A Wise Investment

Houston broke the game open by scoring on each of its next two possessions. Both followed interceptions of Grogan passes by Free Safety Mike Reinfeldt, who had picked off just one pass during the regular season. The first drive covered nearly the length of the field—99 yards—and was made possible by a grant from New England. Patriot Safety Tim Fox was penalized for a late hit after New England had stopped the Oilers on a third-down rush back inside the Houston 10. Result: first down, no Oiler punt required. Pastorini eventually combined with Barber for a 19-yard touchdown, the tight end doing some neat running after taking Pastorini's short toss at the New England 11. The score became 21-0 with just 25 seconds left in the half when Pastorini, absorbing another blow from Shoate, hit Barber again, this time from 13 yards out. As the Patriots stumbled to their locker room at the half, someone shouted. " Colorado University just announced that it is hiring Bum Phillips as its new head coach."

Much of the pregame talk had centered around Fairbanks' decision to leave New England as soon as possible to become coach at Colorado. Fairbanks' announcement of his plans on Dec. 18, hours before the Patriots' last regular-season game in Miami, had caused New England owner Billy Sullivan to suspend him. Sullivan lifted the suspension two days later when Fairbanks, who had four years to go on his reported $180,000-a-season New England contract, agreed not to have any formal dealings with Colorado authorities until the end of the Patriots' season.

Many New England players insisted after Sunday's loss that Fairbanks' planned defection had not affected their play. And Sullivan maintained that he was going to try to talk Fairbanks into returning to the Patriots. However, it was clear that Fairbanks had destroyed much of the respect he had built up during his six seasons as coach and general manager. His assistants, suddenly without job security, were angry. On the day Fairbanks announced his desertion to the team, an assistant mumbled loud enough for nearby players to hear, "You bleep bleep. How could you be that selfish?"

As the final seconds ticked off on Sunday, Patriot fans in the end zone near the New England locker room made their feelings on the matter clear. "We want Shula," they chanted. And when the game ended, they started singing. The lyrics were a stark contrast to Mauck's rollicking Oiler Cannonball—and a sad epitaph to the Patriots' season.

Goodby Chuckie, goodby Chuckie,
Goodby Chuckie, we're glad to see you go.