Two Minute Drill (Bases Loaded Jam Series #2)

Ch. 49: Divisional Round (Scout)

We knew Kansas City was a dangerous team in the playoffs that had been to the Super Bowl a few times. Any time you play a team that had experience in the playoffs, it's always a tough challenge. You might be a more talented team than they were. But because they knew how to win in the playoffs, including last season, we knew we had a tough fight on our hands. Once the ball was kicked off, I knew that last week's thrilling victory win over Pittsburgh would take a back seat to this tightly contested game.

The first quarter was a terrible one. We hardly moved the ball offensively. We only gained one first down the entire quarter. I'm not sure if it had to do with us being hungover from last week or the pressure of having the home field again getting to us. But we really struggled to do much. If it wasn't for our defense, who held Kansas City to a field goal, we probably would've been down a lot worse instead of 3-0 after one.

Fortunately, we got our bearings straight in the second quarter as our guys went on an 11-play drive for 72-yards. Gordon only had one incomplete pass on the drive, which was nearly picked off by the Chiefs' defense. The drive ended with Otis catching a three yard touchdown reception to give us a 7-3 lead. We finally broke out of the rust and scored in the endzone. Now, we were in front.

However, the Chiefs stunned us with two touchdowns to lead 17-7. They answered our drive with one of their own that went for seven-plays and killed three minutes off the clock. On the ensuing kickoff, our return man Tommy Blue returned the ball for thirteen yards before he was hit and fumbled. The Chiefs recovered and would score five plays later. Our only answer for the rest of the quarter was a 46-yard field goal by Diego to trail 17-10 at the break.

As halftime rolled around, I started to wonder if we were really going to find ourselves in another situation where failure was coming. Brett and I had worked hard to get the team up to where it was, but we weren't playing well till then. Kansas City seemed to have our number and I was wondering if this would be a bad way to end another season. I was walking around feeling concerned that I couldn't contain my stress.

"What's wrong?" Brett asked when she saw me.

"Well," I answered. "We've built this team. We molded this team. We groomed this team and yet, we can't even get by Kansas City at halftime. Wonder what's the deal here. Are we cursed? Are we failing in life? What's wrong?"

"Nobody said this was going to be easy," Brett reminded me. "Playoffs are tough sons of bitches games. We just have to keep being calm and collected. We're going to find a way to get the job done. Don't worry."

Brett got up and went to get a drink. As she did, I felt her leg brush up against mine. That feeling of that brush gave me this energetic shock wave of emotion inside me that I never thought I would experience in the middle of a playoff game. I wasn't sure what that was about and I'm sure Brett didn't even realize she did it. Yet, it was one way of distracting me from whatever nerves I must've been feeling.

The third quarter was a defensive struggle as each defense kept the opposing offense to under fifty-yards, which was saying something. Yet, we wound up with only six points on two field goals from Diego. After a punt return by Blue was returned to our territory, we failed to get a first down and Diego converted from 51-yards out. Then, Mahomes threw a pass that Calvin Pitts saw and brought back to the 12-yard line following the interception. I thought for sure this would be a touchdown drive, but it wouldn't be and we settled for another Diego field goal although this one was from 29-yards.

By the fourth quarter, we still trailed by one at 17-16. But our defense was doing a tremendous job holding Kansas City down. Brett and I were watching and to be honest, she was feeling more tense than I was. When one side of the team is doing a better job than the other side, it can be a cause for concern.