Chapter 634: The Night Showdown
"God, what is happening? This is unbelievable! Billy Cundiff of the Baltimore Ravens is standing still in disbelief, looking down, and has no idea how this happened. He just missed a thirty-two-yard field goal, my God!"
"The two teams were locked in a stalemate for most of the game, and the score was always close. Neither team was able to gain a real advantage. Now the Patriots are temporarily leading 23-20. Joe Flacco led the team to the Patriots' half of the field. Facing a fourth-and-two situation, the Ravens' head coach, John Harbaugh, gave up the risky attempt and chose a field goal."
"This is a thirty-two-yard field goal. For a kicker, this shouldn't be a difficult kick. In practice, if you try a hundred times, you should make all a hundred. Billy Cundiff, an undrafted rookie from 2002 and a veteran kicker with ten years in the league, kicked the ball to the left at a crucial moment, far from the goalposts."
"Unbelievable!"
"As long as he made this field goal, the game would be tied, and it would likely go into overtime. That would be the first overtime in the AFC Championship Game in twenty-five years. But now, with Cundiff's missed kick, the Patriots have the upper hand.
"Now, there's one minute and forty-four seconds left in the game. Tom Brady won't give his opponents another chance. The Patriots are just one minute and forty-four seconds away from returning to the Super Bowl. This wasn't an incredible game, but it was definitely one full of surprises. Billy Cundiff's missed field goal will most likely become the most famous moment of his career."
"The Patriots' offense..."
The static on the radio was still rustling. The commentator's voice, amplified by the radio waves, seemed to have a magnetic quality, attracting all the attention. At the most intense moment, the broadcast was suddenly cut off. The players were startled and instinctively looked up. They then noticed that everyone was immersed in the radio broadcast, and the entire locker room was dead silent.
The person who turned off the radio was Jim Harbaugh.
At this time, the 49ers players noticed that the coaching staff had entered the locker room one after another. Through the open door, they could clearly hear the deafening cheers from outside, pouring in with great force and shaking the ground. Then, with a "bang," the door closed again. The noise from outside was still there, but the feeling of being there in person had disappeared.
Harbaugh stood in the middle of the locker room and looked around. "Everyone, come here and gather."
One by one, all the players gathered around Harbaugh in a circle and crouched down, making it easier for the head coach's words to be heard clearly and accurately.
"It doesn't matter who our next opponent is. What's most important now is the New York Giants standing on the other side of the field." Harbaugh put his hands on his hips and looked at all the players. "Tom Coughlin is an excellent head coach, and no one can underestimate Eli Manning's ability. If you think that just because we won in the regular season, we'll have the upper hand today, then failure will be the only outcome."
"I'm telling you now, if we played that Week 10 regular season game again, we might lose. That slight difference will be amplified in the playoffs. They have more experience and an advantage over us. More importantly, they just defeated the Packers, and their morale is high. So, for this game, we must be focused."
"But I believe that victory is still ours! Because we've faced the same situation over and over again, and the result has always been the same. We clench our fists! We give it our all! We use all our energy! We focus completely! We're younger, and we have more vitality. As long as we follow our training, victory will be ours!"
Harbaugh's voice became more and more impassioned, arousing everyone's enthusiasm and passion layer by layer. Finally, he raised his right hand high. "I'm ready to win. Who else is?"
"I am!"
Lu Ke was the first to raise his right hand and stand up, shouting loudly.
"I am!"
"I am!"
One after another, all the players stood up, raised their right hands, and shouted in unison, "Victory! Victory! Victory!" The fanatical roar, like a huge wave, echoed through the entire locker room. The more they shouted, the more excited they became. Full of energy and passion, they pushed open the locker room door and jogged toward the field.
That winding, boiling red lava, gurgled as it entered Candlestick Park, and then the red ocean was ready to erupt.
"Game missions:
Complete a touchdown in the playoffs; Mission requirements: None; Mission reward: Special points +1.
Increase the use of short passes in the first half of the playoffs; Mission requirements: Short pass percentage of over 30%; Mission reward: Special points +1.
Increase passing completion rate in the first half of the playoffs; Mission requirements: Passing completion rate of over 60%; Mission reward: Special points +1.
Complete a pass with a specific formation in the second half of the playoffs; Mission requirements: Use a fake run/real pass or fake pass/real run at least three times and successfully deceive the opponent; Mission reward: Special points +1.
Increase long pass completion rate in the second half of the playoffs; Mission requirements: Long pass completion rate of over 50%; Mission reward: Special points +1.
Win in the playoffs; Mission requirements: None: Mission reward: Gold points +1."
A total of six game missions. As expected, last week was the first playoff game of his career, and all the missions were slightly different, and the rewards were also different. Now that the "first time" bonus was gone, the playoff missions were back on track.
The most obvious difference was that the number of gold points went from two to one.
Lu Ke understood more and more how precious gold points were, but on the other hand, if he could make it to the Super Bowl for the first time in his career, would he be able to get more gold points? Of course, the prerequisite was that he could win the Super Bowl; an even more important prerequisite was that he could get into the Super Bowl.
Among the missions for this game, there were two in the first half and two in the second half. But the strange and contradictory part was that the first half emphasized the use of short passes, while the second half focused on the use of long passes.
The system's missions were never meaningless. Every game mission and special mission was a directional guide, guiding Lu Ke to become a more mature game controller. So, the game missions today also had a purpose. Did this mean that in the first half, he should increase the tempo of the game, get the ball out as quickly as possible, and focus on the completion rate to open up the situation with a ground game? And in the second half, he should increase his explosive power and increase the use of blitzes and deadly blows in the variety of plays?
Just from the details of the game missions, it was clear that this game would not be easy. Although the Giants' defense performed poorly in the regular season, ranking in the bottom half of the league, their performance in the two playoff games was a complete turnaround. First Matt Ryan, and then Aaron Rodgers, both quarterbacks failed to take advantage.
Aside from the game missions, the special mission also appeared early. Although a special mission could still appear during the game, the fact that one was listed before the game showed the special significance of this game. Regardless of the outcome, the game itself must be given more importance.
"Special mission: The Glory of the NFC Champion.
Mission description: In the NFL, the Super Bowl is undoubtedly the top event. Only the champions of the two conferences can stand on the ultimate stage, which means that before competing for the Super Bowl championship, you must be the champion of your own conference—win the NFC Championship!
In the league, countless quarterbacks have never made it to the Super Bowl in their entire careers, and so far, no rookie quarterback has ever made it to the Super Bowl. This is a great honor, but also the biggest challenge. Win one more game, and you'll go down in history and get one step closer to a perfect score for a rookie season!
Standing against the host is the New York Giants, led by Eli Manning. He is a quarterback that no one can underestimate. He may not be Peyton Manning, but his big heart in crucial moments can always create miracles. Can the host defeat another excellent quarterback for the second consecutive game and complete a season sweep of Eli Manning?
Mission requirements: Avoid interceptions, equal to or less than one; Number of passing touchdowns must exceed Eli Manning's.
Mission rewards: Comprehensive training package upgrade attempts +1; A random single item +15.
Failure penalty: 10% decrease in offseason training effectiveness; 30% decrease in the skill index for annoying paparazzi in the offseason; +1 difficulty for daily training missions."
No need for a lengthy explanation. The mission description already explained it clearly. This once again proved the importance of this game. At the critical moment of making history, everyone wants to go down in history, but only the strongest can achieve glory. Everyone else will only become a footnote in history.
The seemingly simple mission requirements were terrifying when you thought about them. Just the number of passing touchdowns alone meant that for every touchdown Manning threw, Lu Ke had to throw one more—not a rushing or return touchdown, but a passing touchdown. In the last game, Lu Ke's number of passing touchdowns was lower than Drew Brees, which showed how difficult it was. Not to mention avoiding interceptions. No wonder the game mission also emphasized the passing completion rate.
As for the mission rewards and failure penalties, they were also clear at a glance. The rewards were richer, and the penalties were more severe. What really made Lu Ke's eyes light up was that the comprehensive training package could indeed be upgraded, which would provide an even better platform for improving his skills during the offseason. This made Lu Ke eager to get started.
Of course, to put it simply, winning this game didn't need the stimulation of mission rewards. One word was enough:
Champion!
🗒️NOTE:
New chapters drop Three times a day, every Monday through Sunday! Plus, you have the power to unlock more: we'll release Three bonus chapters for every 300 votes! Let's get this story moving together.
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/MistaQuartz
Explore up to 30 chapters in advance!