The Dynamo made a tactical change in the second half that yielded two goals from Joseph Ngwenya and Dwayne De Rosario, the latter of whom was named the match's most valuable player.

[13][14] The finalists both finished second in their respective conferences and met twice in the regular season, with the Revolution winning 1–0 in May on the road in Houston and drawing 3–3 at home with the Dynamo in July.

The team was managed by Steve Nicol and remained mostly unchanged from their previous seasons, losing Clint Dempsey to a transfer and José Cancela in the expansion draft, but found replacements in Amaechi Igwe and Wells Thompson from the SuperDraft.

[19] The Revolution began the season with injuries to Shalrie Joseph, Pat Noonan, Michael Parkhurst, and Joe Franchino that kept them out of the starting lineup for several weeks, but earned 17 points in their first eight matches with a five-win record.

[22][23] New England made few changes to their roster during the summer transfer window, adding Gambian duo Abdoulie Mansally and Sainey Nyassi and recalling a loaned player, relying on their core group of veteran and rookies like Igwe, Thompson, and Adam Cristman.

[30] After a scoreless draw in the first leg hosted by the Red Bulls in New Jersey, the Revolution won 1–0 on a 64th-minute goal by Taylor Twellman and advanced to their sixth consecutive Eastern Conference Final.

[36] The roster remained mostly unchanged as they entered the 2007 season, adding forward Nate Jaqua in a trade from the Los Angeles Galaxy and drafting defender Corey Ashe to replace Adrian Serioux after he left to join FC Dallas.

[43] The unbeaten run brought Houston to first place in the Western Conference and came with the loss of midfielder of Brad Davis to a knee injury and a congested schedule featuring SuperLiga and U.S. Open Cup matches.

The team used its reserves to rotate out players and saw the emergence of forwards Jaqua, Stuart Holden, and Joseph Ngwenya as key goalscorers alongside starters Brian Ching and Dwayne De Rosario.

[44] The unbeaten streak was briefly interrupted for the Dynamo with a pair of 1–0 losses to Real Salt Lake and the Colorado Rapids in early August, which caused them to fall behind FC Dallas in the conference standings.

[50] After a goal by Carlos Ruiz in the 14th minute to give Dallas a 2–0 aggregate lead, the Dynamo took advantage of a red card shown to Arturo Álvarez to press forward with a 3–5–2 formation.

The Dynamo won the match 4–1 and the series 4–2 on aggregate,[51] advancing to a second consecutive Western Conference Final against the Kansas City Wizards, who were seeded from the East as a wild card team and defeated Chivas USA.

[54] English play-by-play commentary was provided by Boston-based sportscaster Dave O'Brien, reprising his role from the 2006 broadcast, and color analysis by Eric Wynalda and Julie Foudy.

[61][62] The match was played in front of 39,859 spectators at RFK Memorial Stadium, including a large contingent of traveling New England and Houston supporters alongside the home D.C. United fans.

[65] The Dynamo were without injured striker Brian Ching, who was replaced by the pairing of Nate Jaqua and Joseph Ngwenya, and suspended midfielder Ricardo Clark;[66] the Revolution fielded a full-strength lineup that was similar to those used in their other playoff matches.

De Rosario sent the ball back across the goal to Joseph Ngwenya, who misplayed his first touch but used his right foot to make a shot that passed under goalkeeper Matt Reis and into the net.

After exchanging words with Waibel, Smith attempted to headbutt the Houston defender in front of referee Alex Prus, who issued a yellow card.

Larentowicz's point-blank header was saved by Pat Onstad with a kick to preserve the lead and win the Houston Dynamo a second consecutive MLS Cup title.

[80] Houston qualified alongside Supporters' Shield winners D.C. United for the 2008 CONCACAF Champions' Cup,[81] and won 3–1 in the quarterfinals to advance past CSD Municipal of Guatemala.

[84] The Revolution were eliminated in the preliminary round by Trinidadian club Joe Public F.C., who defeated them by an aggregate score of 6–1 over two legs, including a 4–0 loss at home.