The New England Revolution played game 34 out of 34 on Sunday, as did the rest of MLS. Decision Day 2021 brought some incredible drama, and the playoff bracket is now set. With the Revs’ placement atop the league already secured, they hosted Inter Miami, a team who they defeated 5-0 earlier in the season.

It’s safe to say this matchup went a bit differently. It caused for some bittersweet postgame activities. Following the full-time whistle, the entire Revolution roster were able to celebrate and hoist the first Supporter’s Shield in club history in front of a season high attendance of 32,000 fans.

While it shouldn’t necessarily be concerning that New England finished the regular season off with a loss, it’s definitely a wake up call. Adam Buksa is out with a fracture in his foot, and it definitely showed. Adam Buksa should be ready for the playoffs, but they missed him on the night. Gustavo Bou found himself in an advantageous scoring position about five times, and never took advantage of his 1.5 xG. The bottom line is that this team need to finish their chances. The lesson was that games are not always going to be high-scoring, especially come playoff time. They should expect teams to sit back in defense, and look to pop a lucky goal in, as Blaise Matuidi did.

The French World Cup champion scored the lone goal in the match, with some help of a Matt Polster deflection. It ricocheted into the bottom right corner of the net, giving Miami a victory at Gillette Stadium, and just the second home loss for the Revs during the campaign. Nevertheless, New England will have about three weeks to prepare for their home playoff matchup against either Atlanta United or New York City FC. The Revolution defeated Atlanta in both matchups and split the season series with NYCFC. Regardless, it will be a tightly contested Eastern Conference Semi-Final that will be a massive test for the MLS Cup favorite New England Revolution. The most important part of the season starts now, so they must be up to the task.