"Wow, my God, we are witnessing the most brilliant Monday Night Football game of the season. In the final moments, Lu Ke put a perfect period on the end of it. My God, this is truly a perfect game!"
"Facing a two-point conversion, the San Francisco 49ers chose a multi-route offensive formation. Three receivers were stacked on the right side. After the snap, Lu Ke faked a handoff to Marcus Lynch, trying to deceive the opponent into thinking he would convert with a powerful run."
"But then Lynch ran to the right side, and Lu Ke himself cut inside to the left. In just three big steps, Lu Ke carried the ball into the end zone himself, completing the two-point conversion. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you heard it right. The person who ran the ball just now was the 49ers' rookie quarterback."
As he spoke, Tirico couldn't help but chuckle. He turned to his broadcast partners. "Did you predict this outcome?"
After calling for the snap, Lu Ke quickly looked at the Steelers' defensive formation. The two sides were still heavily covered, especially the right side, while the central area seemed a bit sparse. He saw a huge open space, a space that couldn't be ignored, so he chose to run the ball himself. This was not a typical play for Lu Ke, but today, his brain was clearly overheated, and he made some unexpected choices.
Luckily, his read of the defensive formation and the open space was correct. Lu Ke was not met with any resistance and easily completed the three-yard run, entering the end zone and completing the two-point conversion. More importantly, his observation and run consumed a full five seconds. Now there were nineteen seconds left in the game, and with the time it would take for the kickoff, the Steelers would have even less time to reverse the game. The scales of victory were tilting toward the San Francisco 49ers.
After Lu Ke completed the run, all the offensive players went crazy. One by one, they rushed toward Lu Ke, slapping his helmet, shouting, "You're crazy! You're crazy!" Clearly, they couldn't believe that Lu Ke had run the ball again, and that he had succeeded. For the San Francisco 49ers, this was unbelievable.
When Roethlisberger took the field again, there were only sixteen seconds left in the game. The kickoff only took three seconds. The 49ers' kicker, Andy Lee, kicked the ball high and long, but it still couldn't consume more time. In the end, it left the Steelers' offense with sixteen seconds to try to reverse the game.
Sixteen seconds was a very, very limited amount of time, but if they could control it well, it would be at least three opportunities to pass. Especially with the Steelers still having three timeouts, anything was possible. In the NFL, there were many quarterbacks who had reversed games with sixteen seconds left, such as Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Joe Flacco, and many others. Ben Roethlisberger was one of them. From his deep-pass accuracy to his control of sideline passes, and his no-huddle offense in critical moments, a game-winning touchdown was still a possibility.
But not today. It wasn't just a problem with Roethlisberger, but a problem with the entire Steelers' offense not being in their best form.
On the first play, they were sacked, and the Steelers had to call a timeout. On the second play, they gambled on a deep pass, and Carlos Rogers, who had made a key pass breakup earlier, stepped up again and ended the game with an interception. The game was over. The final score was 32-27. The San Francisco 49ers defeated their opponent, getting their eleventh win of the season!
Immediately, Lu Ke ran to the center of the field and saw Roethlisberger, who had stayed in the middle of the field after the game ended, with a face full of regret, disappointment, and unwillingness. Not only the players and coaches from both teams, but the ESPN live broadcast team also quickly rushed to the center of the field. This was a special benefit of a nationally broadcast night game. In the final moments, the TV station would broadcast the quarterbacks and coaches meeting and shaking hands. Tonight was no exception.
Standing in front of the tall and strong Roethlisberger, Lu Ke finally understood why people called him "Big Ben." It wasn't just because his name was Ben, but also because he was indeed burly and strong, a full size bigger than Lu Ke. He looked less like a quarterback and more like a lineman.
Roethlisberger took off his helmet, extended his right hand early, and shook Lu Ke's hand. He gave Lu Ke a heavy hug and said in his ear, "You should know, I don't like you."
This opening was a bit unexpected. Lu Ke chuckled. "That's a fact! I don't have the kind of charm that makes people like me."
Roethlisberger clearly didn't expect Lu Ke's response. The corners of his mouth moved, and his smile stopped before it could even begin. "Leigh warned me not to underestimate you. I didn't, but it turns out I still didn't give you enough credit."
Leigh Steinberg, Lu Ke's agent, was also Roethlisberger's agent. In the league, it was a normal thing for two different players from the same agent to play with or against each other in the same game. There was no news there. But Leigh was different. This top-tier agent only had two quarterbacks in his stable, and today they were standing on opposite sides of the field. This had become a potential talking point for this Monday Night Football game.
Unfortunately, among many other hot topics, this one didn't get a lot of attention, and no one specifically mentioned it before the game. But now, after the game, ESPN immediately rushed to the scene to capture the precious moment of the two quarterbacks' first face-to-face encounter.
Ever since Leigh signed Lu Ke, Leigh had not missed a single one of Lu Ke's games, whether at home or away. Today was no exception. Roethlisberger had not enjoyed this kind of treatment for several seasons. Deep down, whether it was jealousy or bitterness, he was a little uncomfortable.
Roethlisberger didn't want to be an enemy of Lu Ke, but at the very least, they couldn't be considered friends. So, he made a teasing remark with a serious face. He just didn't expect Lu Ke to respond so wittily that he didn't know how to reply.
"Now I finally know why Leigh signed you." This was a jab at Lu Ke for only being good with his words.
Lu Ke didn't mind. He shrugged his shoulders. "It's a pity that I couldn't find a reason for Leigh to sign you tonight." This was a jab at Roethlisberger, implying that he was useless. He had lost the game today and also lost the battle of wits. Then, Lu Ke saw a look of surprise on Roethlisberger's face, which even showed a hint of honesty.
Clearly, no one would associate the outwardly honest-looking Roethlisberger with that adjective. His fiery temper and stubborn personality were no secret in Pittsburgh.
"I hope I'll have a chance to find out in our next encounter this season," Lu Ke said with a smile. Then, without waiting for Roethlisberger's response, he politely bumped shoulders with him, let go of his right hand, turned around, and walked into the crowd, getting further and further away.
Roethlisberger, standing in place, had an unreadable expression: "The next encounter this season?" Since the two teams were in different conferences, their next encounter this season could only be in the Super Bowl. As he replayed Lu Ke's casual expression just now, Roethlisberger suddenly understood why Lu Ke could hold his ground in the 49ers' locker room.
He looked up and could clearly see the magnificent red sea in front of him. Maybe he should correct himself. It wasn't just the locker room. Now Lu Ke had also established himself in this city and had his own place in this stadium.
Ryan Baldwin started coughing violently. He coughed so hard that his whole face turned a bright red. Then he collapsed into his wheelchair, gasping for breath. Jonathan Baldwin was a full two beats behind. In his ecstatic cheering, he finally noticed his brother's state and quickly sat down. "Ryan? Are you okay? Are you alright?"
"..." Ryan waved his hand, his face beaming with a brilliant smile.
After his breathing calmed down, he said, "I'm fine. I'm completely fine. In fact, I couldn't be better! My God, my God! I've never been happier!" Ryan's whole face was smiling. "Did you see it? Did you see Bambi's last pass? Did you see it?"
As he spoke, Ryan started coughing again, but his eyes and face were still filled with a brilliant smile, and happiness slowly overflowed.
Then, you could see the group of Chinese fans holding up their signs, cheering and celebrating as they went around the stadium. Ryan also clenched his fists and waved them heavily. "Bambi! Bambi!" With just one shout, he could get a response from everyone. Their excited and thrilled expressions were so similar. The Chinese fans all looked at Ryan, cheering and jumping together, and a resonance began to surge between them. Then, all the other fans around them also started to cheer. The frequency of the excitement gradually aligned, and the roar spread little by little. When they realized it, the whole stadium was once again shouting the same name, as if their heartbeats had also completely aligned.
Everyone, literally everyone, was tightly connected because of this one name, this one player. At this moment, on this night, in this place, they all shared one name, "49ers," and they all felt the pulse of the Earth and the joy of victory because of this one person.
"Bambi! Bambi! Bambi!"
The magnificent roar echoed in Candlestick Park for a long, long time, becoming a part of this land and also spreading across the country through the national broadcast. This was a night that would go down in history.
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