Chapter 1058: You Can't Help But Be Convinced
The Seattle Seahawks fans are now genuinely filled with loathing and anger towards Lu Ke. It's no exaggeration to say they "hate him to the core."
Whether it's the fans or the Legion of Boom, they've all tried to find excuses. Richard Sherman is a prime example, always trying to downplay the ugliness of this divisional loss and shift the focus to alleviate the bitterness of this humiliating defeat. But the reality is, the more they struggle and the more they try to escape, the deeper the scar gets.
There's no denying that the Legion of Boom's performance in this game failed to contain Lu Ke. They were completely dominated, and the stats and the score don't lie.
Russell Wilson: 21 completions out of 36 attempts, 280 yards, no touchdowns, three interceptions, a quarterback rating of 48.4, and a PFF grade of -1.8.
Lu Ke: 27 completions out of 35 attempts, 422 yards, six touchdowns, no interceptions, a quarterback rating of 158.3, and a PFF grade of 2.0.
The side-by-side comparison is so obvious that it needs no further explanation.
On one hand, the rising star Russell Wilson unfortunately had his worst performance of the season. He showed none of the confidence of a quarterback with a 100.0 rating during the regular season. Although his performance improved in the second half, it was still a disaster. He was completely helpless against the San Francisco 49ers' defense.
Of course, the blame can be placed on the offensive coordinator. The Seattle Seahawks' offense was run-heavy and didn't give Russell more opportunities to showcase his skills. Both of their first-half touchdowns came from Marshawn Lynch's running plays, which also limited Russell from getting a better score in the quarterback rating.
But in the end, Russell's poor passing performance exposed the weaknesses of a rookie quarterback.
On the other hand, Lu Ke, who had a flawless performance this season, not only didn't hit a roadblock but also further improved his skills. He used his clever and intelligent tactical layout to tear open the Legion of Boom's defense. Although he had fewer passing attempts than Russell, he had a clear advantage in passing-running balance and completion percentage.
This also paved the way for Lu Ke to make history.
This was Lu Ke's first game with six touchdowns! This was also his first game with a perfect quarterback rating and a perfect PFF grade!
Since the quarterback rating was established in 1971, a long list of players have achieved a perfect 158.3 rating. To this day, a total of 54 players have achieved this feat. Since 2000, there have been 17 games with a perfect quarterback rating.
A perfect quarterback rating requires a quarterback to have more than 10 passing attempts and meet certain standards in four areas: completion percentage, average yards per pass, touchdown-to-pass ratio, and no interceptions. The calculated score from the fixed formula will then exceed 158.3.
The better the performance, the higher the score. For example, Lu Ke's final score in this game exceeded 170 points, but the league uniformly recorded it as 158.3 as a benchmark and a symbol of "perfection."
Among the historical records of many quarterbacks, Ben Roethlisberger is the only quarterback to have two or more perfect ratings in the same season, a feat he achieved twice in Week 9 and Week 16 of the 2007 season.
The 49ers are the only team to have two different quarterbacks achieve a perfect rating in the same season. In the 1989 season, Steve Young in Week 7 and Joe Montana in Week 10 both reached this height.
Among active players, Peyton Manning leads with four perfect ratings. He is also the only player in history to have achieved this feat four times. After him, Ben Roethlisberger is close behind with three, Tom Brady has two, and Drew Brees and Eli Manning each have one.
Also, Aaron Rodgers, who broke the regular season's highest quarterback rating record last season, has yet to achieve this feat. Kurt Warner, who has since retired, has also done this three times.
It's worth mentioning that in Week 11 of this season, the Washington Redskins' rookie quarterback, Robert Griffin III, achieved a perfect quarterback rating against the Philadelphia Eagles. He and the New England Patriots' quarterback, Drew Bledsoe, are the only two quarterbacks to have achieved this feat in their rookie season.
Today, Lu Ke officially joined the perfect rating club, becoming the third quarterback to achieve this feat since 2010.
At the same time, Lu Ke also became the second player in history since Ken O'Brien in the 1986 season to have more than 400 passing yards in a single game and still maintain a perfect quarterback rating. He is also the second player in history to have more than 30 passing attempts in a single game and still maintain a perfect quarterback rating.
This means that the quarterback took on the main task of the game, became the main reason for the victory, and was still able to deliver a top-level perfect performance!
What's even more memorable is that this achievement was made in a playoff divisional round game against their division rival, the Seattle Seahawks, and he proudly advanced to the NFC Championship with a perfect performance. This also means that Lu Ke is the second player since Peyton Manning led the Indianapolis Colts to victory against the Denver Broncos in the AFC divisional round in 2004 to achieve a perfect quarterback rating in the playoffs.
Even though Sherman still refused to admit defeat, the stats don't lie. This was Lu Ke's best performance in two seasons. It was flawless. Against the tough defense of the Legion of Boom, Lu Ke won the game with an even tougher attitude, stepping on his rival to advance to the next round.
Even though the "12s" were still talking big, their performance didn't lie. On the field, Lu Ke defeated the league's number one defense with a flawless performance. Off the field, Lu Ke expressed his stance and opinions in a calm and restrained manner, flawlessly resolving everything.
The taste of victory is so sweet and unforgettable!
Undoubtedly, the 49ers showed an excellent competitive form and great strength in this divisional round. They advanced to the next round with a flawless and undisputed performance.
Because of this, the more the "12s" resisted on social media, the more brutal the comments from other fans became. From on the field to off the field, the Seattle Seahawks' overall defeat was undeniable! After this game, the number of neutral fans who became fans of the 49ers and Lu Ke skyrocketed.
It's foreseeable that Lu Ke's jersey sales will skyrocket again.
For Lu Ke, the completion of his tasks also proved this point.
Game Tasks:
Complete a touchdown in a playoff game: Requirement: None; Reward: Special Point +1 for each touchdown.Complete a ground offensive layout in the first half of a playoff game: Requirement: At least three ground plays and a total of at least 25 rushing yards; Reward: Special Point +1.Complete a defensive read in the first half of a playoff game: Requirement: Uncover the opponent's blitz intention two or more times; Reward: Special Point +1.Complete a designated area pass in the second half of a playoff game: Requirement: At least a 60% completion rate in the short-pass area on the right side; Reward: Special Point +1.Complete a tactical layout in the second half of a playoff game: Requirement: Achieve an effective balance between ground and passing offense, and at least two successful reads of the opponent's defensive intentions; Reward: Special Point +1.Achieve victory in the playoffs: Requirement: None; Reward: Gold Point +1.
As always, you can get a glimpse of the game's situation from the tasks. From the first minute to the last, you couldn't be careless. Although the final score difference was significant, the game itself was far from as easy as the score suggested. After all, anything is possible in the single-elimination playoffs.
Fortunately, Lu Ke firmly seized the opportunity and successfully completed all the game tasks.
In this divisional game, not only were there game tasks, but there was also a special task. This was to be expected. The difficulty and atmosphere of the playoffs are different, so the chances of a special task appearing would naturally increase. However, the content of the task was a bit unexpected.
It wasn't Richard Sherman, but Russell Wilson. It wasn't one, but two.
Special Task: Challenge from a Rookie Quarterback.
Task Description: Rookie quarterback Russell Wilson has had a strong rise this season, performing well in both passing and running. Although he's still a bit inconsistent on the road, his regular season performance has proven himself. He's also known as one of the most underrated rookie players this season.
For Russell, he always believes that the host's skills are lower than what the media hype them up to be. He firmly believes that his skills surpass the host's. He is full of fighting spirit and hopes to create a miracle in the divisional round on the road, taking down the host and winning a game on the road to prove himself.
So, how should the host respond? As you enter your second year, you will face more and more challenges. This is just the first step.
Task Requirement: Surpass Russell Wilson in any four of the following six metrics: completion percentage, passing yards, passing touchdowns, interceptions, quarterback rating, and PFF grade.
Task Reward: Special Points +10; or Gold Point +1.
Penalty for Failure: Daily training tasks are doubled, and the effect of offseason training is reduced by 10%.
Judging from both the rewards and the requirements of the task, you can see its importance, especially the details of the requirements. Surpassing him in four of the six metrics means that the system is positioning Lu Ke as the strong one and Russell as the challenger, which is completely different from the game against Drew Brees last season. So the difficulty of the task is naturally higher.
But Lu Ke still rose to the occasion and completed the special task!
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