Newcastle United now find themselves in their richest vein of Premier League form of the season - and arguably at exactly the right time.
In fact, their haul of 15 points from the last five matches puts them on a tally of 56 and Howe's team now have more points at the 29-game stage than all three of the last Newcastle teams that have qualified for the Champions League. Back in 1997, Kenny Dalglish's side had 51 by now while Sir Bobby Robson's team after the same amount of matches had one less in 2002 and 2003.
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However, it is now up to the current crop of players to get this over the line and make new history. United have the edge for fourth place with most bookies over Tottenham Hotspur, who kept hopes alive with a win over Brighton, but some bookies expect Manchester United to get third spot.
For all that, Newcastle's goal difference is far mightier than that of the Red Devils and Erik Ten Hag's side still have cup commitments in the Europa League and FA Cup to deal with. Quite simply, if Newcastle won all of their last nine matches - they will be dining at the top table of European football next season.
With a game in hand over Spurs and the London side still to come to St James' Park later this month, Cristian Stellini's side dare not slip up. If Newcastle keep this up and Spurs implode the race will be over sooner rather than later.
The internal race for top scorer is perfect for Eddie Howe
Howe wants his players to compete at all levels with internal challenges all part of his mentality at Benton. On a day in which Callum Wilson had to settle for an assist and watch a goal get wiped out, the ex-Bournemouth star sits on 10 goals still.
That's just one behind injured Miguel Almiron on 11 but two ahead of Alexander Isak would could still gatecrash the party. His eight-goal tally is a remarkable achievement given the injury woe he suffered earlier in the campaign.
With Almiron back soon it is going to go right down to the wire for the top scorer accolade. Howe will be privately delighted by the stiff competition for that honour.
Eddie Howe's brilliant piece of man management with Anthony Gordon
Howe did not have long to think about the way he dealt with the Scouse midfielder after he showed annoyance after being taken off late in the game. At the end of the day, Howe won't want players who are happy to be taken off.
Howe let the midfielder cool down on the bench for a brief moment before the final whistle sounded to signal a 2-1 win at Brentford. The head coach then headed over to the away fans and rightly celebrated the outcome of the fixture.
But then he made a beeline to Gordon and put an arm around the player. Gordon may have been feisty after being taken off still but it took the sting out of the situation at the right time.
By the time Gordon and Howe reached the tunnel they were all smiles and the situation was diffused. What is said behind the scenes from here on in should remain there.
Yet Howe avoided a tricky situation by showing emotional intelligence in the heat of the game. Howe has spoken about feeling near to his players as a "tracksuit manager" and that was on show here.
One infamous incident of similar note came under Kevin Keegan at Southampton in 1993 when he substituted Lee Clark. Rather than allowing the disappointed player to cool off he frogmarched him back to the dugout.
Times change of course, but by not letting it boil into next week or publicly lambasting Gordon, Howe has avoided an unwanted knock-on effect. Jamaal Lascelles was also on hand to give Gordon a friendly pat on the back as the team made their off the pitch.
The incident started and ended at Brentford. And Newcastle march on.
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