Richard Sherman turned around and glared at Lu Ke, staring at him with such anger that it looked like he wanted to roll up his sleeves and challenge him right there and then.
Lu Ke could feel the sharp glare, like a needle in his back. But he was unmoved. It was just one first down; there was no need to make a big deal out of it. As for Sherman, that was just a side mission he completed. Now, he had to focus and lead the team forward.
Sherman was a cornerback in the defensive formation. That was all.
In the next play, Lu Ke first handed the ball to Dixon for a run, but it was not as effective as expected. He only gained two yards, and the Seahawks' defensive line brought Dixon down. Then, on a screen pass, Lu Ke drew the attention of the defenders before throwing the ball to Kyle Williams, who successfully gained another first down.
Starting the offense again, Lu Ke used the same trick, a play-action pass. As he calmly backpedaled, he found an opportunity, a thirty-five-yard deep pass, looking for Logan, who was wandering in the opposing team's half, trying to connect with him. But under the tight coverage of the defender, Logan completely lost his balance and had no chance. The pass was incomplete.
All-American second-team cornerback Brandon Browner's coverage was airtight and relentless. In an attempt to catch the ball, Logan had to engage in a confrontation and wrestle with Brandon. As a result, both of them fell to the ground.
The referee threw a yellow flag.
In a football game, fouls are a natural part of the game, but the use of red and yellow cards is different from soccer or basketball. Because the field is so big, they use red and yellow flags. When a foul is called, the referee takes a flag from their waist and throws it onto the field with a cool, sweeping motion, where it stands out on the green grass.
The red flag is held by the coaching staff and is used to challenge a referee's call. If a coach questions a call during a game, they can throw the red flag to challenge the ruling. If the challenge is successful, the call is changed. If the challenge fails, they lose a timeout.
The yellow flag is held by the referee and is used to signal a penalty. The penalty for a foul in football is a loss of yardage. The most minor penalty is five yards, while the most severe is a first down.
Now, a yellow flag was thrown. The referee believed that Logan had seriously held and illegally blocked during his run. The offense was penalized ten yards.
After all that hard work to get to the forty-three-yard line, they now had to go back to the thirty-three-yard line.
Logan refused to accept the penalty and kept protesting to the referee. But Lu Ke had seen it clearly. The penalty wasn't very controversial, so he called his teammates to regroup.
The situation was different now. Having to go back to the thirty-three-yard line was one thing. More importantly, this offensive play had to gain twenty yards, which doubled the difficulty and immediately limited their offensive options.
The only lucky thing was that the foul on the first play didn't count, so it was still the first down with twenty yards to go.
Jim's voice came through the headset in his helmet. "Shotgun formation, shotgun formation."
For a first down with twenty yards to go, a shotgun formation was undoubtedly a more flexible option. It allowed for a pass, a run, or the quarterback to run the ball himself, all to gain some yards on the first down and reduce the pressure on the next two downs.
"The 49ers are in trouble again."
"First down and twenty yards. This is a difficult task, especially since this rookie quarterback has no running ability. If it were Cam Newton or Colin Kaepernick, the situation would be completely different. The 49ers don't have many options now."
"It's clear that the Seahawks' defense has stepped up their intensity, and the 49ers can't keep up. The best option for number fourteen now is to use a combination of running and passing to gain some yards and then choose a better position to punt. Don't be too greedy."
"Will number fourteen try a deep pass again? But that's not an easy thing to do. The Seahawks have already consciously shut down the deep-passing routes. If number fourteen dares to take the risk, an interception is highly likely."
"This is a difficult problem. Number fourteen seems to be at a loss."
"If they can't make this play, the 49ers' momentum will quickly be suppressed, and the Seahawks will likely take control of the game."
"The 49ers are now starting to miss Colin Kaepernick and Alex Smith. This Asian quarterback seems to have lost his cool."
...
In the commentary booth, all sorts of voices were heard. Everyone seemed to be worried about the 49ers, but the gloating in their voices was hard to hide.
Troy Bauer was probably the only exception. "A passing test under pressure. Number fourteen is facing the first challenge of his professional career. Lu Ke, welcome to the NFL. This is only the beginning." There was a hint of anticipation in his words, as if he could already foresee something spectacular happening.
Everything outside the field had nothing to do with Lu Ke. He was busy setting up the play and then rubbed his hands together. "Game on!"
After lining up again, as expected, the Seahawks' defensive formation hadn't changed. There were seven players in the front, a four-three, a stance that showed a powerful rush. There were four players in the back, who seemed to be defending the medium and short-pass zones, but their feet were constantly moving toward the deep-passing routes.
Following Jim's instructions, Lu Ke was in a shotgun formation.
After the snap, Dixon sprinted up and once again faked a run for a play-action pass. After Dixon ran past him, he turned around and saw the offensive line completely spread out, almost in one-on-one matchups. They had completely stopped the rush from the defensive line, but the entire line was spread out, and the gaps in the middle were filled with holes.
The 49ers' offensive line had five players. As for the four receivers, Lu Ke sent all of them out. Although this was a shotgun formation, it was a passing play from the very beginning.
The front half of the Seahawks' defensive line had four players, but none of them could break through. The back half had three players, and their job was to defend against the run and short passes. But now it was clear that a run was impossible, so one of the players charged forward.
With the offensive line completely spread out, there was no one to block him, and the opponent rushed through effortlessly. Dixon went to meet him, but a running back was a running back, not a true blocker. With a small misstep, the opponent went around him and continued to rush toward Lu Ke.
In a dangerous situation, Lu Ke didn't panic. Instead, he became even calmer, looking for a target to throw to.
To his left, two wide receivers. To his right, one wide receiver and one tight end. On the left side, one wide receiver was also running toward the right, which meant there were three receivers on the right. But there were four defenders.
The Seahawks chose a zone defense. The other two players from the back half of the defensive line also spread out. One stayed in the short-pass area, and the other joined his secondary teammates to help with the coverage.
The entire field was open and laid out in front of Lu Ke. There were three receivers stacked on the right side, each running a different route. Four defenders were scattered around, in a zone defense, ready to help with the coverage at any moment. But their positions were quite spread out.
One was sprinting out of the short-pass area, two were converging inward from the deep-pass area, and only one was in the middle of the three receivers.
There was a gap, but he had to take a risk to survive.
In a split second, Lu Ke didn't think or hesitate. He raised his arm and threw the ball without any hesitation. He completed the pass with a clean motion, and the football shot out like a bullet, making a small arc.
"Number fourteen is now in a shotgun formation. The snap. The offensive line's protection is solid, and they've stopped the Seahawks' first wave of rush. The pocket is breaking down, completely breaking down. Number fourteen throws! A gap! Another gap has appeared! Number eighty-eight Newman! Logan Newman made a sudden stop and found a gap in the surrounding four defenders. He avoided the tackle and made a solid catch without any problems!"
Troy Bauer's commentary was like a machine gun, firing shot after shot without any pauses.
"Newman, it's Newman again. After turning around, he starts running again! Oh, the Seahawks' number twenty-five, Richard Sherman, is completely out of position and has been shaken off by Newman. In a panic, Sherman reached out and grabbed Newman's jersey, trying to end the play with a penalty, but he failed. Newman's run is so powerful. Sherman lost his balance and his position and couldn't even hold on to Newman. Newman keeps going! He's charging toward the end zone!"
The entire Candlestick Park erupted. The screams and shouts were like a mountain tsunami, sweeping in from all sides. Troy's voice was like a small boat in a storm, on the verge of capsizing at any moment.
"The Seahawks' four defenders have all converged on Newman, surrounding him. Newman! Newman! Newman! After Newman shook off the first tackle, the Seahawks' number thirty-one, Kam Chancellor, made a hit, crashing into Newman's calves, flipping him over, and ending his run. But Newman has already broken through the twenty-five-yard line!"
Troy exclaimed in disbelief. "Number fourteen did it! Number fourteen actually did it again!"
Due to the penalty, they were pushed back to the thirty-three-yard line and needed to gain twenty yards for a first down. But in such a disadvantageous situation, Lu Ke calmly and keenly made a judgment and completed an accurate and bold twenty-two-yard deep pass. He somehow found a gap among the four Seahawks defenders, and Logan caught the ball and continued to gain yards, pushing deep into the Seahawks' half and stopping at the twenty-three-yard line.
This wasn't just a first down; it was another chance to get four offensive plays. He had also made a huge leap forward across the midfield line, now in the red zone. A touchdown was within range!
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