A game was over, and the entire league was in a state of shock.
Because the post-game commotion at Century Links Stadium was too big and too sensational, especially since one fan had been seriously injured, the atmosphere within the league was always in a low-pressure state, and news about all other events was surging. After it came out, the intensity of publicity and attention dropped significantly, and the focus from fans to the league inevitably shifted.
But in fact, with the riots stealing all attention, quietly, the San Francisco 49ers' season winning streak has reached fifteen games, which also means that the NFL has changed to sixteen games a season. After that, they were now just one game away from completing a winning season for just the second time in history.
Now it is no longer a theoretical discussion, but a real possibility.
Is a perfect season really possible?
After the dust settled on the riots, ESPN's "Inside the League" took the lead in mentioning the matter in the program, bringing people's attention back to the 2012 season that is in full swing. "Can the San Francisco 49ers complete the season?" What a feat of complete victory." This has also become the focus of the entire league's attention.
When people start to discuss a winning season, strength is certainly an important factor - even the most important factor, but other influencing factors besides this cannot be underestimated: injuries, status, opponents, schedule... and so on. wait. Otherwise, how could the New England Patriots be the only team in the history of the league to achieve the feat of completing 16 games?
In 2007, the New England Patriots faced the Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Jets, Miami Dolphins and New York Giants in their last four games. However, the good news was that all four games were at home. December was auspicious. The stadium is a solid castle that cannot be breached, which also creates important conditions for their winning season.
In the final game against the New York Giants, the New England Patriots narrowly won 38:35. But who would have thought that after four games, the outcome would be reversed?
In other words, a winning season is something that can only be achieved by chance. The right time, right place, right people and the right people are indispensable. Other factors besides strength cannot be ignored.
The same is true for the current San Francisco 49ers.
In terms of injuries, the offensive team's Mario Manningham, Joe Stanley, Anthony Davis, Randy Moss, and Frank Gall all have minor injuries. It is still uncertain whether they will be affected. By the last game, and even in the playoffs, players such as Justin Smith, Navarro Bowman, and Chris Gulliver on the defensive team were also facing minor injuries. The specific situation will need to be determined in the next few days. Detailed inspection will be carried out within days.
After a long season and an undefeated season, the team can now be said to be full of injuries; even players who have no injury problems for the time being have reached their limit in terms of physical strength and energy. In the fierce competition, , if you are not careful, you may face the risk of injury.
Under such circumstances, the team not only needs to consider a winning season, but also the playoffs.
No one will forget that in the last game of last season, Hubble simply let the main players rotate and rest. Lu Ke only played half of the game, focusing solely on adjusting for the playoffs. Afterwards, Hubble's strategy was proved correct. Otherwise, the San Francisco 49ers might not be able to reverse the situation against the New Orleans Saints.
What about this year? Is Hubble willing to go all out for the pretense of a winning season? After all, the playoffs after this are the most important. This is undoubtedly the closest the San Francisco 49ers have come to the Super Bowl in the past two decades. From the lineup configuration to the strength level to the competitive state, everything has reached the best time.
How will Hubble choose?
Hubble's considerations are on one side, and his opponents are on the other.
In the last week of the regular season, the San Francisco 49ers will face the Arizona Cardinals at home. Another sworn enemy in the same district, and also the strong enemy that broke the San Francisco 49ers' unbeaten home record last season, is also a discrimination incident at the University of Phoenix Stadium. The protagonist.
Now that the Arizona Cardinals' season has ended early, they have completely missed the playoffs and must prepare for next year's draft and offseason. This also means that they can attack their opponents with all their strength without worries. Look at what just ended. The Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals will inevitably have some feelings about the game. They will definitely try their best to snipe their archenemy to complete the feat of winning the season.
Patrick Peterson, whose performance of the Cardinals has reached the first peak of his career this season, said in an interview with the media that we will try our best to win, no matter what! It’s not about victory, it’s about dignity! We will fight for Cardinal pride!
Peterson's remarks won a wave of support and cheers in Arizona!
The Cardinals started this season with four consecutive wins. Everyone was looking forward to a brilliant season, but then they suffered a humiliating nine-game losing streak until they faced the Detroit Heroes, who had experienced a cliff decline this season. Lions, they just stopped their losing streak and regained a victory after a long absence——
The Detroit Lions, who entered the playoffs last season, are in deep trouble. They have suffered a seven-game losing streak. Their current season record is four wins and 11 losses, which can be described as a collapse.
Matthew Stafford’s performance this season has also left people scratching their heads. So far, nineteen passing touchdowns - less than half of last season's total; seventeen interceptions, the second-highest number of his career; but amazingly, his pass attempts and passing yards have both He broke the Detroit Lions' team record and was even expected to achieve his first 5,000-yard season, but his quarterback rating was 79.8.
To put it simply, the passing game is still strong, but the conversion rate and turnover rate remain high, so that's it.
Faced with such a Detroit Lion, the Arizona Cardinals barely managed to win, showing some momentum of recovery. The "38:10" data score also rekindled the hopes of Cardinals fans. However, the following week, they simply lost Lost to the Chicago Bears, this long season really has no end in sight.
All dignity and persistence no longer have meaning.
Now, as Peterson said, facing the San Francisco 49ers, this is their last chance to end the season on a dismal note, or to welcome the new season with their heads held high?
This is a choice and a spirit!
More importantly, this opponent is a unique and deadly enemy in the same region!
"For the sake of pride", Arizona Cardinals fans also began to flood social networks. All young fans have issued a call. It is not a simple tit-for-tat, but a strong rise. This season seems to have been lost. The energetic Arizona Cardinals finally got back on their feet.
On one side, the San Francisco 49ers need to gather strength for the playoffs; on the other side, the Arizona Cardinals give it a try. Once in and out, the comparison of strength is no longer important - at least not the most important link.
"Within the league" has also noticed this, and Charles Davis believes that the San Francisco 49ers will not strive to win.
"The San Francisco 49ers have confirmed their position as the league's top seed. They have become the league's top favorite. Now for them, the most important thing is the playoffs, not an insignificant regular season. Jim Harbaugh is completely You can send in a substitute lineup to complete the game and prepare for the playoffs with a new attitude. In this game, the Arizona Cardinals have a higher winning rate. In other words, their chances are better."
But faced with this view, Spencer Larson disagrees.
"The San Francisco 49ers do need a little rest and adjustment, but they are a team full of fighting spirit and will never give up or compromise easily. This is why they have been able to continue to rise in the past two seasons. I think , in the last game, Jim Harbaugh will still strive for victory with all his strength, and the Arizona Cardinals, who have been stuck in an offensive quagmire in the second half of the season, will still find it difficult to win."
"No, no, no, that's obviously not the case." Charles immediately objected and couldn't wait to express his views, but then other analysts and commentators began to interject not to be outdone.
Gradually, the entire studio fell into chaos. You and I were arguing, and everyone was expressing their own opinions, trying to join the discussion and emphasize their points.
But another voice rang out, putting forward a different opinion than Spencer and Charles, "Has no one noticed that Lu Ke now has the possibility to break the league record? Now, he has achieved forty Six passing touchdowns exceeded last season's final score. If he can pass five touchdowns again in the last game, he will break Tom Brady's single-season touchdown record. , isn’t this an important motivation?
This is truly a center of attention!
Because of the riots at the Century Chain Stadium, people have missed a lot of highlights in the past two days, and this is another one of them.
Every player is eager to engrav his name in the history books. Although those historical records cannot define the glory and achievements of his career, it is undeniable that these numbers are indeed an important summary of his sports career. Perhaps the players will not deliberately work hard to break the record to avoid distracting the game - not to mention, how can the record be broken so easily? But if the opportunity arises, they will never miss it easily.
Lu Ke is like this now.
The most incredible part is that Lu Ke is only a sophomore now, but he has already stood on this stage and created too many brilliance. Before the start of the season, people were still worried about his "second grade". "Grade Syndrome", but now we have seen the dawn of breaking the historical record. This season is really exciting.
