Instant takeaways from Austin FC at Colorado Rapids

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — It's almost becoming parody at this point. 

Austin FC digs itself a giant hole away from Q2 Stadium, then climbs its way out. In D.C., in Montréal, and now in Colorado, Verde has marked itself as a team that can't be killed off. The Rapids found out the hard way on Monday.

Here are a few takeaways from a wild Fourth of July match at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

Championship mentality

Screw it. I'm just going to call it like I see it. Austin FC has the mentality of a championship team.

We'll get into the reasons why Verde isn't the team to beat in Major League Soccer down below, but you know that cliché in Hollywood sports movies about "Michael's special stuff" or the proverbial "cardiac kids"? Austin has that in spades.

It's almost like they don't care how a match starts. They're going to find a way to make it right. On this occasion, Austin looked completely lost for the opening 25 minutes. They tied it up by halftime.

Goals by Ethan Finlay and Sebastián Driussi weren't scored the way Austin coach Josh Wolff has drilled them, with pretty passing sequences, but rather off long balls over the top. They started playing prettier soccer after halftime, got another goal, then dug deep and defended with 10 men after Kipp Keller was sent off with 15 minutes to go.

Every way you could possibly win a game, it felt like Austin did to secure the points in Colorado. And in a league that rewards the top seven teams in each conference with a playoff berth and seeds them all into a single-elimination playoff that rewards mentality over talent, I'm thinking Austin has something that might serve it well this fall. Very well.

Don't get it twisted. This is not an MLS Cup favorite. But don't tell them that, or they might just hold the trophy over your head.

Finlay O'Clock

It's been a long time since the clock struck Finlay, but the MLS veteran winger took his chance to remind fans of his worth on Monday. Starting for the first time since May 14 against Real Salt Lake, Finlay's goal in the 28th minute gave Verde life.

It arrived seemingly out of nowhere, at a stretch of the game when Austin looked like it might lose 4-0, but it was vintage Finlay. Left back Jon Gallagher spotted the 2015 All-Star making a run, and sent a long cross that hit him in stride. Finlay looked up and chipped the ball past a charging William Yarbrough to cut the deficit to 2-1.

And look, I get why y'all haven't liked Finlay. He hasn't given you a ton to like, aside from that brace Week 2 against Inter Miami CF. Over the past two months, he's watched as a 17-year-old took his starting spot, and in a season when Cecilio Domínguez's suspension and later absence should've given him a golden opportunity, he's failed to take it.

But if you give him a chance, Finlay is going to come up with moments like he did on Monday. He now has 52 career goals and 45 assists. He's only 31 years old. And while Felipe Martins and Maxi Urruti have taken the "MLS veteran" card and ran with it, Finlay is still providing plenty of sage advice behind the scenes. 

Without him, Austin likely doesn't win in Colorado (although I'm not putting it past them).

His goal provided the spark that led to Sebastían Driussi's primetime equalizer before halftime.

And in the second half, Finlay had the assist for Maxi Urruti's winner, featuring a sick dummy by Driussi.

Owen Wolff will still start plenty of matches, likely starting Saturday in Atlanta, but Finlay absolutely proved he has a role to play.

Uh oh...

Don't get too drunk off this win. The hangover is going to be severe.

For starters, Dani Pereira got himself suspended for the match in Atlanta with another silly yellow card.

Even worse, Wolff is going to be trying out makeshift center backs because Kipp Keller got himself red carded, and Julio Cascante and Jhohan Romaña are both out indefinitely. That's a mistake Verde couldn't afford.

Oh, and Urruti's injury didn't look good either.

And no matter how good the comeback was, the start on Monday was still troubling. Austin needs to be able to drive matches from the start, instead of constantly picking itself back up after getting knocked in the teeth. That crap catches up with you.