The offensive and defensive lines were a chaotic mess. The players were all bunched together, with red and navy blue jerseys colliding with each other, like two rushing currents meeting. The roaring waves echoed with the sound of the collision, as the angry and aggressive defensive linemen clawed and fought their way toward the quarterback.
Before the offensive line was completely torn apart, Lu Ke decisively threw the football.
The Seahawks' defensive line was immediately thrown into a frenzy. Leroy Hill watched helplessly as the football was thrown, but he was still one step away from Lu Ke. His hands only managed to touch Lu Ke's waist. In the next second, to avoid a penalty, he had to let go and forcefully control his body, staggering to the side while looking back at the football.
Who did he throw to in such a short amount of time?
In the open space, the Seahawks' secondary defenders were tightly covering the receivers' routes. They followed the entire offensive line as it moved to the 49ers' left side, but then their eyes were firmly fixed on the football flying through the air. They then saw the player who successfully caught the ball!
It was a short pass of about eight yards, with moderate power, accurate placement, and a flat arc. The football was in the air for less than half a second before the receiver effortlessly caught it.
Marcus Lynch? It was Marcus!
This was only his second play on the field, and he was already the target of a pass. As a running back, he smoothly caught the football and bulldozed his way forward.
Richard Sherman, who was originally defending Logan, realized that the defenders on the first line hadn't covered the short-pass area and had made a mistake. Marcus had no one to defend him and caught the ball easily, and there was an open field in front of him. Marcus caught the ball on the right side, while the entire offensive line had pulled the defensive line to the left.
So, Sherman immediately abandoned Logan, lowered his center of gravity, and charged toward Marcus, aiming for Marcus's shins. If he could tackle him there, the player would immediately lose his balance and be unable to keep moving forward. At the same time, the players on the defensive line who were supposed to be covering the short passes realized their mistake and quickly went to help.
But they were too slow.
Sherman dove forward, but he watched as Marcus leaped over him like a hurdler, graceful and stylish. Sherman crashed into the grass, kicking up a shower of dirt, while Marcus regained his footing and continued to move forward.
Damn it. Another missed tackle!
Marcus continued to push forward. Logan also came over, crossing paths with Marcus, and ran into a defender who was trying to help, but there was another defender in his sight. Logan reached out to try to block him, but he only managed to tap the defender on the shoulder and couldn't grab his jersey.
That defender charged forward and dove sideways, interrupting Marcus's forward momentum. Marcus lost his balance, stumbled, and fell onto the grass.
Marcus was very unhappy about this and angrily pounded the ground, complaining about his performance. Usually, even with that kind of impact, he could have pushed for at least two to three more yards even if he lost his balance. As a power running back, this was his strength.
But this time, either he didn't warm up enough or he was too excited, but he lost his footing and fell. Marcus was very annoyed about this.
Nevertheless, this unexpected pass successfully gained ten yards. With Marcus's help, Lu Ke led the team to the twenty-three-yard line, with seven yards still needed for a first down. It was now the third down.
Lu Ke raised his hands, quickly pushing forward, and signaled his teammates to move quickly and line up. Since the shotgun formation was the first choice for the play, Lu Ke immediately entered his most familiar no-huddle offense mode, relying entirely on his passing ability and chemistry with his receivers to gain yards. Fast, fast, faster!
Even though it was the third down and he had to gain seven yards, a difficult situation for the offense, Lu Ke didn't panic at all. He was even calmer than before.
On one side, the offensive players immediately lined up. On the other side, Lu Ke loudly announced the routes for the play.
At this moment, the audience at Candlestick Park wasn't very loud. The audience still seemed to be in a daze from the boring game, occasionally glancing at the field. Even the commentators didn't sense any impending danger, except for Kirk.
This kind of environment was a nightmare for the game's atmosphere, but it was perfect for a quarterback to call plays. Without much effort, Lu Ke was able to relay the play, and without hesitation, he immediately called for the snap.
After he got the football, Lu Ke didn't take a step back or move too much. He only took two large steps to the right and then saw his target.
Michael Crabtree.
Crabtree made the motion of a forty-yard dash, running forward with his head down. But after running for ten yards, his arms were still swinging hard, but his feet suddenly stopped and started running in place. Richard Sherman, who was running right behind him, couldn't stop in time and ran past him. Then Sherman watched helplessly as Crabtree stopped, turned, and raised his hands.
Almost as soon as he raised his hands, Lu Ke's pass arrived.
However, the position of this pass was slightly low. The trajectory calculation seemed to have been a bit off. Either Lu Ke threw it a little too close, or Crabtree ran a little too far. As a result, the football landed almost at his waist. Crabtree quickly reached out, bent over, and made a difficult catch. He managed to catch the ball in his arms, but he had lost his balance. He rolled on the ground clumsily, which saved him from injury.
"Fk!" Sherman yelled a curse. It was him; it was him again. How many times had he been out of position tonight? That Asian quarterback was definitely targeting him, humiliating him again and again. And what was worse, he was letting the humiliation continue! "Fk! Fk! Fk!" Sherman was trembling all over, almost burned alive by his rage.
He was going to crush that guy! He was going to dominate that guy! He was going to torture that guy!
Crabtree got up, looked at Sherman, who was pounding the ground next to him, and sneered contemptuously. He threw the football to the referee, then quickly ran toward Lu Ke, giving him a confused look. "I thought you said ten yards."
"No, no, I wanted you to run to the ten-yard line and then come back." Lu Ke's pass was actually at the eight-yard line. The two had a miscommunication, and their coordination was still not good enough, which led to the dangerous result. But luckily, Crabtree was able to make the catch.
Crabtree stared at Lu Ke in disbelief, then said to Logan, who had just run back, "Is he joking?"
Logan shook his head. "No, Bambi means what he says. We need to work on our routes and positions when we get back to training." If he said eight yards, it was eight yards. The entire passing range wouldn't be more than an arm's length away, and the position and height would be just right.
Crabtree blinked. Was this quarterback's passing really that accurate? At least that last pass was at the eight-yard line.
With the eight-yard catch completed, they just barely crossed the first down line. The San Francisco 49ers' offensive drive continued, bringing them to the thirty-one-yard line in their own half.
Third and seven. In such a difficult situation, Lu Ke looked calm and collected. With this performance, the commentators in the booth woke up from their stupor and gradually tasted something different. They seemed to smell the style of the first two opening drives again, but they needed to observe more.
The Seahawks' defense was repositioning themselves, but Lu Ke didn't give them any time. After the offensive line was lined up, he immediately gave the command, assigning routes to the three receivers. He then gave Marcus a signal, which the defense interpreted as a play-action pass, but in fact, Lu Ke was telling Marcus to run out as well, to be used as a wide receiver.
To be more accurate, given Marcus's weight and size, he would be a tight end.
In just ten seconds, Lu Ke had finished setting up the play and was ready for the snap. The Seahawks' defense hadn't even had time to finish their discussion. Faced with their opponent's offensive formation, they could only line up in a hurry and get ready to react on the fly. As expected, Lu Ke immediately called for the snap.
Marcus ran to the right side, running a short pass route. Crabtree also ran to the right side, running a medium pass route and using the same old trick to pull Sherman along.
Kyle Williams ran to the left side, and Ted Ginn also ran to the left side. The two of them split into two separate routes, running with their heads down. Their movements didn't look like a medium pass but a deep pass. The Seahawks' secondary defense was immediately on high alert.
Then, Logan also ran to the left side. Wait, wasn't Logan on the right side all this time? Why did he suddenly switch to the left? The Seahawks' defenders were in a frenzy and charged forward without thinking.
Raise his arm, pull back, and throw.
Lu Ke's entire throwing motion was very small and clean. He only took three steps back before completing the pass.
It was a short pass! Not a deep strike with a powerful arm, but a short pass of about seven or eight yards! The target was none other than Logan!
It was Logan Newman again.
The three nearby defenders charged over like hungry wolves. Logan securely caught the football, turned, and started to run, but in the next second, he saw that the three players in front of him were forming a trap, and his teammates were all running their routes and had no time to help with the coverage.
He was surrounded.
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