Jim Hubble made his choice: Lu Ke, he still chose to believe in Lu Ke. Even though today's game was extremely difficult, even though Lu Ke felt cold today, at the critical moment, Hubble still chose a big gamble.
Lu Ke and Alex exchanged glances.
Alex was stunned for a moment, not hiding his disappointment and regret, but he still showed a smile, raised his right fist, and hit each other on the shoulders with Lu Ke, and finally waved heavily with his fist. , "Don't forget, I'm ready, always ready."
Those threatening words made Lu Ke smile brightly and said firmly, "Then continue to maintain your condition." The subtext was: Even if he was always prepared, he would not give Alex any chance. This is his game, this is his fight, and no one can replace it.
The strong confidence revealed between the lines made Alex burst into laughter and nodded in agreement.
"Guys, you have all heard what the coach said. Then let us score a few touchdowns and let the defensive team see what it means to truly try our best." Inadvertently, Lu Ke also complained about Willis. This made Willis, who was standing next to him, widen his eyes. Before he could refute, he saw Lu Ke trotting towards the court with small jump steps laterally.
Then, Willis missed the opportunity to retort, because the entire Candlestick Stadium went completely crazy!
"Bambi! Bambi! Bambi!"
The heart-rending roars reached their peak at this moment, pouring down like a mountain in layers, so that the entire Candlestick Stadium began to tremble, and it seemed that a slight tremor could be felt under the soles of the feet.
The stormy waves and the powerful sound waves that swept through thousands of troops even caused the entire ocean in the Bay Area to begin to surge and boil. The desolation and coldness of the harsh winter were swept away, like a tornado passing through, unreasonably tearing apart all obstacles. Crush.
At this moment, the soul of Candlestick Stadium woke up again! Regardless of victory or defeat, they will fight to the end!
A bloody battle to the end!
With seven minutes and 26 seconds left in the third quarter, the San Francisco 49ers, who were playing at home, trailed by 0:24. Lu Ke, who was suffering from hypothermia, once again led the offensive team on the stage and officially blew the whistle. The home team’s counterattack horn!
Standing in the pocket again, Lu Ke looked at the defensive team in front of him calmly and steadily. He could feel the biting cold on the surface of his skin, stimulating his pores one after another, and the temperature of his muscles seemed to be changing. It is lowering bit by bit, but the body's condition is still not at the best frequency.
But after paying full attention, these feelings gradually began to recede like a tide, and then entered another brand new world.
It's still the same players, but now in different permutations.
It can be clearly noticed that the Steelers defensive team's formation is orderly, like an army, without any chaos. They are arranged layer by layer, and there are still no defensive loopholes; but in Lu Ke's mind, it evolved There are more possibilities, and the thinking becomes clear again.
Since there is no loophole, then use tactical arrangements to tear out a loophole, and then complete the fatal blow!
There's a reason why the Pittsburgh Steelers defense is one of the league's best.
In this game, they made adjustments to their defensive tactics based on the San Francisco 49ers' offensive style and weak spots.
The three defensive linemen are on the first line, and the two outside linebackers often stand in the same straight line as the defensive linemen, forming the illusion of five players in front, corresponding one-to-one with the five players on the offensive line, but in the offense After the start, the tactical arrangements and combinations of the three defensive frontmen and two outside linebackers were very complicated and diverse.
The main responsibility of the three defensive fronts is to constantly put pressure on the offensive front. They are not in a hurry to raid the quarterback, but continue to compress the pocket and allocate some spare power to prevent the 49ers from choosing to run the ball; then on the offensive front If there is a slight oversight, the two top defensive ends will wait for an opportunity to launch a quarterback raid, making the offensive line further confused.
Compared with the eye-catching data of sacks and tackles, they pay more attention to the application of pressure. Judging from the post-game statistics alone, the numbers of the defensive team are not likely to be too beautiful, but during the game, there are layers upon layers of Pressure has a significant effect.
Little by little, the Steelers defense was able to exhaust the 49ers' young offensive line, and the ball-running effect was mediocre. To some extent, it cut off Marcus Lynch's ball-running route. , forcing the 49ers to choose to pass the ball, and then entered the trap created by the Steelers.
The two outside linebackers have a wide range of activities. Both players are now at their peak, intercepting the running ball, raiding the quarterback, teaming up with the cornerback to cover short passing areas. The entire defensive position has no limitations, but according to the 49ers Tactical distribution, constantly adjusting positions, and waiting for opportunities to cooperate with the defensive front, launching quarterback raids without warning to create pressure.
On the one hand, it is to continuously create pressure to prevent the quarterback from completing the pass in a stable pocket; on the other hand, it is to cover the short passing area to create more space for the two inside linebackers and two safety guards.
For the San Francisco 49ers' offense, the three weaknesses of the offensive line, Lu Ke's lack of mobility, and the running back's relative lack of absolute strength have been further amplified by the Pittsburgh Steelers' defense.
Although these are not fatal problems, the Steelers have accumulated pressure bit by bit, further compressing Lu Ke's passing time and passing options, and also further compressing Lu Ke's tactical choices and tactical changes, thus creating a better environment for the second-line defense. Create more opportunities.
In the entire defensive system, three defensive forwards teamed up with two inside linebackers to intercept the running ball defense; and when the 49ers chose to pass the ball, the two inside linebackers teamed up with two cornerbacks to closely guard the four defenders. Receiving players; the last two top security guards use their own judgment at any time to move forward, push up, impact, and cover, completely covering the short and intermediate passing areas.
Don’t forget that the positions of the two outside linebackers also remain relatively free. When necessary, they can cover the short passing area, and then release the two inside linebackers and two safety guards to become zone defense and cover other receiving areas. ball possible.
Just as Lu Ke really felt in the first half, layer after layer, link after link, formed one steel curtain after another, completely strangling all means of offense.
Compared with the Baltimore Ravens, the entire sense of oppression is not as sharp, but thicker.
Of course, this doesn't mean the Pittsburgh Steelers are invincible.
Not to mention that the Ravens beat the Steelers twice this season, and scored more than 20 points in both games; in this game alone, the 49ers still made progress and scored the first offense, because the Steelers' The defense is not really airtight, but they chose to stop the loss.
Allow the pass to be successful, but use zone defense to complete the tackle in time and terminate the offense; allow the running ball to be successful, but the barriers one after another ensure that the running back will not rush away; give up sacking the quarterback, but always maintain There is enough pressure to create a turbulent sense of crisis. At the critical moment, only a slight surprise attack can further disrupt the offensive deployment.
It is precisely because of this that the San Francisco 49ers can get the first offense and advance, but they are often unable to go further at the last moment.
Of course, what's more important is that Lu Ke really didn't have the passing touch in the first half. Before the opponent tackled and attacked, his passing went awry, and the offense was naturally intermittent and unsustainable.
During halftime, Lu Ke didn't really sit on the bench in the locker room to rest and relax. So, where is the breakthrough gap in the Steelers' defensive steel curtain?
…
The entire Candlestick Stadium fell silent again, but it was not the kind of deathly silence. All the fans could not hold back their emotions and stood up, pursed their lips and gritted their teeth, not daring to make the slightest sound, lest their noises would Disrupting the offensive team's tactical deployment, the restlessness and fanaticism hidden in the blood began to surge.
Under the spotlight, the members of the San Francisco 49ers' offensive team spread out and quickly completed the formation, setting up a simple and basic offensive formation: a two-by-two formation in the pistol formation.
The only change is that this is a two-tight end tactic, and the one who is replaced is not Kyle Williams, but Michael Crabtree. On the left wing, Vernon Davis stands on the outside and Ted Ginn stands on the inside; on the right wing, Logan Newman stands on the inside and Kyle Williams stands on the outside.
This tactic is really confusing to people.
This is completely consistent with the San Francisco 49ers' most basic offensive formation this season, even the positioning is the same, but Vernon replaced Crabtree's position.
However, Crabtree is a large wide receiver. His role is close to that of a tight end. His size and functions also have many overlaps with Vernon. This can be said to be an unnecessary replacement at the same position. The advantages of tight end tactics also don't seem to be reflected.
Why? What's going on in Jim Hubble's head?
But Lu Ke was unmoved at all. He slowly bent down and got ready to kick off.
In sight, the Steelers defensive team's formation is still calm, solid and thick. They completely ignored the San Francisco 49ers' formation changes and concentrated on defensive preparations. This is a good thing, absolutely a good thing.
Due to Patrick Willis' interception just now, the Pittsburgh Steelers' offense was interrupted at the front of the end zone, avoiding the dilemma of losing further points; but for the offensive team, the starting position of the offense was a bit awkward. Above the fourteen-yard line in one's own half, the entire advancement space is compressed and is not easy to stretch.
However, Lu Ke has faced worse situations.
No matter how difficult it is, no matter how dangerous it is, there is only one winner in this battle, and the one who laughs last is the one who laughs sweetest.
