The special teams of both sides came on stage, David Akins' extra point kick did not go wrong, and the score on the field came to "0:14".
There was no time to breathe, and the next wave of offensive and defensive duels began immediately. During the kickoff, the Carolina Panthers special team tried to change the rhythm and launch a counterattack, but unfortunately, Akans' kickoff was not left behind. At any opportunity, the No. 87 wide receiver Domenik-Hixon, who was responsible for the return attack, tried his best to dodge and move but still failed to advance forward, and was eventually knocked down above the 14-yard line.
For the second consecutive time, Cam Newton's kickoff started inside his own half of the twenty-yard line.
At this time, U.S. Bank Stadium finally came to its senses and temporarily gave up the plan to "sonic attack" the visiting team fans. Their attention returned to the stadium and began to cheer for the home team's offensive team, hoping that Cam can lead the offensive team to find the offense again. The feel can bring the game back to balance.
Ten yards in first gear.
The San Francisco 49ers defense took advantage of the positioning misalignment to create an advantage in the forward duel, using only four pass rushers to force the Carolina Panthers' pocket protection into chaos; while the front line players stayed in place in a staggered manner. , maintaining the pressure in the frontline confrontation——
Because based on their judgment, the defensive team believes that Cam is likely to choose the read option offense and open up the situation through the running back, especially Cam's own running with the ball. This is the case when the Carolina Panthers offense is at a deadlock. The tactical choice Cam is most accustomed to is also the most effective.
The entire position of the visiting team's defensive team showed a sense of urgency, forcing Cam to choose to pass the ball. With the pocket protection in a mess, Cam was prone to passing errors; if Cam really chose to If you pass the ball on the ground, that would be even better. It can be said to be exactly what you want.
Are the Carolina Panthers going to give it up?
of course not.
Cam also took the initiative to make changes. He took the lead in bending down and making a pass handover, but running back DeAngelo Williams did not stop and went straight past Cam. Then Cam stood up straight, made adjustments with two small steps back, quickly swept across his right wing and central area, made judgments on different receiving targets, without any hesitation, and made a decisive decision. A bullet pass.
Infinitely powerful! The momentum is strong!
Cam once again proved his superior physical fitness. Faced with the stormy waves of pocket pressure, he only used two small steps to adjust his force. He shot with a small swing of his arm and devoted all his strength in an instant. Then football truly became a reality. It jumped out like a bullet.
"call out!"
The pass erupted with a powerful force directly across the court. Ahmed Brooks tried to jump up to destroy the pass. As a result, he could not keep up with the flight speed of the football. He could only watch the football flying from him like a fire shock wave. Passing through the top of the head.
More importantly, this is a sixteen-yard pass!
If it is a short pass within ten yards, then Lu Ke can also use bullet passing to create such an effect. The speed and angle may be slightly worse, but the deviation is not large; but for mid-passes beyond ten yards or even longer Pass, and still deliver bullet passes, this talent is astonishing.
The target of the pass is... wide receiver Steve Smith!
Steve Smith, who was standing on the inside left wing before the kickoff, moved all the way along the slot track, but the San Francisco 49ers defensive front judged it to be a ground attack after the read option offense, and the wide receivers including Steven Smith ran The movement was judged as a cover smoke bomb to push the area deeper. The defensive front line tried their best to avoid losing their position. Even if they followed up closely to defend, their attention always remained on Cam. Therefore, the advantage of offense and defense Just expand it further.
Steve Smith did not hesitate in his forward movement. He made a light and decisive frontal breakthrough and bypassed the position of outside linebacker Ahmed on the right side. He did not follow him; he then bypassed cornerback Tarrell on the left side. -Brown's position, he stepped up to defend another wide receiver on the outside on the same side, but Steve Smith's streamlined running route did not receive any interference at all, and instantly broke through the defensive front blockade.
Five yards.
Ten yards.
In the blink of an eye, Steve Smith had already cut into the pass area, and then he could see safety guard Eric Reed covering the defense, but he had no time to make any further changes at this time. , he turned around and was ready to catch the ball:
Cam's pass and Red's tackle happened one after the other.
The speed and power of the bullet pass were really too brutal, with an overwhelming force that broke through the air. Rhett completed the judgment and interpretation in an instant, gave up the plan of destroying the pass, and instead grabbed Steve tightly. - Smith - The latter had to stop and accommodate Cam's pass in order to catch the ball.
You can see it in the details. Cam's pass was still not accurate enough or in place enough. The entire pass landed near the lower abdomen and fell very quickly, forcing Steve Smith to focus all his attention on the ball. He can barely catch the ball in football.
Then...ba! boom!
Two consecutive sounds gave people an ominous premonition. The first was the sound of Steve Smith missing the ball; the second was the air popping sound of Red's solid tackle——
There are still obvious problems with Cam's passing parabola, and the final landing point is too low. In fact, Steve Smith is already a small man, his height is only 5.74 feet (175 cm), but Cam's pass is still lower than the lower abdomen, forcing Steve Smith to run quickly , had to continuously lower the center of gravity, causing the whole person to stagger and fail to stand firm, destroying the balance of catching the ball.
In the end, Steve Smith finally made a difficult move to catch the football, but... Cam's passing power was too fierce, and the violent tail force of the football broke away from Steve Smith. Before his hands could complete the control, the football had already bounced out of his palms.
Steve Smith didn't have time to think carefully, and his body immediately made a conditioned reflex, lowering his center of gravity and rushing forward quickly with the football. The second burst at the critical moment allowed him to catch the football like a circus acrobatic, but Before his hands and forearms could close inward, Red's grapple had already hit him.
Accurate! Cruel and cruel! Even while running at high speed, even if Steve Smith accidentally caught the ball, Reid's tackle did not show any slack or deviation. He tackled Steve hard with a diving leap to the top - Smith's whole body sank quickly, and he directly tackled Steve Smith to the spot with brutal violence. In a crisp and neat way, it can be called a textbook-level safety guard's pass defense.
"oh!"
Shocked exclamations and gasps of pain erupted in the Bank of America Stadium. Even if you just looked at it with your eyes, you could clearly feel Steve Smith's pain. There was really no chance at all. No, Rhett didn't leave any room and intercepted it on the spot.
But that's not all.
"The pass was not completed? The referee signaled that this was an incomplete pass!"
"There was a commotion inside Bank of America Stadium. They obviously couldn't believe their eyes. Steve Smith seemed to have completed the catch. From the perspective of the live camera, we also thought it was a successful catch. , the Carolina Panthers finally completed a beautiful connection, but the referee had a different opinion."
The boos at the scene became louder and fiercer, and Cam even began to incite the emotions of the scene, causing the fans to completely erupt in protests and curses.
In the studio, Troy Aikman shook his head repeatedly, "This is irrational, this is so irrational. Other players standing on the sidelines can do this, even other players on the offensive team can do this, but the quarterback absolutely This must not be done, the quarterback should be the first to calm down, he cannot go against the referee, these things should be left to the coaching staff to decide, the quarterback's first and only task is to prepare for the next offense."
"Even if the referee really made a misjudgment, wouldn't it be okay?" Teddy asked curiously.
Aikman shook his head without hesitation, "No! This is very unprofessional and irrational behavior. Even if it is really a misjudgment, the quarterback's behavior may evolve into grandstanding. This is not a circus, quarterback He should be responsible for controlling the rhythm and atmosphere of the scene, and he should be the first to calm down."
Kirk declined to comment, but shifted to the main point, "The focus now is whether the referee made a misjudgment. If it was indeed a misjudgment, then the atmosphere on the scene may be out of control. This is already the first time in this game. There was a second penalty controversy, and the Carolina Panthers were obviously full of resentment."
Red flag challenge.
Head coach Ron Rivera, who was standing on the sidelines, chose to challenge after careful consideration.
"At this time, there are still five minutes and 53 seconds before the end of the first quarter, but the intensity of the game has exceeded imagination, and Rivera raised a red flag challenge." Kirk said, "Rivera also realized it. How important this penalty was to the game. Both Steve Smith and Cam Newton nodded to Rivera to confirm. They were both sure that this was a successful catch. Obviously, they were full of themselves. To gain confidence, you see, Steve Smith gave a clear and affirmative answer, affirmative again, so Rivera chose to challenge the referee."
"We need to change the angle now. Otherwise, judging from the live footage, Steve Smith did complete the ball, and there are indeed doubts about the referee's decision." Kirk said dutifully, "Now, let's watch the video. Replay it and look at the catch from a different angle."
The whole audience burst into boos!
