakes and Real Salt Lake in the process. The Dynamo still have two games in hand on RSL and one on the ‘Quakes, but their return to the playoffs is not by any means the sure thing it seemed in June.

Houston has only won once in its last seven – and that win, over San Jose at home, came over a month ago.

The big problem is that the club’s attack – so potent early on – has gone completely flat. The team, full of players who have never played meaningful MLS games in October, looks like it’s running out of gas. Wilmer Cabrera has a big job in front of him.

SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming

5. RSL Believes

San Jose finished the weekend in fifth place, but Real Salt Lake has been the more worthy beneficiary of the Texas clubs’ respective swoons.

Since the start of July, RSL has been one of the league’s best teams – and with their 2-1 win over another of the league’s best post-July teams in Portland on Saturday night in Sandy, Mike Petke has his team in sixth place with four games to play.

Salt Lake is still something of a long-shot to make the postseason because of how many games they’ve played, but it’s remarkable how far this team has come since the beginning of the year.

Attacking talents like Jefferson Savarino and Albert Rusnak get plenty of credit for that, but the center back partnership of Justin Glad and Marcelo Silva has been equally as important of late.

6. What’s The Matter With Seattle?

The Sounders might be on a thirteen-game unbeaten run, but they’re not fooling anyone: their attack looks just as listless right now as has at any point in the last two seasons.

Seattle has their defense to thank for their unbeaten run, because the offense has just about disappeared. It’s been nearly a month since Seattle scored multiple goals in a game, and the majority of the goals they’ve grabbed have been off of set pieces.

And while Jordan Morris’ being out for the foreseeable future and maybe the season is an issue, it’s the lack of production from Nicolas Lodeiro that is proving killer.

After lighting up the league in his first half-season last year, Lodeiro has had a rather quiet sophomore campaign. In his last eight games, the Uruguayan has just one goal and two assists.

It’s not been enough for the Sounders’ attack, which is plagued by familiar problems – slow transition play, slow ball movement, and bad spacing between a group of attackers that don’t quite seem to fit together.

Seattle is a postseason lock, but Brian Schmetzer has to use the rest of the regular season to figure out an attacking alignment that gets the most out of Lodeiro and gives the team’s defense a few goals to work with come playoff time.

7. Meanwhile in Portland…

Diego Valeri is making history.

With his header past Nick Rimando two minutes after halftime of Portland’s game at Real Salt Lake on Saturday night, Valeri became the first player in MLS history to score goals in eight consecutive games.

It’s a remarkable accomplishment by a remarkable player. Valeri, who has also this season broken the Timbers’ single-season and all-time scoring records, is now just one goal off of David Villa’s league lead and the only midfielder in the top six of the Golden Boot race

But the most amazing thing? In his first four MLS seasons, Valeri never scored a headed goal. This year, he’s got five.

8. Nemeth Disgraces Himself in Kansas City Return

Krisztian Nemeth made first start back in MLS on Saturday night for the New England Revolution at his old club Sporting Kansas City, and lasted just twelve minutes.

That’s when, with the Revs leading 1-0, he elbowed Graham Zusi in the face and was sent off.

It was that kind of week for New England, who had two players dismissed after video reviews in Atlanta on Wednesday night, lost that game 7-0, and then went on to lose 3-1 at Sporting.

Nemeth’s meltdown was rather bizarre. The winger’s disciplinary record going into the game showed just three yellow cards in 30 MLS appearances – and Zusi is not a player at all known for winding others up. It’s going to be, needless to say, a long offseason in Foxborough.

9. NYCFC Needs To Get Healthy

It’s been tough sledding of late for New York City, who, after drawing Colorado 1-1 in Commerce City on Saturday night, have won just once in their last four games and let the Chicago Fire back into the race for second in the Eastern Conference.

The good news coming out of Saturday night’s game is that David Villa got back on the field, playing the final 18 minutes.

The bad news is that NYCFC is still without Alex Ring and Yangel Herrera in midfield, two of the players who, along with Villa, have been most central to their success so far this season.

To have any chance of toppling Toronto – and to secure a first-round bye ahead of Chicago – NYC needs to get their first-choice team back on the field. Next weekend’s game in Hartford against Houston, for all kinds of reasons, will be one to watch.

10. Another Milestone For Atlanta

With over 70,000 fans in attendance to watch their thrilling 3-all draw with Orlando on Saturday afternoon, Atlanta United broke the single-game MLS attendance record – en route to breaking the league’s full-season attendance record later this year.

Atlanta’s crowd on Saturday was the fourth largest in the world this weekend, trailing only the crowds at Bourissa Dortmund, Manchester United, and Wembley for Tottenham Hotspur. It dwarfed the size of most NFL crowds on Sunday.

And not only was Atlanta’s crowd big, it was loud. Extremely loud.

For MLS, both because of their support off the field and how they’ve played on it, Atlanta United has been the gift that’s kept on giving. Here’s to many more Saturdays like this last one.