As long and grueling as the 34-game regular season was for every team in Major League Soccer, we’re about to enter a shorter yet equally grueling playoff to determine a league winner in December.

FC Dallas enters the playoffs with their Round One series date next Monday at the Seattle Sounders. As we begin to preview that game, let’s take a look at some reasons why this FC Dallas squad is poised to surprise everyone in the league with a deep run to an MLS Cup title. After that we’ll also look at some reasons why this playoff run will likely be cut short.

Here are the reasons why FC Dallas will make a run in this year’s playoffs: