BEAVERTON, Ore. – The blizzard that hit Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commence City, Colorado, on Saturday ensconced the Portland Timbers’ season opener in analytical confusion, leaving little to be learned from a 3-3 draw played under aberrational conditions.
But while that confusion may keep new questions from being answered about the team’s 2019 prospects, it also did nothing to provide answers to lingering doubts. And with the team’s only starting-lineup change from the 2018 MLS Cup final occurring in defense, the “3” under “Rapids” on the DSG Park scoreboard still casts the defense as a work in progress.