Seven seconds, two plays, twelve yards gained.
Efficient and fast, sharp and precise, this was the most impressive offensive strategy of the San Francisco 49ers this season. It was as smooth as mercury flowing, exhilarating and delightful to watch. What's more, it was unpredictable. Once you lost the rhythm, you would be bogged down and unable to get out.
From the moment Lu Ke returned to the field in the third quarter, he had been laying the groundwork. The Pittsburgh Steelers were always on alert, always vigilant. Now, Lu Ke had finally found a gap and was going all out on offense. The Steelers' defense, for the first time, was at a disadvantage.
For Steelers fans, this was not good news. After the short-pass area was penetrated, the continuous pressure from the two outside linebackers slowed down a bit. They had to shift their attention to cover the short-pass area, especially near the sidelines. Losing yards was not a big deal, but not being able to consume game time was fatal. They had to do everything they could to prevent the 49ers from controlling the clock.
But then, after the next snap, Lu Ke unexpectedly handed the ball off to Marcus Lynch. With everyone's attention on the receivers, Lynch successfully broke through a gap and escaped the tackle of inside linebacker Foote, continuing to advance. When two defenders finally tackled him, Lynch had already gained ten yards, easily getting another first down.
"Timeout, San Francisco 49ers."
The moment Marcus went down, Lu Ke called a timeout. This was a strategic run. The number of yards gained was not the main point; disrupting the rhythm of the Steelers' defense was. Making such a choice in such a critical situation was unavoidable.
If it were any other defense, they would have already fallen into the 49ers' rhythm. Even if they hadn't completely collapsed, they would have at least started to panic. But the Steelers' defense always had a certain toughness, refusing to give up, and with their outstanding individual abilities, it was even more difficult to break through their defense.
Lu Ke had to proceed with caution, one step at a time. He couldn't be too hasty. Although time was the most pressing factor right now, Lu Ke kept reminding himself: "It takes time to sharpen an axe before you can cut down a tree." The two consecutive short passes were a testament to this, as was the running play. He was advancing step by step, just like a master chess player.
On their own 29-yard line, first and ten.
"Hut!"
Almost at the same moment the ball was snapped, the alarm bells in Lu Ke's mind went off. In his previous defensive read, the Steelers' defense had successfully deceived him.
The two safeties, one was moving his body weight toward the front left, while the other was deliberately standing still. The two cornerbacks were doing the same. One was shifting their center of gravity slightly forward, while the other was also standing still. But overall, their body weight was tilted back, and you could vaguely see that their bodies were ready to retreat in coverage.
In a flash, Lu Ke judged that this was a play to draw out the defense, and he would definitely be able to find an open space in the short-pass area. After the ball was actually snapped, the two safeties and two cornerbacks all took a step back, which looked exactly like Lu Ke's prediction. But they were too uniform and too neat, which made it feel wrong. Were the medium- and short-pass areas really abandoned like this? Obviously not!
Lu Ke immediately realized that his prediction was wrong. Sure enough, in the next moment, all four players stopped abruptly. Using the momentum from their retreat, they reversed their direction and rushed toward the line of scrimmage. This meant...
A blitz!
The first and second lines of the Pittsburgh Steelers' defense erupted and started moving at the same time, like layers of a steel curtain, coming at them one after another with a powerful, earth-shattering momentum. The three defensive linemen and one inside linebacker immediately charged forward, tightly holding the offensive line, but they didn't take any further action. The other inside linebacker was moving with the running back's steps, waiting for a chance. The two outside linebackers rushed out of the offensive line's pocket and came in for a pincer attack from both sides. This tactic looked familiar. It was the same high-pressure formation that the Steelers had successfully used multiple times in the first half.
But this time, Lu Ke got the jump on them. The moment his hands touched the football, an alarm bell rang in his head. It was a beast-like intuition. Before his brain could react, Lu Ke had already taken a quick step back, then two, then three, creating a distance between himself and the defenders. His first reaction was to look at the two outside linebackers. After realizing their intention to sack the quarterback, Lu Ke became more calm than ever before.
He adjusted his steps in place and then suddenly made a lateral move to the left. Woodley was on the blind side to his left. He was in a vertical sprint when he saw Lu Ke make a horizontal move. The shift and twist of his body's center of gravity made his entire body feel awkward. His tackling form also lost its original technical framework, and he just watched as Lu Ke slipped away from his fingertips.
What was even more frustrating was that Lu Ke's footwork while holding the ball was by no means clever. It was even a bit clumsy. If he hadn't lost that split-second advantage, this sack would have been a sure thing!
But, there were no "if's."
Woodley forcefully twisted his body, starting a second time for a second sack. However, before he could complete the move, Lu Ke had already thrown the ball. A bullet pass, a quick release. It "whooshed" over the chasm of the offensive and defensive lines and disappeared from Woodley's sight. The target was Vernon Davis.
At the snap, Vernon, who was looking for an open spot in the short-pass area, didn't even have time to start running his route when he noticed the change in the opponent's defensive strategy. So, he immediately made an inside cut, moving toward the central area. When he turned around, he saw the football coming toward him and securely caught it at his chest.
This was a five-yard short pass in the left-central area. Almost at the same time Vernon completed the catch, the two safeties and one cornerback had already formed a circle around him. Vernon immediately realized he couldn't break through and would probably just be wasting time, so he chose to go down, confirming the catch, and then tossed the football to the referee.
Vernon turned to Lu Ke and asked, "Do we need a timeout?"
This was a quick release in a desperate situation, without regard for the clock. But it was too late now. They had to keep moving. They still had two timeouts left, which they had to save for more crucial moments later on.
So, Lu Ke shook his head, and the offensive players quickly moved forward to line up.
Second and five. After the quick snap, Lu Ke scanned the entire field. This time, the Steelers' defense gave up on the blitz and instead put a lot of players in a passing defense. Not only the two safeties and two cornerbacks but also two outside linebackers and one inside linebacker began to retreat, making the entire field airtight.
Naturally, Lu Ke thought that the offensive line's pocket protection would not be a problem. Because the Steelers only sent three defensive linemen and one inside linebacker to rush the pocket—and it was even possible that there were only three defensive linemen, and that inside linebacker should have been waiting to cover the running back. This meant that the offensive line would have a numerical advantage.
But in the next moment, a large shadow appeared in front of Lu Ke. It wasn't from the left or the right. It was from the front. Like a mountain pressing down on him, it powerfully slammed Lu Ke to the ground head-on. There was nowhere to run and no way to resist, like a hurricane felling a mast. With a "crack," he went down cleanly.
The huge difference in strength was difficult to describe in words. After his body felt the cold ground, Lu Ke realized that the player who had completed the first sack for the Steelers in this game was not one of the two outside linebackers but the nose tackle, Casey Hampton.
In this critical situation, the Steelers' defense also used their ace in the hole. They deliberately pulled back their front-line blitzing personnel and focused on pass defense. The serious imbalance in strength caused the offensive line to let their guard down slightly, and Hampton made a sudden, overwhelming burst, successfully sacking the quarterback.
As one of the league's top nose tackles, Hampton's powerful ability was to single-handedly go against two or even three players. In his nine-year career, he had been to the Pro Bowl five times, which was even more impressive because he had to compete with defensive tackles for a Pro Bowl spot.
In this game, Hampton, who had been as still as a mountain, suddenly attacked. Jonathan Goodwin and Anthony Davis couldn't stop him at all. They fell to the sides like wheat in the wind, and they watched as Hampton directly tackled their quarterback.
With the San Francisco 49ers' offense consistently showing their strength, the Pittsburgh Steelers' defense also responded forcefully. In the final moments of the game, the sparks flying between the two sides were truly amazing! This was what Monday Night Football was all about!
Goodwin helped Lu Ke up. Then he saw Lu Ke smile and jokingly said, "It seems we've also pushed the Steelers to their limit, and they've even brought out their playoff tactics. Now, is it our turn to use our ultimate skill?"
Goodwin laughed to himself. "That's up to you. Are you okay?" With Hampton's size, even Goodwin had a hard time stopping him, let alone Lu Ke.
"I'm fine," Lu Ke waved his hand.
Goodwin and Davis had actually absorbed most of the force. The main reasons Lu Ke couldn't escape the sack were the element of surprise and the absolute difference in weight. The actual impact was not that violent. Now, the bigger problem was how they were going to break through the Steelers' ever-changing defense.
Third and eight. After the sack, they had lost three yards. Now the San Francisco 49ers were also in a difficult third-and-long situation. But third down was not the problem. Even if they failed on third down, they would firmly choose to go for it on fourth down. The key was how they were going to keep advancing.
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