Two Minute Drill (Bases Loaded Jam Series #2)

Ch. 30: Playoffs (Gordon)

The season was an up and down roller coaster year for us. We had fought through the good and bad times, but were now ready for a big challenge. We would be entering the playoffs as the lowest seed in our conference. The fact that we were in the playoffs was all that we could ever asked for. That still didn't mean the odds were in our favor for us to win, but we were determined to make a statement.

Our first playoff game was a major road test against the Los Angeles Chargers, who were roaring in red hot. They were expected to be a Super Bowl contender that season as they finished going 14-3. We were double-digit underdogs, but felt confident about our chances to win the game. As long as we executed our plan, we would be okay. The Chargers crowd was roaring by the time the game started and they were ready for their team to come out and kick the shit out of us. What ended up happening was the complete opposite.

We were able to score on our opening drive as we took 15 plays to score from 87 yards out ending with Kwame rushing for two yards out. Our defense played phenomenal throughout the first half. Despite allowing a second quarter touchdown, the guys managed to hold the Chargers to just four first downs that half. They were the sparkplugs for our guys as we wound up tied at seven at the break.

Once the second half began, the momentum kept being in our favor. After Todd hit Duncan Elliott for the go-ahead touchdown to give us a lead going into the fourth quarter, our defense made two big plays to seal things for us. First, Najai McQueen had a pick six for us to push our lead to 21-7. Then, with five minutes to play, Troy Paulson delivered a crushing hit on the runningback that caused a fumble and was picked up by Sammy Jimenez who ran it back for the score. The final score read 28-7 in our favor. Everyone in L.A was stunned.

Things wouldn't get easier the next week as we would meet up with the Patriots at their place. The weather conditions were expected to be brutal as snow and ice would play a role in how the game would be played. The odds favored New England as they were used to weather like this. But then, the odds wouldn't have considered some of our guys that had played in these conditions or worse.

The first half was a struggle as we would manage just a safety by linebacker Sammy Jimenez while the Patriots capitalized with an opening drive touchdown. Our offense was never able to generate much do the the snow. We never played a game in snowy, weatherly conditions. I had played in snow before when one year, snow came to the Dallas-Fort Worth area in my high school days. However, the snow wasn't as rough as this.

Down 7-2 at halftime, we got a lucky break in the third quarter when Albert Stover sacked the Patriots quarterback, not named Tom Brady, and Preston King recovered the ball in the endzone for the score to lead 9-7. That sparked our defense as they would hold New England without a first down in all of the third quarter. Meanwhile, we figured out a new way to get the offense going and that was to have our runningback, Eric Collins, take over and run the ball.

Kwame sustained a minor leg injury in the first half and wouldn't return. But, Collins was just as capable as Kwame was despite being a backup. He was magnificent chewing up the yards. In the fourth quarter, Eric scored the only offensive touchdown for us to lead 16-7. On the ensuing kickoff, we forced a fumble and recovered the ball in good field territory. We used our next drive to kick a field goal pushing our lead to 19-7.

Although the Patriots would score a touchdown to cut the lead to 19-14, Collins would run the ball down the field and kill the clock and we had escaped with the shocking upset. For a team that barely made the playoffs as the worst seed, we were making a magical run of our own. We now stood one win away from the Super Bowl. There was excitement in the city for the first time in awhile and people were suddenly talking about us in a positive note. I thought we could make it for one more game.