The Tennessee Titans, which have been weak for a long time, have taken on a new look this season. They started the season with three wins and one loss. They are temporarily tied for first place in the division with the Indianapolis Colts. Their dark horse status is really eye-catching.
The performance of third-year quarterback Jack Lock is far from top-notch, but he is better than stable. He scored four touchdowns in four games, but did not intercept or drop the ball. In other words, the turnover control rate is very Excellent; at the same time, the passing and running were relatively balanced, relying on the ground attack to open up the situation, allowing the Titans to enter a long-lost victory track.
Then, the "bearded curse" came true again - Lock suffered a muscle strain, and backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick took over the starting quarterback position.
Objectively speaking, Fitzpatrick has been able to serve as the backup quarterback for many teams. He still has two skills, and his passing ability and judgment ability have reached the league average; his biggest problem is stability, which may be After his peak performance of scoring four touchdowns in the last game, he inexplicably threw four interceptions in a row in the next game.
After taking over the starting quarterback position, Fitzpatrick led the Titans to face the Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks. It was also the bearded bad luck. Both teams ushered in a full outbreak this season - Seahawks Needless to say, the Chiefs experienced a nightmare season last year and became the vice squad leader. They rebounded strongly this season. Under the leadership of quarterback Alex Smith, they still maintain an undefeated season and lead the American League.
Standing in front of the full-power Kansas Chiefs and the impregnable Seattle Seahawks, the Tennessee Titans led by Big Beard suffered continuous ravages/ravages and ushered in two consecutive losses. The season record suddenly dropped to three wins and three losses. This is also The team's playoff hopes, which had been rekindled after four years, immediately became unstable.
It is against this background that the Tennessee Titans are about to host the San Francisco 49ers.
The Titans at this moment are inevitably reminiscent of the 49ers two weeks ago - they also suffered a losing streak when their main quarterback was injured, and then they needed to face a team that was adjusting to its state and in desperate need of a win. , hoping to continue their playoff hopes. But the Titans' situation is more difficult because it is still unknown whether Jack Lock can return to the game.
According to the diagnosis of the attending doctor, Lock needs to sit out for three weeks, which is to return in the eighth week of the regular season. Now he will come back early to face the San Francisco 49ers. This does not seem to be a wise choice.
In this regard, the Titans have always maintained a cautious attitude. During the preparation stage, the starting quarterback has always been Fitzpatrick. ESPN analysts and commentators believe that the second confrontation of "Lu Ke VS Big Beard" is about to take place. Analyzing this game based on this, the general view is that it is difficult for the Titans to stop the 49ers, who are continuing to improve, and the winning rate should not be high.
But the day before the game day, that is, Saturday, Ian Rapoport reported on Twitter: Locke's recovery from the injury far exceeded expectations, he was cleared by the doctor, and he showed good performance in training. In good condition, after careful consideration, the coaching staff decided to let Locke play.
Thus, the "Lu Ke VS Locke" showdown between rookies of the same year is about to take place!
In the 2011 draft, Lu Ke and Locke didn't have much interaction, they were just acquaintances. At that time, Locke was a high-profile potential rookie and was even considered to be a threat to Cam Newton's No. 1 overall pick position. Especially after the negative news about Newton's time in college came out, Locke's market price increased even more.
In the end, Newton became the No. 1 pick, and Locke was selected by the Tennessee Titans with the eighth overall pick in the first round. He was the second quarterback selected that year.
Two years later, both Locke and Lu Ke have established a firm foothold in the league, but their career curves are completely different. Lu Ke has already reached the Super Bowl, while Locke is still working hard for his first career playoff trip. The current confrontation between two rookies of the same class is naturally not as exciting as Watt's before, but it still attracts a lot of attention, especially since Locke is also returning from injury in this game, which has many similarities with Lu Ke's current situation. , fans and audiences can't help but wonder what kind of performance Locke can deliver.
In fact, the course of the game was a bit of a surprise!
Originally, Locke was not a quarterback who made big plays, played steadily, distributed reasonably, and was loyal to the coach. He was more of a relatively stable system quarterback. Naturally, his performance could not be compared to that of Lu Ke, who controlled all four sides of the field. The shooting guards are comparable, but their styles and types are very different. The overall game scene and process can be predicted in advance.
After the game really started, Locke, who returned from injury, showed an extremely strong desire to win. The Tennessee Titans' offense unexpectedly began to dominate the passing attack. It was completely different from the game style in the previous six weeks. Indeed, It actually caught the San Francisco 49ers off guard.
Locke showed the reason why he was able to compete with Cam Newton for the No. 1 pick - as a traditional pocket quarterback, he has the strong physical fitness and flexible pocket footsteps to wait for opportunities to run with the ball. His long passing ability is slightly inferior, but many scouts believe that he can become an Aaron Rodgers-style quarterback.
Both passing and running the ball, Locke was particularly active throughout the game, and even the number of yards advanced by his ground attack was enough to match his own running back Chris Johnson - this is the man who broke the 40-yard dash record in 2008. A running back.
By the way, an interesting fact is that in the rookie training camp, Chris Johnson became widely known for breaking the 40-yard dash record and instantly became the center of attention. However, under great pressure, Fonderrick performed abnormally in the test, scoring a perfect five. He got only ten points out of ten; later, the specific information was no longer reliable, but he retaken the test a second time with different test papers, and his score of twenty-one points became obviously normal.
Returning to Locke, from passing the ball to running the ball, he has become the hub of the entire offensive group. Such a full-court coverage game style is almost unrecognizable; but there are gains and losses, and his passing success rate Both the turnover rate and the turnover rate have increased relatively, with the first interception and the first dropped ball of the season appearing, and personally leading to two ball possession transitions.
Overall, Locke's performance was pretty good.
25 of 41 passes, 326 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, two sacks, 33 yards on the ground, quarterback rating of 92.1, PFF rating of 1.2.
This is Locke's best performance of the season!
Thanks to Locke's outstanding performance, the game scene once entered a confrontational battle, which made the audience in front of the TV with lowered expectations excited and had to applaud the bold adventure of the Tennessee Titans and Locke. Regardless of the result of the game, It can definitely be called courageous.
But over the past two seasons, the San Francisco 49ers have never been afraid of any opponent, even the New Orleans Saints led by Drew Brees, or the Green Bay Pack led by Aaron Rodgers. Work, the offensive team led by Lu Ke has never been timid to retreat, and the same is true now when facing the Tennessee Titans.
If Locke's performance in his return from injury was eye-catching, then Lu Ke's overall performance was astonishing.
29 of 36 passes, 378 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, two sacks, 18 yards on the ground, quarterback rating of 140.7, PFF rating of 1.9.
Since his comeback, he has scored three or more touchdowns in three consecutive games, and this game also created a first in Lu Ke's career - the first pass success rate exceeded 80%, reaching 80.56%; Although the number of passing yards did not exceed 400 yards, it can be seen from the side that Lu Ke used powerful short passes to provide firepower and activate the entire offense.
Compared to Locke who shines alone, the entire San Francisco 49ers team has its own shining moment.
The defensive team once again created two ball transitions. Although it was not able to create four or more ball transitions in three consecutive games, the strong and stable firepower output still allowed people to see the strength of the defensive team. Aldon Smith's The absence brought many uncertain factors, and the overall performance of the defensive team did have obvious ups and downs, but they still clung to the game.
For the third consecutive week, the offensive team achieved an excellent state of balance between pass and run. The two running backs once again performed well, both advancing more than 80 yards in the game, and Marcus and Gall each completed a run. The ball scored a touchdown, and following the passing attack, the ground attack gradually found its feel.
In addition, the special team also performed well. The 2003 undrafted rookie wide receiver Kassim-Osgood, who just joined the team this season, was at the end of the third quarter. Successfully completed a punt return touchdown, directly pushing the Tennessee Titans who were trying to cling to the score into a bottomless abyss, and once again widened the score gap.
Compared with the team that suffered three consecutive losses, the San Francisco 49ers' mental outlook and game state have undergone radical changes. Amidst the many negative factors of turmoil and unrest, they finally showed the ability to defend their title. The strong posture of the champion also caused subtle changes in the league pattern again.
Facing the San Francisco 49ers in such a state, the Tennessee Titans tried their best and still failed to find many opportunities. They only fought for one game, and then the gap became wider and wider. No hope of shrinking in sight. Compared to the Arizona Cardinals last week, it doesn't seem to be much better.
The courage is commendable, but there is still no way to save the day.
When the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, "17:42", the San Francisco 49ers easily defeated the Tennessee Titans with a huge score gap, retreated from the away game, and gave the home team three consecutive games without mercy. defeat.
After three consecutive losses, he won three consecutive victories!
