The Detroit Lions' special team did not miss the extra point. After scoring one point, they successfully tied the score, "7:7"; then, when the special team kicked off, they kicked the football directly out of the baseline, which also meant that San Francisco The 49ers will start their offense from their own twenty yards.
The home fans at Ford Field were already in a state of madness. The cheers and cheers actually reached a higher level again. They surged forward in a mighty manner, welcoming the offensive team led by Lu Ke on the stage again with a stormy attitude.
Ten yards in first gear.
Amidst the hustle and bustle, Lu Ke's first pass, the entire short passing area was completely immersed in a sea of people, so dense that people's scalp began to tingle, and a small window in the dense defensive bucket formation was glimpsed. He made a prompt decision and took a quick shot, finding Kyle Williams who opened a gap.
Williams adjusted his pace slightly and successfully completed the ball; unfortunately, the opponent's defensive player was very fast in covering up the defense, and the two players teamed up to intercept, blocking Williams from continuing to advance, and the pass was frozen in Three yards away.
Seven yards on second gear.
After starting the attack, Lu Ke quickly retreated and quickly found Michael Crabtree who was cutting on a diagonal. He made a six-yard short pass. He completed the pass with almost only two foot adjustments. His shot was extremely fast. Quickly, the defensive front had no time to react and quickly and accurately found the passing gap.
Crabtree ran into position smoothly, but was suddenly surrounded by three defensive players; in the strong confrontation, Crabtree took off the football forcefully and completed the ball, but before he had time to control it The football was blocked, but a defensive player's effective defense forced the football away, destroying the catch, and the football flew directly out of the boundary.
Third gear, still seven yards. However, the San Francisco 49ers offensive team did not have time to kick off the ball quickly, and the referee blew the whistle to end the first quarter. Then the two teams will switch venues to start the competition in the second quarter.
Faintly, Lu Ke could detect a subtle change in the atmosphere on the field.
The Detroit Lions' defensive team has obviously become more targeted. Judging from the results, Williams was tackled by two players and made a hard interception. Crabtree was trapped in the defense of three players and forced to break the ball. ; Judging from the scene, the short passing area is almost the hardest hit area. Four linebackers teamed up with two cornerbacks to constantly change positions and cross running backs. The area coverage defense obviously strengthened the offensiveness.
In fact, compared with the Dallas Cowboys' defensive team, the Detroit Lions' defensive strength is still slightly insufficient - of course, correspondingly, Lu Ke has also achieved rapid growth in the past three weeks, and his defensive reading ability has also improved. With the improvement, the sense of finding passing gaps has become more acute.
But despite this, the Lions' defense improved its rhythm and state, and began to keep up with the San Francisco 49ers' offense during the matchup. The regular season started with five consecutive wins. Although everyone said that the offensive team led the Lions to great success, the defensive team's tough performance at critical moments also contributed and must not be underestimated.
Following the outstanding performance of the offensive team, the defensive team also began to enter the game state. The Detroit Lions playing at home are obviously determined to win six consecutive victories.
Looking at the entire defensive team of the Detroit Lions, the abilities of the forwards, linebackers and cornerbacks are relatively inferior. There are indeed many loopholes in their defensive confrontation level in the short passing area; safety guards are their strong point, and in the routine so far During the game, Luis Delmas and Chris Harris both achieved outstanding statistics.
In the defense of the two offenses just now, the Lions obviously deployed heavy troops in the short passing area, weakening the impact of attacking the quarterback, and also weakening the coverage of the long passing area. So, how should Lu Ke respond? Use the long ball to hit deep, use the running ball to open a path, or...
During the short break between the first and second quarters, Lu Ke calmed down and thought quickly, looking for solutions and grasping the situation from a higher overall perspective. At this moment, Jim Hubble's voice came from the headset, "Bambi, double tight ends, double tight ends."
In an instant, Lu Ke's eyes lit up.
In the football tactical system, the position of tight ends is relatively special. They often have strategic significance in enriching the team's offensive tactics, just like the reading options of the running quarterback - they can pass the ball and run the ball. , can run the ball by himself, and the same is true for the tight end. He can catch the ball, screen the receiver, open the way for the running back, and solidify the pocket for the quarterback.
According to the styles and tactics of different teams, the role and positioning of the tight end are also different.
In some teams, the tight end is used as a large wide receiver, and even running routes and deep strikes are tactics of the wide receiver; but in some teams, the tight end is used as an offensive lineman. Additional players are added to take on more pick-and-roll tasks.
But throughout the league, relatively speaking, wide receivers are still good at speed and routes; tight ends are good at confrontation and pick-and-roll.
The reason why Calvin Johnson of the Detroit Lions can become the best among large wide receivers is because he is not only tall but also has astonishing speed, and his ability to hit deep routes is devastating; but most tight ends are not. With such speed, even if he is used as a receiving target, he is mostly limited to short and medium passing areas.
The tight end is indeed very powerful, but it is like the edgeless epee in Chinese martial arts. If used properly, it can severely damage the enemy; but if used improperly, it may hinder oneself.
Therefore, only very few teams in the league will adopt the double tight end tactic. With rare exceptions, the first representatives are the New Orleans Saints and the New England Patriots.
The league's No. 1 tight end is Jimmy Graham of the Saints, and the No. 2 tight end is Rob Gronkowski of the Patriots.
It is no exaggeration to say that the emergence of these two tight ends has greatly improved the tactical status of tight ends among various teams; and interestingly, these two tight ends were both drafted in 2010 Entering the league, Graham was the 95th pick in the third round, while Gronkowski was the 42nd pick in the second round.
After the two players performed well on the front line in their rookie seasons, they both became starters this year and began to shine in the league at the same time.
Using the double-tight end tactic means losing speed, dexterity and deep strikes, and the offensive power in the long pass area and even the mid-pass area is greatly weakened; relatively speaking, more power is concentrated in the short pass area to The tight end's matchup advantage enables him to complete the task of advancement in a one-on-one confrontation.
Naturally, the playbook will be completely different, both for the offense and the defense.
Harper is a coach with offense and adventure in his blood. Faced with the Detroit Lions' tactical arrangements, he also made corresponding adjustments.
In the San Francisco 49ers' offensive lineup, speed and deep ability have never been strong points - Alex Smith was not a quarterback with outstanding arm strength. Before this year, their long-pass explosiveness had not improved.
Now that the starting quarterback has been replaced, Lu Ke's long passing ability has activated Ted Ginn, and also made full use of Logan Newman. Even Kyle Williams has become an important receiver of the pass. point, which gives them the ability to strike from a distance, and the entire offensive tactics suddenly become rich and diverse.
Despite this, facing the Lions' two safeties, the 49ers' deep zone confrontation level still fell behind.
In terms of absolute speed, Newman does not have an advantage. Whether it is Delmas or Harris, their speed advantage can block Newman's running route and cut off Lu Ke's passing gap in advance; Williams' strength It is too average, lacks strong points, and cannot form an effective confrontation in a one-on-one situation; this also means that Jean is likely to have to face a situation of one against two, under tremendous pressure, and the situation is not optimistic——
In the first wave of offense, Gene used unconventional helmet catches twice, but they couldn't pray for success every time.
Relatively speaking, the short passing area is the 49ers' strength and the Lions' weakness. This is the correct strategy to use one's own strengths to attack the other's weaknesses. Therefore, Hubble boldly replaced Williams, who was relatively average in quality, and replaced him with Vernon Davis, who had an absolute physical advantage, adopting a double tight end strategy.
As a result, in the short passing area, the 49ers have three absolutely tough receiving and pick-off points in Vernon, Newman, and Crabtree, even in one-on-one and one-on-two confrontations. In the middle, they are definitely not at a disadvantage; when Lu Ke is unable to find a passing gap, he can completely use a hidden passing line. The three players cover each other, and then rely on the confrontation ability of the near end and the wide receiver to complete the game. catch the ball.
At the same time, Gene can also wait for opportunities to run out of the gap and attack deep routes; in addition, the two tight ends can also fully devote themselves to the offensive line's pick-and-roll coverage, which makes the running back's running route full of more possibilities. .
The San Francisco 49ers' offensive line has become rich again, and Lu Ke's passing pressure has also been relatively reduced.
Involuntarily, Lu Ke thought of the update of game tasks before the start of today's game. One of them was the task of area passing yards, and the other was the task of controlling the proportion of short passes; but now, thinking about it carefully, in fact, the two tasks can be seen Success is a task: fully develop positional warfare in the short passing area.
Maybe it’s because the Detroit Lions are better at defending long passes, maybe it’s because the course of the game determines that the short pass area will determine the outcome, but there is no doubt that the double-tight end tactic coincides with the game task requirements. In an instant, Lu Ke immediately understood the coach’s arrangements and intentions.
