In fact, a special team confrontation is the same as a normal offense.
The party responsible for kicking the ball, whether it is a punt, kickoff or free kick, can be considered an "offense"; and the party responsible for blocking, whether it is a kick return, punt return or free kick block, they are "Defense".
Both the "offensive" special teams and the "defensive" special teams have eleven players on the field, and the entire offensive and defensive process includes kicking off, catching the ball, kicking the ball, advancing, defending or attacking back, which is consistent with normal offense and defense; and , the special team of an ordinary team only has three players, up to four. When playing, all other players have substitutes, and their positions basically correspond to the offensive team and the defensive team.
The offensive side also has guards, tackles and centers, but the receiving positions here will be equipped with cornerbacks or safety guards to tackle the opponent's returners.
The defensive side also has tackles, ends and linebackers, but the defensive second line here will be replaced by receiving players, who are responsible for returning the ball after completing the ball.
In other words, the special teams team can be understood as the "bench depth" in football games. It tests the strength of a team's bench lineup. This is why New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick pays special attention to the special teams team. He always believes that the details of the special team can often be the key to the outcome of the game.
Many potential players will be placed in the special teams, and then through the outstanding performance of the special teams, they will be promoted to the starting lineup of the offensive or defensive team.
The same is true today.
The San Francisco 49ers' linebacker lineup is so luxurious this season that it has become crowded. Veteran Clark Hagans (clark-ans), who just transferred from the Pittsburgh Steelers this year, and this year's seventh-round pick Cam Johnson (Cam-Johnson) cannot make it into the starting lineup. He mostly appears as a rotation player, and usually stays in the special team to shine.
Hagans' eyes were firmly aimed at the movements of the opponent's punter Willeford, and then he quickly made a gesture to Johnson standing next to him, briefly indicating the direction of the pass, and then Willeford Germany has already announced the kick-off.
Without any hesitation, Hagans and Johnson, who were on the right side of their own team, both rushed out, and their shoulders hit the opponent's strong defensive tackle at the same time - while other players were trying to catch the ball or defend the ball. The ball rushed towards the deep area of the stadium. Obviously, the New York Giants did not expect that the San Francisco 49ers' special teams actually launched a surprise attack.
This is also considered a type of trick attack.
Hagans and Johansen worked together to overthrow the defensive tackle in front of them. Johansen blocked the opponent's body movement. Hagans lowered his right shoulder heavily, bypassed the opponent's body, and then raised his hands high. The high ground lifted up and flew towards Willeford.
Johansen was not idle either. He pushed forward with his shoulders, pushing the opponent's defensive tackle into Willeford's body like a bull from a mountain. The two strong men overlapped and attacked like a stormy sea. Go down.
When Willeford realized that his pocket had been completely torn, it was already too late, because his punt action had already been completed. After the football fell, it collided with his toes, and then you could see the football drawing out. An arc, but before it could fully rise, it encountered destruction.
Hagans stretched his fingertips to the extreme and pressed down hard. He could clearly feel the powerful impact of the football collision with his palms. The next second, the army was in chaos. Everyone fell into a ball, regardless of the enemy or friend. .
In an instant, the entire ten-yard line was in chaos.
"The New York Giants punted, and veteran punter Steve Willeford was preparing to punt. This is not good news for the New York Giants, because they need to control the time in the hands of their offensive team as much as possible to avoid The San Francisco 49ers' offense came back on the field and regained their touch. But... the San Francisco 49ers' defense still seized the opportunity and struck out!"
"Willeford is punting. Wait, it's an interception! God, I didn't notice which player it was, but there's no doubt it was an interception, and both special teams were in disarray. They were fighting for the ball."
"God, God, the New York Giants' No. 36 rookie cornerback Terrence Frederick has done a great job! He controlled the ball! He didn't create a chance for the opponent to counterattack!"
"But this is still a heavy blow to the New York Giants! Lu Ke won the opportunity to start the offense above the ten-yard line in front of the end zone! This is very likely to be a punt that changes the direction of the game. The outcome is now in suspense It's getting bigger and bigger, from offense to defense to special teams, the San Francisco 49ers' performance has improved across the board in the past four minutes, and the New York Giants were caught off guard!"
During the punt, because the San Francisco 49ers have the right to attack back, if they encounter a situation like this and the 49ers players finally control the ball and do not encounter a dead ball, they can continue to attack back, and even Completed the return touchdown.
This also highlights the value of Terrence controlling the ball in time, at least winning a chance for his defensive team to defend in the red zone instead of directly losing points.
Despite this, it is still too rare for the special teams to create unexpected situations. Just like in the first week of the regular season, the San Francisco 49ers' special teams extinguished the Green Bay Packers' gambling kick and laid the foundation for their victory. It is also the case now. In this way, the outstanding performance of the special team created conditions for the home team to continue chasing points.
This is also an improvement compared to last season.
Now it depends on Lu Ke's performance.
In the studio, I was still amazed when I watched the replay again.
"It's amazing, it's amazing. After joining the San Francisco 49ers, Clark Hagans' position has been marginalized. This veteran's competitive state is obviously not keeping up with the rhythm, but as the captain of the special teams team during the return attack, , he once again proved his strength: he knows what he is doing!”
"First it was Randy Moss, and now it's Clark Hagans. The San Francisco 49ers, whose main lineup is mainly young players, witnessed the rise of veterans in this game. This is really an interesting thing."
"What does this mean?"
"Have the San Francisco 49ers fully sounded the counterattack clarion call? The next offense, the performance of the offensive team, and the adjustments of the opponent's defensive team are likely to affect the outcome of the entire game. Not only the next step This wave of red zone offense, as well as the New York Giants offensive team's offensive and defensive performance after the red zone offense ended, the performance of these two offenses and defenses will set the tone of the fourth quarter."
"God, although I don't want to say this, the 49ers-Giants game is not a night game. It is really a loss for the majority of viewers!"
Hagans and Johnson are celebrating this special teams victory crazily.
Hagans shook off all the gestures of his teammates who came to celebrate, and quickly rushed to Lu Ke who was standing on the sidelines, showing a big smile, "The next step is up to you!"
He has wanted to do this for a long time. Every time he sees the handover between Willis, Arkens and Lu Ke, the inheritance of that sense of mission always makes Haggans envious, but he has never been able to Find opportunities. Until today.
Lu Ke was stunned for a moment, obviously not expecting this scene, but he immediately reacted, gave a thumbs up to Haggans, and said with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work." Then, Lu Ke turned his head to look. To his teammates on the offensive team, "How are you? Did you hear that? We have a heavy responsibility now!"
All members of the offensive team clenched their fists, cheered loudly, and swarmed into the stadium.
The ten-yard line, which still means a first-down touchdown.
The San Francisco 49ers suddenly changed their formation and set up a multi-line offensive formation. Only Vernon was left on the left side. Moss moved to the right side, alongside Gene and Logan.
This also forced the New York Giants defensive team to make changes. In addition to the four defensive fronts, three linebackers, two cornerbacks, and two safeties all began to retreat, forming a laddered three-stage defensive formation. The entire red zone is completely covered layer by layer, and no one is missed in the left, middle and right areas; and no one enters the end zone, they are all stored in the red zone, which also makes the ten yards of space in front of them extremely bloated. And become dense.
"attack!"
Before the official kick-off call, Lu Ke had a series of complex fake kick-off calls in an attempt to create more opportunities for the offensive team, but today the New York Giants defensive team seemed determined and would never act rashly - obviously, they also Corresponding tactical changes have been made, and so far, they are quite successful.
Finally, Lu Ke announced the kickoff.
On the right side, Logan unexpectedly did not run, but lined up with the offensive line, blocking the forward pressure of the defensive line. Instead, Marcus bypassed Logan and quickly rushed in from the outside edge, meeting Moss and Gene formed three echelons.
Gene had the fastest feet and was already in the end zone in an instant.
Moss was second on his feet, cruising around the five-yard line.
Marcus was last on his feet and just crossed the line of scrimmage.
Lu Ke raised his right hand and immediately made a passing gesture. The entire shot angle looked like a mid-pass, aimed at Jean, but this was a fake move, deceiving the center of gravity of the two defensive players; then there was no Without any pause, he simply pressed down with his wrist, quickly released the ball, and passed the football to Moss.
Gene was trapped in a three-man circle, while Moss was only one-on-one, and Marcus' run had not yet fully opened up.
So, Lu Ke chose Moss.
In order to avoid interception, Lu Ke's passing arc was slightly low. Moss had to lower his center of gravity to complete the ball. But just as he controlled the football, a huge force of tackle came from behind and directly knocked him away. Pressed to the ground, there was no chance for continued advancement. The opponent even tackled Moss and spun around outside, further reducing their passing yards.
Five yards on second down, still a second down touchdown.
