(...continued)
Act III - The Magical Title Run: Oakland came to town for the divisional playoff. The game was to be played in a snowstorm. Many pundits thought this would give the Pats a huge advantage, but as the game commenced, that proved not to be the case. The Raiders looked like the team more comfortable in the snow. The kid looked shaky in the first half. He started looking better in the 3rd quarter, but couldn't get the team into the endzone. The Raiders entered the 4th quarter up 13-3. Maybe The Franchise should have gotten his starting job back. Suddenly, the kid goes 9-for-9 on a drive culminated in his first rushing TD and the score is 13-10. The Raiders have a great shot to ice the game, but on 3rd-and-1 the Pats make a stop for the ages as Oakland punts, giving the Pats and the kid one more chance. The kid drives the team into Oakland territory, but as he's dropping back to pass he gets hit and fumbles the ball to Oakland, a horrible ending reminiscent of The Franchise getting stripped of the ball in Pittsburgh in 1997. Just as it seemed that the kid's magical run had ended, an obscure Tuck Rule is invoked, giving the Pats and the kid new life. The kid manages one more first down before giving way to his kicker to make a 45yd FG for the ages, considering the snowy conditions. His kick barely clears the crossbar and the Pats have tied the game at 13 with under a minute left. Even with two timeouts, Oakland decides to take its chances in OT. The Pats win the coin toss and Oakland never sees the ball. The kid goes 8-for-8 in OT, including a diving 4th-down catch and sets up a short FG to send them to Pittsburgh for the AFCCG.
The 13-3 Steelers were by far the AFC favorite for the Super Bowl. Their defense could bring heat with the best of them. Their OL and running game were superb. Running and defense - this team was built for championship football. The Pats were up for the task. They stuffed the Steelers running game and kept the QB in check. The Steelers D kept the kid in check for most of the 1st quarter. It seemed that the Pats would need to find points any way possible and they did as they returned a punt 55 yards for a TD and a 7-0 lead. In the 2nd quarter, the kid looked like he was settling in when suddenly he took a cheap shot to his ankle. He was hurt bad and had to come out. Now it was up to The Franchise to save the day. Immediately, The Franchise connected on 3 passes, the last one a TD that gave the Pats a 14-3 lead; What an opening performance by The Franchise in his return! The Steelers, desperate to get back in this game, drove deep into Pats territory for a FG attempt, but the Pats blocked it and returned it for a TD and a stunning 21-3 lead. In the 2nd half, the Steelers turned up the heat on both sides of the ball and within a 4-minute window closed to within 21-17. The Franchise was struggling, but made just enough plays to kill some clock and set up a FG that stretched the lead to a full TD. The Steelers tried in vain to tie the game, but their QB wasn't up to the task as he overthrew his WRs twice in the 4th quarter for critical INTs that sent the Pats onto SB36 against the heavily favored 14-2 Rams, the last team they had lost to that year.
The big question leading up to SB36 was whether The Franchise would get the start or the kid would be healthy enough to reclaim the starting job. If the coach was looking for an injury excuse to start The Franchise, he had it, but decided that the team was in better hands with the kid. When the game started, the star-studded Rams were introduced player-by-player, but the Pats decided to get introduced as a team, reflecting their "all for one" mentality. The Pats knew they weren't going to shut down the Rams' offense, so they at least hoped to slow it down. In the meantime, the Pats needed to find points however they could. The Rams were able to move the ball, but couldn't put it into the endzone and had to settle for a 3-0 lead. In the meantime, the Pats were able to move the ball and play a field-position game, but really didn't show signs of lighting up the scoreboard so they desperately needed points by other means. Those points came on an INT return and a fumble that was returned deep into Rams territory that the kid converted with a TD pass just before halftime for a surprising 14-3 lead. The defense continued to make plays in the 3rd quarter, returning an INT into Rams territory that got converted into a FG and a 17-3 lead. The Pats' defense was playing superb and the kid was doing his job of managing the game, not turning the ball over and killing some clock. The Pats looked like they were going to win the Super Bowl!
Then it all started to fall apart in the 4th quarter. First the Rams scored to pull within 17-10, made more painful by a 4th-down fumble returned for a TD nullified by a (correct) holding penalty on the Pats, giving the Rams new life at the Pats' goalline. The Pats couldn't move the ball at all on offense, forced to punt it back to the Rams repeatedly. The Rams continued to drive and the Pats had to make some huge plays to sack the Rams out of FG range. With just over a few minutes left, the Pats had the ball and a chance to run out the clock, but failed miserably with a 3-and-out. A horrendous punt put the Rams in business 55 yards from paydirt at the two-minute warning. The Rams wasted no time against the tired Pats defense and tied the game at 17 with 1:30 to go as the exhausted Pats missed several tackles on the game-tying play. A poor kick return put the Pats in business at their own 17 yard line with no timeouts. Announcers speculated that the Pats should take a knee and try their chances in OT. Coach and the kid thought otherwise...
1st down: Kid is almost stripped of the ball, but smartly uses two hands to secure it and then dumps it off for a short gainer.
2nd down: Another dumpoff for the first down.
1st down: Spike to stop the clock.
2nd down: Kid throws a dumpoff to his RB in the left flat who jukes inside the defender, then races to the 1st-down marker and reaches with the ball for the sideline to stop the clock as a LB is trying to pull him back with all of his might. Replays show that he got the ball out of bounds while his knee was two inches above the ground. If he didn't stop the clock on that play, the Pats had decided to kneel out the clock and force OT.
1st down: Jailbreak blitz by the LB and SS! The kid knows the play is dead, but can't afford to take a sack or get called for intentional grounding, so he sprints to his right to get outside the tackle box and throws the ball out of bounds to stop the clock.
2nd down: Keeping in extra TEs to avoid the jailbreak from the previous play, the kid has time to find his favorite WR on a crossing route for a catch-and-run out of bounds deep in Rams territory. Holy cow, the Pats are in long FG range!
1st down: Kid throws a safe, short pass to make the FG more manageable.
2nd down: Spike the ball to stop the clock with 7 seconds left.
3rd down: The hero of the Raiders snow game comes on to kick a 48yd FG to win the Super Bowl for these underdog Pats. Visions of the Bills' "wide right" kick in SB25 are going through the minds of Pats fans everywhere. Here's the snap. The hold. The kick...boom! Right down the middle! It's good, and would have been good from 58 yards. The game is over. The Pats are Super Bowl champions. The kid is seen on the sidelines telling The Franchise, "We won!"
Epilogue: The kid had won over hearts in NE, for everyone inside and outside the Pats organization knew they had someone special. The Franchise was traded to avoid any QB controversy. The team struggled in its title defense the following year, but knew that with a bit of retooling that the kid could take that team places longtime Pats fans never thought possible. The team reloaded through key FA signings and the draft to win the next two SBs, setting some NFL records in the process and the kid joined the ranks of the all-time greats. A few years later the kid would throw an NFL record 50 TDs, be voted league MVP and lead the Pats to a 16-0 regular season and a Super Bowl berth, where in a bit of irony they were upset in a manner much like they had upset the Rams. Despite that setback, the kid still holds true to his motto, "My favorite title is the next one." Future titles are definitely within reach. Pats fans look forward to what the kid will do next.
Regards,
Chris
