"Hut!"
Lu Ke's focus was intense. The moment his hands felt the familiar leather of the football, he took a step back and glanced to his left. Michael Crabtree, Ted Ginn, and Marcus Lynch took off on three distinct running routes.
The Philadelphia Eagles were in a zone defense. The defensive players, following Lu Ke's gaze, quickly tightened their net. Their eyes were glued to Lu Ke's throwing motion, and their feet moved quickly to their right, covering the running paths of the three receivers.
Meanwhile, on Lu Ke's right, Kyle Williams and Logan Newman also sprinted forward.
Williams ran a short, three-yard route, then lightly veered outside, faking out the cornerback covering the area—the defender seemed distracted, his attention pulled to the other side by Lu Ke's eyes. Williams effortlessly burst toward the sideline, and just as he neared it, he made a sharp ninety-degree turn and continued his run.
Newman accelerated, and then accelerated again, reaching top speed after about thirteen yards. He saw the distance between himself and the safety on his right side shrinking. Just as they were about to collide, he made a sharp turn and cut outward, creating a small arc. After shaking off the defender, the sideline was now within his grasp.
Lu Ke raised his right hand, but his body turned slightly from left to right. Without any pause or hesitation, his eyes swept across the field, finding Williams and Newman. Almost simultaneously, his arm began to swing quickly, firing a flat, straight pass that cut through the air like a fired arrow.
The fifteen-yard pass arrived in the blink of an eye. The target was number eighty-eight, Logan Newman!
"The snap! The San Francisco 49ers' number fourteen doesn't take a step back and turns to the left, looking for a target. Number nineteen, Ted Ginn, is already open. But, oh! Number fourteen turns, and with a swift, clean motion and almost no hesitation, he makes a quick fifteen-yard pass. The Philadelphia Eagles were not prepared for this change, and their defense couldn't keep up."
Kirk's commentary detailed the play's progression with a fast, passionate, and excited tone.
"Both Newman and Williams are open, and the Eagles' zone defense is completely suppressed, with multiple gaps torn open. Newman! Number fourteen, Lu Ke, chose Logan Newman, his most familiar and trusted target, but... wait, the pass is a little long and seems to be heading out of bounds!"
"He caught it! Newman successfully completed the catch! In the nick of time, Newman made a very difficult catch, with both feet inbounds. It's good! This is a successful pass and a successful catch. That was beautiful, absolutely beautiful! Now let's take a look at the replay."
After Lu Ke successfully faked out the defense, he didn't do any extra tricks. He turned and cleanly threw the football, but the offensive line had been breached again. An outside linebacker ran in a small arc and charged at Lu Ke.
Unfortunately, Lu Ke's pass was too fast. The ball was already in the air before the linebacker could get close. In the end, the linebacker could only grab Lu Ke's left hand in frustration, trying to throw him off balance, but he didn't make a hard hit to avoid a penalty.
The fifteen-yard pass was short and fast, but the trajectory was slightly off, veering towards the sideline. The pass had a flat, fast arc, aimed at the standard chest area. After Newman got away from the defender, he was in position to receive the ball and made the catch smoothly.
However, after Newman turned to face Lu Ke to catch the ball, his back was to the sideline. Due to the powerful momentum of his sprint, his center of gravity was already slightly unstable. After making the catch and keeping both feet in bounds, he stumbled and fell out of bounds, unable to continue his run.
"A thrilling, quick, and clean play. This pass was truly like a bolt of lightning. The release time was just 2.66 seconds, which included the time for a fake. He almost fooled the entire Eagles' defense and then chose his most reliable target, pushing the ball fifteen yards.
Speed was the core of this entire offense.
Lu Ke's offensive strategy was incredibly clear: fake, hold, a real move, pass. All the actions were seamless, from the snap to the throw, compressing the time to the limit. He used a dazzling running strategy to hold the defensive players' attention while also using the arc and power of his pass to accurately find his target. The entire play left little room or time for the opponent to react, catching them completely off guard.
In a third-down situation, he forcefully created an opening and led the team to continue their drive. The Eagles' defense seemed disorganized and was completely held back, with few options. Wow, the San Francisco 49ers' number fourteen's performance is still a standout today!"
In the broadcast booth, Kirk and Teddy were analyzing the details of the play, while on the field, the home fans were booing, a deafening sound pouring down like a storm.
Logan Newman was seen waving his right hand forcefully, clutching the football, showing off and taunting the fans, venting his frustration and emotions. "This is it! Now, who's the man? Who's the man!" Finally, he slammed the football onto the ground.
Kyle Williams also ran over and joined Newman, celebrating wildly and further provoking the home fans.
As a result, the home fans' booing grew even more intense. The "whoos" became louder and louder, thick and overwhelming, like dark clouds blocking out the sun, leaving no space for sound to escape.
With nearly seventy thousand fans in the stadium, only a few hundred away fans in white jerseys could be seen. In front of the overwhelming home fans, they were just a drop in the ocean, scattered in various corners of the stadium stands, unable to form any effective support. And so, the home-field advantage was pushed to its peak.
After completing the pass, Lu Ke noticed his passing error. His accuracy on the mid-range pass was still not good enough. The fifteen-yard pass was off by about a yard, not just left or right, but the arc was also slightly higher. It ended up hitting Newman near his chin and collarbone instead of his chest.
If Newman hadn't been familiar with Lu Ke's passing routes and strength, another player, even if they could have caught the ball, probably wouldn't have been able to control it effectively and might have stumbled out of bounds. In that case, it would have been an incomplete pass.
His touch was still a little tight today.
"Bambi?" Lupati came up to him again. Not only him, but the other four offensive linemen were all looking at him. This was because another linebacker had broken through. Although it didn't result in a hit or a rushed throw, as Lu Ke had completed the pass first, they still looked at him with concern.
Lupati's face was full of apology. His attention had been completely drawn to Jenkins. When his peripheral vision caught the outside linebacker's movement, he immediately tried to cover him, but Jenkins had tied him up. With one pause and one pull, the outside linebacker had already cut into the pocket, and Lupati had no time to react.
Lu Ke waved his hand and said lightly, "I'm fine! Let's go, let's go!"
The last drive had gained fifteen yards, not only giving them a first down but also moving the San Francisco 49ers' offense to the forty-eight-yard line, with the midfield line in sight. They needed to keep this momentum going. So, under Lu Ke's leadership, the offense regrouped and continued their drive.
At their own forty-eight-yard line, on the first down, Lu Ke used a screen pass to quickly find Ted Ginn, gaining four yards. Then, on the second down, they used a strong run by Kendall Hunter, gaining another three yards. On the third down, with solid pocket protection, Lu Ke made a surprise seven-yard pass. After Kyle Williams completed the catch, he continued to advance three more yards.
So, the San Francisco 49ers were now at the opponent's thirty-eight-yard line. They only needed to gain a few more yards to get into field goal range.
At the opponent's thirty-eight-yard line, on the first down, Lu Ke's six-yard pass connection with Michael Crabtree was successfully thrown to the right spot, but the defensive player batted the ball away at the last moment, resulting in an incomplete pass. On the second down, Marcus Lynch found a gap and ran the ball, gaining four yards.
So, now they were facing a third-and-six situation.
After the snap, Lu Ke quickly took a step back, creating distance between himself and the offensive and defensive lines. This was a short passing play, and he could have completed the pass with a quick throw. But just as he raised his right hand, a player appeared in his right field of vision—the Philadelphia Eagles' number ninety-three, defensive end Jason Babin.
This time, it wasn't the blind side on the left, but the right side.
Lu Ke could clearly see the rapidly approaching figure of number ninety-three in his field of vision. Although footwork and mobility weren't Lu Ke's strengths, he became even calmer in a crisis. He paused his steps, and instead of escaping in the opposite direction, he moved forward to meet the challenge, but with his footwork slightly offset, he continued to push forward in an offensive stance.
This was an incredibly risky move. Number ninety-three seemed a little surprised, but his movements didn't hesitate at all. He pounced on him with a fierce tackle. Lu Ke's left shoulder sank, and he narrowly avoided the first tackle, then raised his right hand and quickly threw the ball.
Babin, who had missed the first tackle, slammed his arms down, tightly wrapped them around Lu Ke's waist, and brought him down.
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