Two Minute Drill (Bases Loaded Jam Series #2)

Ch. 40: Trade (Brett)

Things were going great for us. I was a general manager of a team that was off to a 5-0 start. In my mind, I was thinking if we continue to play the way we were playing with a quarterback who would play up to his standards, we would find a way to get the job done. I was certain this momentum would carry us for a long time.

But, I was also aware that somewhere down the line, we would be tested and experience some form of adversity. As it turned out, that came in the next game against the Minnesota Vikings at their place. Suffice to say, we got ourselves in a trap that particular day.

It all started when Troy Paulson made comments regarding the home stadium for the Vikings by saying it wasn't as loud as Minnesota's previous stadium. That didn't sit well for the fans and they let him have it all throughout the game. It was among the loudest stadiums I had ever been too. Even talking to Scout, who had traveled with me during the game was hard to do. If that wasn't an omen for what was to come, I don't know what else could've been.

After getting off to a 14-5 lead, we let the Vikings back into the game and before long, they were leading 36-23 with just seven minutes to go. However, it was expected that Gordon would help get us back in the game. He did so as he connected with Otis for a touchdown to trim the lead to 36-30. Then, our defense forced a three-and-out and we got the ball back. With a minute to go, Gordon gave the ball to Kwame who punched in the go-ahead score from 12 yards out. Just like that, we were up 37-36 and I thought we would win the game.

Sadly, our cornerback Y Smith committed a pass interference penalty on the final drive of the game that allowed Minnesota to get into our side of the field. It wasn't long before their kicker sealed our fate and ended our undefeated season with a game-winning field goal to win 39-37. Nobody likes to lose in the league, but in some ways, I was glad that we did because I didn't have to worry about our players having to deal with an undefeated season talk, which had only happened once back in 1972.

I heard from our players that Coach Robinson was pretty unhappy after the loss because we had a mindset that things would be easy for the team and that wasn't acceptable. It's hard to win games in the NFL. Why in the world would people think it would be easy after five wins in a row? It was ridiculous to even think of that after the start we had.

While Troy Paulson did take a lot of flack from the Vikings fans for his pregame comments, he did play well recording 11 tackles, forced a fumble, and intercepted a pass. So much so that he actually stayed behind in Minnesota while the team left because he had been invited by a little girl named Abby Jennings, who was a Vikings fan battling cancer. She was also a fan of Troy's and had wanted to meet him in person. Troy, who was a nice person off the field and a maniac on the field really enjoyed the visit. He got to know Abby and a friendship struck between the two. It was reported afterwards that Troy told Abby that if Minnesota and Houston met in the Super Bowl, Troy wouldn't take it easy on the Vikings unless Abby was the quarterback in the game. Then, he would ease up on her because of the battle she was facing.

Needless to say, Minnesota wouldn't be in the playoff hunt that season and it was one of the biggest letdowns from us to lose to a team that wasn't having the best season. However, as bad as the loss was, I don't know if our guys took that loss as a wakeup call that something needed to change. You can thank our friends up in Indianapolis for giving us that call a week later when we lost to them 31-20. We were unable to overcome a 24-3 deficit at one point during the game and Gordon had the worst performance of the season to date.

Two interceptions and a fumble overshadowed one touchdown pass and some fans were starting to wonder if Gordon wasn't the quarterback that everyone hoped he would be. I knew Scout was disappointed that Gordon had a bad game, but I knew also that Gordon wasn't the problem for our last two losses. Even with Troy standing out, our defense was playing bad. Part of it was a lack of awareness for the situation. But a bigger concern was the loss of a key player.