"Folks, welcome back to the 2011 NFL regular season. We are live with Week 1 of the season, where the San Francisco 49ers are hosting the visiting Seattle Seahawks at Candlestick Park."
Back from the commercial break, Kirk skillfully cut back to the game. "In the first half, the San Francisco 49ers had a fantastic start with two offensive drives that resulted in two touchdowns. At halftime, they are temporarily leading with a score of 14-10. So, Teddy, what are your thoughts on the second half?"
"For both teams, the problem right now is the offense," Teddy said, glancing at the screen. The players were already coming back onto the field, so he tried to summarize as concisely as possible. "On the defensive side, both the 49ers and the Seahawks have been performing above average. Although there's only been one turnover so far, the pressure they've been putting on their opponents' offenses has been very effective."
"So, in the second half, we need to focus on the offense. Based on their performance in the first half, neither team seems capable of carrying their team to victory," Teddy said quickly, his pre-commercial commentary flowing like a waterfall. "The Seahawks' passing game—can it get things going? The 49ers' running game—can it be revitalized? These will be the key battles. With the score within one touchdown, I think this game is going to be very intense."
"The running game?" Kirk questioned. "I personally believe that the 49ers' offensive secret lies in their passing game."
"Ha, it seems you have a lot of faith in number fourteen," Teddy said noncommittally. Besides the two opening drives, that number fourteen's performance wasn't terrible, but it wasn't excellent either. It was just average. Of course, for an Asian quarterback, being average was already a great feat. "Well, let's wait and see!"
Kirk spread his hands without debating, but he looked at the big screen with confidence. For some reason, he was willing to believe in Lu Ke, even though he knew it was an irrational judgment.
The second half of the game began. Since the San Francisco 49ers started with the ball in the first half, the Seattle Seahawks' offense was the first to take the field in the second half.
Today's game was a nightmare for Travis Jackson. The immense pressure was suffocating him. Even though the main offensive responsibility was on Marshawn Lynch's shoulders, this was the era of the passing game, and as the team's quarterback, he had to complete passes. Otherwise, the team's offense would be stuck in the mud.
In the first half, Travis's pass completion rate was 6/14. He attempted fourteen passes but only completed six. These stats were still achieved with Marshawn taking on most of the defensive pressure and passing being an unexpected weapon.
It was absolutely terrible.
After the second half started, Travis's passing was still a mess. He attempted five passes and completed two. He managed to get one first down thanks to his receivers' ability to run. Additionally, Marshawn, who was heavily protected, ran the ball four times, with one resulting in a first down, and the other three runs going nowhere.
The Seahawks took nearly four minutes to get to the middle of the field, but they still had to punt in the end.
It seemed that everything was the same as in the first half. The situation continued without any change. Now it was just a matter of which team's offense would go on a rampage, or which team's offense would fall apart.
The entire Candlestick Park was a bit sullen. The audience didn't want to see punts back and forth, with every offensive drive stopping at the midfield line. This kind of game was a disaster. The commentators also didn't want to see broken offenses, where the plays were interrupted by mistakes before they could even see any spectacular defense. The game could almost be described as "boring."
People on the field seemed to be a bit distracted. There were no cheers, no shouts, no roars. People were either looking at their phones, eating hot dogs, or just chatting idly. Even when the special teams punted and returned the ball, no one seemed to care or even know where the next offensive drive would start.
In this lazy and sparse atmosphere, the San Francisco 49ers' offense took the field again.
Lu Ke stood at the fourteen-yard line, while the offensive line stood at the twenty-yard line. There was a six-yard gap between them, which was even farther from the defensive players. One of the advantages of a shotgun formation was that it made it harder for the defense to rush, giving the quarterback more room to move and more space to observe.
Marcus Lynch stood parallel to Lu Ke, about three yards to his right. There were two receivers to his left and two receivers to his right. Logan was on the right side, which was the strong side.
By simply taking two steps back, the view became wide open. Lu Ke could easily see the Seahawks' entire defensive half. "4-3-2-2" was a classic base defensive formation. They didn't make any adjustments to counter the 49ers' shotgun formation. The entire defensive play was relatively balanced, but it also had more potential variations, making it hard to defend against.
"Snap!"
Lu Ke shouted. Then he took two steps back, further increasing the distance and space. Without the cover of a fake run, Marcus ran out and found a gap in the offensive line. He ran out, positioned himself to catch the ball, but the problem was that the pocket of protection from the offensive line was completely torn apart.
On the right side, the Seahawks' number fifty-seven David Hawthorne broke through Joe Staley's block and charged out. The nearby Chilo Rachal quickly retreated to help, but both of them were out of position. Hawthorne had nothing to stop him and pounced on Lu Ke like a beast.
On the left side, the Seahawks' number fifty-six Leroy Hill went around Anthony Davis and charged at the quarterback with his hands out. Davis was still trying to block him but was constantly pushed back.
The Seahawks had four players, and the 49ers had five, but the Seahawks had a complete victory. The entire offensive line was torn to shreds. In less than a second, Lu Ke didn't even have time to steady his feet, let alone look for a receiver. In the next second, a black shadow appeared in his vision.
Hawthorne slammed into Lu Ke.
Lu Ke only had time to tightly protect the football, and every part of his body was moaning in pain. And that wasn't all. Then, Hill also pounced. Seeing Lu Ke on the ground, he seemed unable to stop in time and also fell on Hawthorne. Lu Ke felt a sudden thud in his chest again, and his bones seemed to ache.
Then, the 49ers' offensive linemen also fell on top of each other. Staley, Rachal, and Davis all fell in a heap.
The players who had run out immediately came back. Marcus was the first to become furious, forcefully pushing Hill away. "Over-the-top defense! Don't you know what over-the-top defense is?" Then came a string of curses, with spit flying everywhere.
In a football game, players have different sizes and weights. The quarterback, kicker, and punter are all relatively light and lean, and their ability to handle physical contact is relatively weak. To protect the players in these three positions, defenders are not allowed to go over the top, for example, after the ball leaves the player's hands, defenders are not allowed to hit the players in these three positions, or it's a foul.
Just now, with Lu Ke on the ground, Hill should have stopped his action. Even if it was due to momentum and he couldn't stop in time, making contact was still a foul. Defenders must learn to control their bodies and movements.
But Hill didn't. In response, Marcus grabbed his collar and made his anger very clear!
Lu Ke got up, jumped up and down a couple of times, and then said to Logan, who was rushing over, "I'm fine. Stop Marcus." Otherwise, Marcus would be penalized for a personal foul.
Logan pulled Marcus away, and Hill also realized he was in the wrong—at least in front of the referee, he needed to pretend that he "didn't mean to." He raised his hands in surrender, turned around, and walked away.
The Seahawks' players were celebrating wildly, cheering and jumping. That sack had pushed Lu Ke back to the thirteen-yard line, a loss of seven yards. This meant that they would have to gain seventeen yards on the next second down.
The game seemed to be no different from the first half, with the defense still playing the main role.
Lu Ke didn't waste any time and quickly called his teammates to him. "Focus, you idiots!" Even in a shotgun formation, he was still sacked and couldn't fight back at all. This was the result of the offensive line's lack of focus. Lu Ke had to make his teammates realize this. "Number fifty-seven, he's broken through the line three times today. Staley, Rachal, do you need some help?"
Joe Staley and Chilo Rachal were breathing heavily as they looked at Lu Ke, not saying anything, but their pupils were constricting slightly, and a hint of sharpness flashed in their eyes.
Lu Ke knew they got the message. "Come on, guys, their key players are in the secondary. Their defensive line isn't that good. Don't let them walk through us, okay?"
At least two of the Seahawks' secondary defenders were Pro Bowl caliber, not including this year's rookie, Richard Sherman. Maybe in the future, he would get better. But today was only his first game, and he still couldn't keep up with the pace.
"Shotgun formation, short pass." Lu Ke quickly started to call the play and then directed his teammates to move forward. "Come on, let's go get some touchdowns!"
The offensive drive started again. Lu Ke stood near the eight-yard line, and the offensive line stood at the thirteen-yard line. Marcus was still standing parallel to him.
After the snap, Lu Ke didn't take a step back. Instead, he moved to the left with the entire offensive line. Before the defender could break through the line, Lu Ke made a clean pass. In the next second, Leroy Hill once again broke through the offensive line's block and charged at Lu Ke.
But Hill was a half-step late. Before his hands could even reach Lu Ke's waist, the football was already gone.
The question was, who was the target of the pass?
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