In 1978, the NFL was officially restructured and the regular season was increased from fourteen to sixteen games; at the same time, the number of playoff seats was increased from eight to ten, and two wild card positions were added.
Although there are only two more games, which does not seem to be much from a numerical perspective, the physical and energy consumption of professional rugby games is far beyond imagination. The changes in the two games can affect the whole body. The impact is almost a comprehensive chain-type, with direct and far-reaching radiation on all links.
Even in the era of fourteen regular season games, the only team with a complete victory in the season was the Miami Dolphins in 1972; not to mention the era of sixteen regular season games, the 2007 New England Patriots have become the only team currently. For a team to achieve such a feat, it is almost a miracle that cannot be replicated.
You can simply list a set of numbers for horizontal comparison:
Since 2000, there have been only six teams that have won 14 games in the regular season: the St. Louis Rams in 2001, the New England Patriots in 2003, 2004, 2007, and 2010, and the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2004. , the Indianapolis Colts in 2005 and 2008, the San Diego Chargers in 2006, and the Green Bay Packers in 2011.
In other words, there are fourteen-win seasons in the regular season almost every year, except for the absence in 2000, 2002 and 2009. This also means that an absolutely strong team that dominates the league can appear almost every year, but Even with such a strong performance, going from fourteen wins to fifteen wins is still an extremely difficult journey.
Also after the turn of the millennium, there are only three teams left that have achieved fifteen wins in the regular season: the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2004, the New England Patriots in 2007 and the Green Bay Packers in 2011.
Just a difference of one victory, a large number of teams fell behind in an instant, mainly because under the restrictions of the NFL's special competition system and related regulations, there is no difference between an absolutely strong team and an absolutely weak team. The so-called comparison of strengths and weaknesses is all relative. Yes, in a long season, even the team with the best season performance will inevitably experience fluctuations.
Therefore, the journey from fifteen games to sixteen games only left the New England Patriots' only feat in 2007.
It took thirty-five years from the first undefeated season in 1972 to another undefeated victory in 2007; and from the restructuring in 1978 to the breakthrough in 2007, it took twenty-nine years to achieve a complete victory. The long wait, the arduous schedule, the difficult challenges, everything is obvious.
Everyone in the league has always believed that 2007 is a myth, a myth that cannot be replicated. Even the New England Patriots themselves will find it difficult to replicate the special experience of that year again.
But who knew, just five years later, a miracle would happen again, which was even more incredible than the myth in 2007! Even more insane!
The San Francisco 49ers, who had been dormant for eight seasons, emerged strongly in the 2011 season and returned to the playoffs with an excellent record of 13 wins and three losses. They deservedly became the biggest dark horse of the year; this season, San Francisco However, the 49ers continued their efforts, went further with high-energy and stable performance, maintained an undefeated season, and deservedly became this year's number one favorite to win the championship.
This is a miracle! This is a myth!
A winning season again!
When the game entered the fourth quarter, reporters from the national media had already begun writing press releases furiously. They waited until the referee blew the whistle to end the game, and all major news media updated the news immediately. A special celebration of the San Francisco 49ers' great season!
In less than sixty seconds, more than 300 media outlets immediately released the news. Just like the Fourth of July fireworks extravaganza, all media outlets unrelated to sports immediately launched as much as possible. Reports spread the news overwhelmingly.
ESPN, "San Francisco 49ers did it! Undefeated season!"
"Sports Illustrated", "The season is complete! The San Francisco 49ers make history! The Chinese-American quarterback writes a Hollywood fairy tale!"
"Sports Business Daily", "The myth reappeared in 2007, the San Francisco 49ers achieved an undefeated season!"
Yahoo Sports, "Go to the altar! Jim Hubble + Lu Ke = sixteen wins!"
CBS Sports, "History is made! The second team in the league to win a complete season appears! The San Francisco 49ers are back at the top!"
"The New York Times", "Recording night, witness Lu Ke's journey from unknown to the top of the season, the reality is always more exciting than the movie!"
"Los Angeles Times", "A journey more legendary and more wonderful than a Hollywood movie: Lu Ke proves that he is not the second Kurt Warner, Lu Ke is Lu Ke!"
"Chicago Tribune", "A surprise? A surprise indeed; a dark horse? Refuse to be upset! The San Francisco 49ers swept their opponents and won their 16th win of the season!"
The Washington Post, “Who can beat the San Francisco 49ers? In the regular season: No one; what about the playoffs?”
"Time" magazine, "Unstoppable! The San Francisco 49ers defeated their opponents and won the last victory of the season, completing the feat of victory and going down in history!"
…
Amidst the vigorous and mighty tsunami of news, San Francisco’s local media naturally did not lag behind, and their concise and powerful news was hailed as the best headline of the year——
"San Francisco Chronicle", "Sixteen fights, sixteen wins!"
There are no unnecessary words, no complicated embellishments, and no lengthy sentences. It is such a simple and clear sentence, but it releases all the emotions that San Francisco has been waiting for for eighteen years, not just for the excellent record of undefeated season. , or because the depression and dullness that have been dormant for so many years can finally be vented without reservation.
Even more exaggerated are social network platforms.
On Twitter, an average of 10,000 messages appear every second. Although it is still not as good as last year's "Chicken Soup Battle" in the regular season and the divisional round of the playoffs, and failed to set a new record again; but such data can still rank among The top five Twitter data frenzy clearly shows the attention and expectations from the entire league.
No one expected that the San Francisco 49ers would actually complete the feat of winning the entire season!
Indeed, the San Francisco 49ers are almost unstoppable this season; indeed, after defeating the New England Patriots, no one seems to be able to stop the San Francisco 49ers; indeed, the San Francisco 49ers have indeed reached the most coordinated state after two seasons of running-in; It’s true that the Arizona Cardinals are not the best sniper choice…
However, when the victory was truly achieved, emotions of wonder and astonishment broke out involuntarily, because the San Francisco 49ers were not the New England Patriots.
When the New England Patriots made history in 2007, they were the peak mature team that had won three championships in four years. A winning season seemed to be a natural result of the right time, place and people; but the San Francisco 49ers in 2012 were not. It is a young team that has just revived after eight years of silence. The immature and inexperienced youth team is the main force, and they are running rampant with a sense of vitality. Under such circumstances, a complete victory in the season is completely unexpected.
Whether it's questioning or sighing; whether it's complaining or jealousy; whether it's cheering or cursing.
Regardless of whether the fans like it or not, the San Francisco 49ers still managed to complete the feat of winning 16 games. As a result, social networks set off a storm.
The most intuitive example is that Lu Ke’s personal Twitter account was tweeted by Aite 290,000 times in less than an hour. This is an unsurpassable historical record, and all eyes are on it. All focused on the Chinese-American second-year undrafted quarterback.
After a season of precipitation, the doubts about keywords such as "Chinese" and "undrafted" have almost disappeared, because after entering the second year, everything must be based on strength; but the result is shocking, this second-year quarterback The strong attitude of sweeping thousands of armies completely changed the attitude of the entire alliance.
Facing a record of 16 undefeated games, no one can say any negative words, and keywords such as "Chinese", "undrafted", and "sophomore" have now become the best words for this miraculous journey. Embellishment, is there anything more exciting than a script that turns a corner and makes a counterattack? of course not!
The most important thing is, if other people don’t like it, so what? San Francisco 49ers fans showed their support and support, and that was enough. As for the naysayers and the envious—
Not convinced? Hold it in!
Just like Candlestick Stadium now.
The game was over, but the nine people still didn't leave, both inside and outside the court. All the fans shouted the same name in unison, "Bambi! Bambi! Bambi!"
The uniform shouts beat the same rhythm, just like the sound of drums deep in the heart of the earth. The pulse of the earth beats under the feet. The blood vessels of the earth flow in sight, and the sky is filled with red. The ocean was filled with rolling and boiling mist, spreading out in a mighty way. The entire bay area was dyed a light pink, and even the roaring ocean became docile, and they worked together to stir up layers of air waves. There were ripples everywhere.
The banging sound made every fan, every player, every coach, and even every bystander present feel the same feeling and completely become one.
In a daze, it seemed that the souls belonging to this stadium, this city, this ocean, and this land were condensing together powerfully and magnificently, forming a king's heart, beating thumping thumpingly.
Although there is still a long way to go before the mission requirements of "Forging the Heart of a King" - because the requirements include that the San Francisco 49ers must reach the Super Bowl, at this moment, you can really feel the pulse and impact, just like In Lu Ke's chest, it was beating steadily and powerfully.
From the dazzling appearance of the Rose Bowl to the unity of the people at Candlestick Stadium, Lu Ke was like a giant standing tall. After awakening, he slowly stood up and truly possessed the powerful power to create the world. Listen, that is the cry from the universe, Haoran Echoing between heaven and earth.
"Bambi!"
"Bambi!"
"Bambi!"
