This is a time in sports history that is notable for the inability of teams to collect excess talent. Even the Yankees and Red Sox - able to spend well more than their opponents - have players (I mean you, Julio Lugo and the Yankees starting pitch staff) that just aren't up to the task.

Looking across the major sports here in this country, the margin for error is razor thin. If Tom Brady goes down in New England the season is pretty much over. Ditto Kobe in LA or Nash in Phoenix. Owners and unions have continued to engineer the rules to ensure that the best players are spread around to ensure a "competitive balance" and maximize the earning potential of players who can force their way into starting roles somewhere else if they have talent to do so.

Gone are the days of Steve Young backing up Joe Montana or the Celtics bringing a Hall of Famer like Bill Walton off the bench behind three other Hall of Famers in Bird, McHale and Parrish. The salary cap has ensured that MLS is no different, which makes what is happening in Houston right now so impressive.

Not since the DC United teams of the first years of the league have we seen depth of talent like what we're seeing in Houston. It isn't just at one position - although left wing is especially stacked - but at multiple positions that there is enviable depth. Even more impressive is that in the positions where there isn't a ton of depth there is at least a very solid starter.

This struck me Sunday while watching the Dynamo completely shut down a hot DC United team. It was even more impressive after realizing that they were missing a full-strength Ricardo Clark, who was returning from Copa America duty, and Brad Davis, out with injury.

Just for fun, let's break down each position just to realize how deep this team is...

Goalkeeper - Pat Onstad is certainly getting a bit long in the tooth, but as his current shutout streak indicates, he is still very capable of anchoring an extremely good defense. Zach Wells is at least a solid MLS veteran back-up - he's unlikely to be the heir apparent, but is certainly competent.

The scary thing for the rest of the league is that the combination of a very good starter with a serviceable back-up is the worst positional situation in Houston.

Defense - The starters seem to have settled as Barrett, Ianni, Robinson and Waibel, and they haven't allowed a goal in 515 minutes. None are challenging for top defender options, but all are above average and both wing defenders bring the ability to push forward to make some good crosses.

With Ryan Cochrane relegated to the bench, the Dynamo have a former starter in reserve in case Ianni doesn't continue to progress or someone is injured or suspended. The full back spots don't have a ton of cover, but as we'll mention in a moment, there is ample wing midfield to compensate in an emergency.

Midfield - It really starts getting impressive here. Granted, De Ro hasn't had his best season ever, but he seems to be coming around now that he's back from the Gold Cup. On most days, Dwayne is surrounded by Brad Davis, Brian Mullen and Ricardo Clark.

For most of the season, Davis has been pressed by speedster Cory Ashe, who has played very well as a change of pace off the bench late in matches. This week, with Davis out, Ashe stayed on the bench as Stuart Holden deputized extremely well. As something of a super-sub in both midfield and defense, Houston have quality MLS veteran Richard Mulrooney.

In Holden and Ashe, there is youth and upside. In Clark, Mullen, Davis, De Rosario and Mulrooney, there is championship experience.

Striker - Perhaps nearly as impressive as the midfield. The acquisition of Joseph Ngwenya was the perfect compliment to Brian Ching, providing a traditional "big/small" combination of a target man and a speedy sniper. The further acquisition of Nate Jaqua was a nice piece of work - in my mind, he's on the borderline between adequate starter and reserve, but he has upside and as a third or fourth striker he's as good as it gets in MLS.

That leaves the currently injured Paul Dalglish - in 10 matches last year (seven starts and three substitute appearances), he yielded four goals and an assist on the way to helping the Dynamo to the MLS Cup. Once recovered, he will give Houston easily the most potent strike force in the league. They will be able to bring guile, speed, aerial ability and grit to mix. They will be able to "go big" with Ching and Jaqua. They will be able to ride the hot hand (err, foot).

All in all, a set of decisions every coach in the league would like to have to worry about. So where does this leave Houston? 

A pretty solid lock to be showing up at RFK Stadium for MLS Cup again. Even more importantly, it means that they will have options aplenty when it comes time to shuffle the deck over the winter.

One additional benefit is that there probably isn't a super-high profile player who is likely to attract the interest of European clubs and disrupt the core, causing management to have to scramble (see Clint Dempsey in New England and Freddy Adu in Salt Lake shortly).  t isn't only the present that looks bright in Houston; it's the next five or six years if things continue along the current path.

And on the field...

The wheels seem to be falling off in New England, where the Revs couldn't get more than a point from a home-and-home series with a depleted Chivas USA missing Guzan, Bornstein and Kljestan to Copa America duty. The away loss wasn't a huge surprise since the Goats have been very good at the HD Center but the home draw was very disappointing for a team quietly falling down the Eastern Conference standings...

Speaking of quietly, Columbus continues to play very tight defense and score just enough to squeak out some wins - it isn't fun to watch, but at least the home fans can take some solace in the fact that there are some signs of hope.