Sacramento Republic FC Head Coach Mark Briggs didn’t mince words after his side’s 2-1 defeat to El Paso Locomotive FC on Saturday night.

“Another disappointing performance,” he said. “I’m not sure what to say right now. There’s been too many of those performances, too many of those performances on the road.”

Neither did center back Lee Desmond.

“Very disappointing night,” he added. “We’re extremely disappointed in the performance we showed and we’ve let ourselves down big time. That’s not what we’ve built all season, and we need to fix it very quick and make sure we go into the playoffs on good form and with confidence.”

Republic FC is on a four-game winless streak with a game to go before the playoffs. It’s in danger of dropping out of the top four in the Western Conference entirely when it faces Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC on Saturday night (10 p.m. ET | CBS Sports Golazo Network).

How did we get here?

• HEALTHY START: Lest we forget, Sacramento was the last undefeated team standing at the start of the season. There wasn’t anything untoward in their 11-game undefeated streak – the club’s underlying numbers tracked close to where it should have been in terms of goals scored and conceded – which made everything look eminently sustainable.

• ROCKY ROAD: Since the start of June, things have become more inconsistent. Some of that is potentially due to the season-ending injury of midfield talisman Rodrigo Lopez in the side’s U.S. Open Cup victory against the San Jose Earthquakes on May 21, but on paper the side isn’t so different to the side that finished top of the West last season to be unable to cover for that absence. On the field, meanwhile, it’s only won consecutive games on two occasions, winning eight times and losing 10 in 22 outings.

• LOSING ITS EDGE: The key problem Republic FC hasn’t been able to figure out has been its inability to either hold onto leads when it earns them or fight back when it falls behind. Going to the final game of the season, Sacramento is tied for the league-lead in points dropped from winning positions, letting 22 points get away when it has led in a game, and has gained only one point in situations where it has trailed, the lowest mark in the league.

In some ways, it’s remarkable Republic FC still sits in the position it does, placed third in the Western Conference and in contention for the No. 2 seed. The two teams it sits alongside with 22 points dropped from winning positions – San Antonio FC and Miami FC – are already out of playoff contention.

What’s more, we’ve seen what this side can be capable of when it clicks. Republic FC’s emphatic 4-0 victory at home against Western Conference leader New Mexico United on September 29 featured its highest single-game Expected Goals mark of the season at 3.75xG and was one of the best performances by any club in a game this season.

That outing currently stands as the last time we saw Republic FC in the win column, however, which led to this past weekend’s thoughts on another dispiriting result and performance.

Everything we know – from the club and players’ pedigree to its overall underlying numbers – says Sacramento Republic FC should be a contender to reach the USL Championship Final in November.

The question is whether Briggs and his staff can put the puzzle together – and bolster the side’s mental state – in time to make it happen.