Someone was covering!
I caught a glimpse of a figure out of the corner of my eye. For the first time, my mind was completely calm. Following my instincts, I lowered my center of gravity a little and leaned back heavily. With a dull thud, the two of us collided. My insides started to churn, and my body was almost thrown backward.
But that was exactly the effect I was hoping for.
Using the recoil, my center of gravity shifted a little to the side, and I went around in a small arc. The end zone was already right in front of me. I stumbled forward, but I was falling too fast. Gravity seemed to be working double-time. In an instant, the ground was right in front of me.
My knee can't touch the ground! Knee, knee, knee!
That was the only thought in my mind. I had to use my free left hand to move forward on all fours in a very clumsy, reptilian posture. But I didn't care. All my attention was on my knees. After a few steps, gravity and the fatigue of my tense muscles finally became too much to bear, and I fell heavily to the ground.
"Hah, hah, hah..."
My lungs started to burn. The oxygen I was breathing in seemed to be burning. Every muscle in my body was exploding. But that feeling of exhilaration instantly reached its peak, and I let out a roar. "Ah! Ahhh!"
Kirk didn't even realize he had stood up. His headset dangled down, preventing him from standing up all the way, so he was awkwardly half-crouching. But he didn't care. He stayed in that position, and his passionate commentary reached its peak. "Touchdown! It's a touchdown! Lu Ke completed a fifty-five-yard touchdown pass! The San Francisco 49ers' number 10 wide receiver, Kyle Williams, made his second catch of the game and scored a touchdown!"
"Fifty-five! Touchdown! Fifty-five! Touchdown!" Kirk kept shouting, his voice full of passion and excitement. His roars started to become noisy and sharp. But then, along with the referee's touchdown gesture, a torrent of cheers from the away fans came crashing in, completely drowning out Paul Brown Stadium, the broadcast booth, and the commentators' desk.
A long pass for a touchdown! A fatal blow!
Jeff Locke jumped up with a wild abandon, waving his arms and screaming like a madman.
He looked at everyone he saw, not caring who they were, and just opened his mouth and screamed uncontrollably. "Ahhh!" A touchdown, do you see that? A touchdown! The team scored another touchdown! Bambi completed another long pass for a touchdown! A touchdown! All those words couldn't be said now. He could only scream. "Ahhh!"
Everyone was hugging each other. Everyone was screaming. Everyone was releasing their passion. In the stands, the away fans' section completely erupted. In this moment, all the barriers between people were broken down. Even if they were strangers who had just met for the first time, they were hugging each other, putting their arms around each other's shoulders, and celebrating wildly.
A fifty-five-yard long pass! A fifty-five-yard touchdown! It was a powerful and stunning blow!
The away fans had lost their minds, and the home fans were crushed. A surprise run for six yards, a powerful run for twenty-five yards, and a fatal long pass for fifty-five yards. The San Francisco 49ers had only used three drives, and in just under eighty-five seconds, they had once again extended their lead.
A powerful run, a powerful pass, and more importantly, a powerful offense! Led by Lu Ke, the San Francisco 49ers' offense had burst forth with an invincible and powerful image. This had completely crushed the confidence of the home fans. The cheers were sparse, and the curses were fragmented. There was more of a sense of confusion and helplessness.
Kyle Williams lay on the ground and didn't get up for a long time. He just lay there quietly.
Ted Ginn, Michael Crabtree, and Logan Newman all ran over right away. They were ready to celebrate, but when they saw the motionless Williams, they thought he was hurt and went up to him with concern. But they saw that Williams had his hands over his helmet, covering his face, and was uncontrollably crying.
He had been holding it in for too long. Williams had really been holding it in for too long.
It was only the third week of the regular season, and Williams had started strong and then faded.
In the first game, he scored a touchdown, which was a pretty good performance. But in the second game, he was practically invisible and didn't get many opportunities to perform. It was the same today.
Among the San Francisco 49ers' receivers, Williams's advantages weren't very obvious. In the past two weeks, because of the quarterback competition within the team, there were many variables. Almost every player was choosing a side, further intensifying the competition among the receivers.
Everyone knew that Logan, Marcus, and I were the three musketeers from UCLA, and their chemistry had become an important tool for the team's success in the past two weeks. Crabtree was a big, strong receiver. And Ginn's speed was his advantage.
What about Williams? His speed was decent, his blocking was decent, and his catching was decent. Every aspect seemed to be average, but he didn't seem to have any standout qualities. And he had a good relationship with Alex, so he naturally chose to support Alex. As a result, he didn't get many opportunities to perform.
Until today, until this moment, I chose him as the target of the pass, putting all grudges aside. And he completed this fifty-five-yard catch, once again proving himself!
Seeing the excited and tearful Williams, everyone was a little silent, empathizing with him.
In the past two weeks, the atmosphere in the locker room had been very gloomy. There was always a lingering hostility that never erupted but never went away. It wasn't just Williams, and it wasn't just the other receivers. There was also the conflict between Logan and the offensive line earlier. These surging undercurrents were putting the team's teamwork in a precarious situation.
But in today's game, facing the Bengals' outstanding defense, my tough performance had brought the entire offense together as one. They were meeting force with force, carrying the entire team forward.
Whether it was the red-zone drive after four sacks or the fatal blow that came back to haunt them, the San Francisco 49ers' offense had gone through a hail of bullets and had forged a bond of friendship in the bloodshed and wounds.
This was even more difficult and more exciting than the comeback victory against the Dallas Cowboys in the last game!
Logan was the first to break the silence. He went up to him, knelt on one knee, and patted Williams on the shoulder. "Hey, it's time to cheer. All the fans are waiting to worship your catch! Fifty-five yards! Damn, that was brilliant! Did you hear the screams of those girls? If you don't get up, I'm going to go get the cheers."
This teasing remark made Crabtree and Ginn, who were nearby, both laugh. The embarrassed Williams also gave Logan a heavy kick. "Get lost! This is my moment! Don't butt in."
Honestly, Williams himself hadn't expected to be so emotional. It had caught him off guard. After he realized what he had done, he was a little embarrassed and didn't know how to end it. Fortunately, Logan had given him a way out.
Then, Williams took the opportunity to stand up, threw the football to the referee, and jogged over to the away fans' stands, enjoying his cheers and roars.
Paul Brown Stadium's noise reached a new level!
I was standing on the 49ers' side of the field and noticed the small commotion in the end zone in the distance. I stood in place and didn't go join the fun.
A faint ache, and even a little sting, came from my right arm. That long pass just now had been a little over-exerted.
In a football game, a long pass is an undeniable weapon, but not every quarterback can complete one. It requires strict arm strength. Correspondingly, in the rookie training camp, a quarterback's arm strength test is a major focus. However, this fixed mindset changed after Peyton Manning.
Manning's absolute arm strength was not outstanding. During the draft, his direct competitor, Ryan Leaf, was the one with the real cannon arm. At that time, Manning's scouting reports all questioned his arm strength and doubted his long-passing ability. But after he entered the league, people found out that this wasn't the case. Manning could achieve his long-passing goals by controlling the arc of his pass.
It was just simple physics. By using a relatively high arc, he saved arm strength while achieving a deeper throw, which also had a fatal blow effect.
When Manning was young, he chose to throw more bullet passes, using pure strength to make a long pass. As he got older, the arc of his pass gradually went up, and he threw more rainbow passes. After his strength weakened, the effect of his long passes still hadn't diminished.
Gradually, long-pass control became a new technique. Even for a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers, whose long pass is a strength, the skillful use of the rainbow pass is one of the essential skills.
In the pass just now, in order to improve accuracy and to avoid the defenders, under the protection of a solid pocket, I chose to throw a bullet pass instead of a rainbow pass. My arm muscles took on greater pressure and impact, and now, the negative effects were immediately showing.
I raised my left hand and rubbed the biceps of my right arm, trying to relieve the tense muscles. Then I raised my right arm and started to move it in a clockwise and then counter-clockwise motion to further decompress the arm muscles. The stinging sensation gradually subsided, but the tightness and soreness hadn't completely disappeared.
I needed to relax.
"Bambi, are you okay?" Mike Iupati turned around, getting ready to join the celebration, and then he noticed my movements. A look of worry appeared on his face.
I was still moving my arm and joked, "The passing power was a little too fierce. A little ice and relaxation will do the trick. At least, it's not my legs that are feeling it." The subtext was: otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to escape after the pocket was broken again.
Mike Iupati couldn't argue. He could only laugh helplessly. "Okay, I deserve that. Just let it all out!"
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