It was a pleasant, sunny Sunday afternoon for a slaughtering at Providence Park. The New York Red Bulls, on three days of rest, sitting multiple starters aside from suspended captain Dax McCarty, and playing Rose City reject Sal Zizzo out of position at left back, turned in a first half that was not of this planet on their way to a convincing 2-0 win over the Portland Timbers.

So technical, so crisp, so bought-in was New York, it was hard not to marvel. The Timbers, in contrast, looked like a first year college student who had signed up for Intro to Soccer but accidentally wandered into Advanced Soccer. It was another mystifying disappointment in a one step forward, two steps back season for Portland that is once again approaching a nadir.

Timber Joey needn't have turned up. The Timbers sure didn't.

It starts with Caleb Porter. His decision to start Maxi Urruti—for the first time in two months—was a fireable offense in itself. With New York high-pressing, the Timbers needed a release valve at forward to win aerial duels and hold play up. Instead, Urruti was nonexistent. That wasn't a surprise, either. We've seen the same scenario play out countless times over the last two years.

Porter's rational for going with Urruti out of the blue—simply that Adi only has one goal in the team's last nine games—was the kind of shortsighted conduct you'd expect from a 12-year-old playing Football Manager. The Timbers regained some semblance of an identity once Adi was introduced, but it was too little too late.

Urruti, by the way, has zero goals in his last 13. Go figure.

The Timbers were inexcusably languid. Outside of the ultra dependable duo of Diego Chara and Nat Borchers, plus Jorge Villafaña, there was little desire, little intensity, and a staggering lack of creativity for this point in the season. The Red Bulls are obviously the better team, which is one thing, but they also were, to a man, more committed to the cause than Portland was. That's what is so frustrating. And worrying.

Several players were particularly poor. It started with Will Johnson, who was so far off the pace it was often hard to find him on the field. Maybe it was the international travel, maybe it was the knee injury, but Johnson hasn't looked so dismal in his entire Timbers career. If Jack Jewsbury was in Will's shoes today, we'd be covering our eyes and praying for his immediate retirement.

Rodney Wallace replaced the captain midway through the second half, and proceeded to turn in a performance that was about as clean as a gas station bathroom. Wallace is a hazard on the field these days. He needs a fresh start.

Alvas Powell isn't going anywhere, but his game is frequently nothing short of embarrassing. From diving in, to crossing the ball out of bounds, to switching off on Perrinelle's goal, it was Powell at his worst. He owes it to himself to make major strides in the offseason.

Speaking of Powell's conduct on Perrinelle's goal—the Red Bulls' second—it was indicative of an overall lack of sharpness and urgency that plagued the Timbers in that first half. With Felipe Martins advancing with the ball, Johnson, generaling with the skill of George McClellan, ordered Chara to apply pressure, which was impractical, and Martins took the space gifted to him and laced a beauty past Adam Kwarasey.

The second goal conceded just before halftime, a Timbers specialty, was arguably worse. It came on a sequence that started with a horrible giveaway by Powell in midfield, included a corner that was cleared off the line, and ended with the Timbers taking a vacation as Perinelle pounded in a cross that was little more than a popup.

Give the Red Bulls, who clinched a playoff spot with the win, all kinds of credit. Jesse Marsch is arguably having one of the great coaching seasons in league history. He has taken this team, fostered spirit under tough circumstances, and gotten them playing quickly and stylishly. They're going to win the Supporters' Shield in a month.

Still, Timbers fans have every right to demand better at home. The Red Bulls aren't invincible—especially without multiple key pieces.

Portland is in serious trouble now. Just one point above the red line, without a win in over a month, and three of the next four games coming against playoff teams. That other game? It's at hard-charging Real Salt Lake. In MLS, either you're good in the fall, or you go home. Portland has recently, for various reasons, been drifting towards a long offseason. This Red Bulls massacre was a sharp turn in that direction.

Porter is about to be under fire. This team's everlasting first half malaise is completely inexcusable. 2014 was an abject failure on multiple fronts. This season, to this point, hasn't been much better.

It's hard to believe in this group right now. These Timbers are all individually talented and accomplished, but the sum has been far less than the parts for far too long. There was no excuse on Sunday, no heat, no altitude, no fatigue, no injuries, nothing. Just a good, old-fashioned pasting from a team that knows it's going somewhere in 2015.