Saturday night was a gut-check for the Portland Timbers. Without a win since mid-August, it would have surprised no one if the Timbers went on the road to a young, hungry, playoff-bound Columbus Crew side and continued to slide.

Instead, battling to halt the drip of what felt like a season slipping away, the Timbers gritted their teeth, hunkered down, and got their biggest win of 2015 so far. It finished 2-1 Portland in the middle of Ohio thanks to an inspired homecoming effort from Darlington Nagbe, another brace from Fanendo Adi, and a team that looked like it had its heart back.

After making way for the New York Red Bulls to clinch a playoff spot at Providence Park last weekend, the Timbers denied Columbus the pleasure on clinching a playoff berth on home turf this weekend. The hope is that soon enough, Portland will be able to do more than play spoiler.

Make no mistake: This was a terrific game, and, for now, for the Timbers, a crisis averted.

It started with a mindset. Both Portland and Columbus came out to attack, resulting in a frenetic early pace that lasted the entire match. The Timbers' high pressure—which has been seen far too rarely this season—contributed to that energy, and Portland paid dividends with a rare first half goal and lead midway through the opening period.

Though the Timbers couldn't quite avoid a familiar late first half concession—which came on a bullet header from MLS goalscoring leader Kei Kamara—Portland proved 10 times over that it could play with the Crew in the first 45. Just minutes after the break, Adi bagged the go-ahead goal, and the Timbers wouldn't look back.

Caleb Porter got it right. Either by choice, in the case of Adi and Rodney Wallace, or by necessity, in the case of Jack Jewsbury, the man who made his name in Ohio picked a side full of grit and desire, and, considering too the disposition of the under-fire Nagbe, jonesing to prove a point.

Effort is always a choice. Against the Red Bulls, it was entirely lacking. But from the gun in Columbus, Portland played with the kind of intensity that is absolutely mandatory for success week in and week out. That effort wasn't why Portland won, but it did open the door for a victory of the absolute highest importance.

Adi is a player who always gives maximum effort, and he was a regular old pinball machine up top against the Crew. His utter domination of the of the smaller Michael Parkhurst and Tyson Wahl gave the Timbers' other attackers all kinds of opportunities to drive and create. That Adi's goals were responsible for the three points was no surprise—his is already the most prolific goalscoring season in Portland's MLS history.

Behind Adi, the Timbers' front three delivered broadsides all night. Nagbe was tenacious, Diego Valeri lined up right behind him, and Wallace—clearly buoyed by the faith shown in him with the surprise start—did what made him so valuable in 2013 and '14: He got stuck into every challenge, worked his tail off, and, with the game-winning assist, accented his industry with enough skill to create a big play.

But the Timbers still might have been in trouble if not for the safe hands of Jack Jewsbury, whose excellent performance is ringing around Portland this morning as the possibility of a run-in without Will Johnson looms.

It's impossible not to be proud of Jewsbury. Columbus was the kind of team that would have torn up him last year—even early this summer—but the 34-year-old was one step ahead all night, playing with both tactical nous and admirable physical commitment.

Jewsbury has been better than Johnson on average this season—and when you factor in the freedom that his presence gives Diego Chara's game, you have to be just as if not more comfortable with the old captain as you are with the new captain down the stretch this year.

It's one thing to refuse to be written off, but quite another thing to demand to be written back in. That's what Jewsbury has done, at a position that two years ago he was deemed too old to play, this season. If his place in Timbers lore was ever up for debate, it shouldn't be any longer.

At this point, you just have to go with whatever is working. Lucas Melano, who the Timbers spent a cool five million dollars on this summer, is on the outside looking in. In this league, there are no guarantees—with the exception of bad refereeing (hello, Silviu Petrescu!), and that you have no idea what's going to happen each week.

The level that the Timbers brought on Saturday, though? It shouldn't go missing again. There isn't much that separates Portland and Columbus, and there isn't much that separates Portland from being a really good team from a really bad one. That's MLS for you—and in the fall, it's a beautiful thing.