The New England Revolution have a target on their respective backs. The Buffalo Bills of MLS have been Eastern Conference Champions for the last three consecutive years, but have been unable to get over the hump to win the MLS Cup.

What Steve Nicol and Paul Mariner have been able to do in New England is no small feat. Do you know the last time that the Revolution were not in the Eastern Conference Finals? It was 2001. At that time, MLS was split into three divisions (Eastern, Central and Western), FC Dallas (Dallas Burn) and the New York Red Bulls (MetroStars) had different names, and the Tampa Bay Mutiny, Miami Fusion and first incarnation of the San Jose Earthquakes existed.

People have been calling for the end of the Revolution with each agonizing Cup defeat, particularly their '06 loss to Houston on penalty kicks. Somehow, though, they have remained strong and been able to make their run at the right time.

There are three players who have been with the Revs since that 2002 season that started their run of Eastern Conference Finals appearances, while a fourth and fifth have been main components since 2003 and 2004, respectively.

Jay Heaps, acquired from the now-defunct Miami Fusion during the 2001 season, has helped anchor an always-solid defensive front for New England. Steve Ralston, acquired from the Tampa Bay Mutiny dispersal draft, is the engine that drives the Revs offense from his midfield slot. In '02, Ralston had a career-high 19 assists, 11 of which came as a result of goals scored by another new member of the Revolution, Taylor Twellman. The New England attacker was signed before the '02 season after a stint in Europe and burst onto the MLS scene with a stunning 23 goals in his first season. Twellman has been a member of the Revolution ever since.

The next piece to the Revs puzzle is Grenadian Shalrie Joseph. The 6-foot-3 holding midfielder has been a mainstay for New England since his arrival in '03. Joseph plays a rugged game that challenges all opponents who dare to enter his area.

And the final member of this Fab Five who have held the Revs together over the last few years is goalkeeper Matt Reis. He is a perennial Best XI and Goalkeeper of the Year candidate, and one could argue that he should have seen more playing time with the U.S. national team (if goalkeeping had not been the U.S. team's strength, Reis likely would have many more caps).

So what does this have to do with Survivor Pro, you ask? Well, for the first time this young season, Twellman, Ralston, Heaps, Reis and Joseph were on the field at the same time during Sunday's 2-1 victory against Chivas USA. Twellman scored off a feed from Ralston in the second half, Reis picked up the win and Heaps and Joseph held the defense together.

That was Twellman's first game of the season after sitting out the first seven games while recovering from knee surgery. The injury bug has also effected Ralston, who has missed five games thus far.

Assuming that Twellman's ankle is not falling off, as he said it felt like it was after getting injured later in Sunday's game against Chivas, all five players will be back on the field again Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, HDNet) against the expansion San Jose Earthquakes at Gillette Stadium.

While Frank Yallop's Quakes are committed to team defense, the offense has scored a puny four goals in six games. Reis, Heaps and Joseph have a good chance at holding this team off the board, while the New England attack revs up (pun intended) with Ralston and Twellman leading the charge (though you may want to wait until Thursday night to make your Survivor Pro pick final to see if Twellman's injury status has changed). Top Choice: New England

For our other pick this week, it's tempting to go with Colorado at home against Real Salt Lake, but we'd prefer to avoid rivalry games (yes, the Rocky Mountain Cup is considered a rivalry). Also, we can't pick the Rapids on principal based upon Bouna Coundoul's complete whiff that led to Brian Ching's first goal of the season in Houston's 2-1 win over Colorado last week. Seriously Bouna, that was embarassing. Only Kevin Hartman has looked worse at trying to play the ball with his feet.

This pick may scare some of you, but on the surface, it looks like a sure thing to us. Dynamo finally got into the win column last week and got goals from Ching and Dwayne De Rosario. To some, it looks like the two-time defending MLS Cup champs may have found a way to turn their season around. To us, it looks like Houston just got plain lucky with Bouna's miscue and a questionable hand-ball violation in the box that led to De Ro's converted PK for the game-winner in the waning moments of the match. This week, Dynamo will be tested by one of the top Eastern Conference teams this season as they travel to Bridgeview, Ill., to take on the Chicago Fire (8:30 p.m. ET). Coming off three-straight wins, the Fire will be in search of their first home win for May. Chris Rolfe, Chad Barrett and Cuauhtemoc Blanco will shread Houston's defense in this match-up. Best Bet: Chicago

Good luck this week. Be selective and build up that streak. Remember, the Grand Prize is an XBox 360!