"Hut!"
Lu Ke's snap call was heard, and Ted Ginn's focus was fully concentrated, his body completely relaxed.
This was a short passing play, and the players responsible for the short routes were Logan Newman and Michael Crabtree, along with Marcus Lynch, who was ready to pounce, using quick, short passes to advance.
On the other hand, the fast and nimble Ted Ginn and Kyle Williams were responsible for creating a diversion, pulling the linebackers and cornerbacks from the defense. They would cut into the mid-range passing zone and, with their convincing catching motions, screen the short passes.
Ginn's muscles were completely relaxed. At the command of the snap, he sprinted forward with his head down, pulling out on a small diagonal for three or four yards. He could see a linebacker and a cornerback on either side of him in his peripheral vision. He then paused, turned, and sprinted straight toward the end zone.
He accelerated, and then accelerated again, pushing his speed to the limit. Thirty yards, twenty-five yards, twenty yards—in the blink of an eye, he had already entered the danger zone. He could feel the safety and cornerback roaming nearby, but he couldn't pull their defensive line apart. This was not helping his teammates.
So, Ginn made an emergency stop, turned around, and looked over his shoulder as if he were ready to catch the ball.
As expected, a safety and a cornerback both came over to help cover him. Nobody could ignore Ginn's ability to make vertical plays. In the last game, the Cincinnati Bengals gave up two touchdowns to Ginn.
Ginn raised his right hand high, making a motion for the ball, signaling that he was open. It was then that Ginn noticed the situation in the pocket. A defensive player was pouncing on Lu Ke like a hungry tiger. The two were about to collide, but Lu Ke, with an incredibly risky move, avoided the first tackle and then adjusted his footwork and completed the pass with a raised hand.
"Bang!" In his peripheral vision, he only had time to see the defensive player, with a second tackle, heavily tackle Lu Ke. But there was no time to think because Ginn noticed the football coming toward his position.
This was a short passing play, and now Ginn was in the long-range passing zone, but Lu Ke still chose to throw the ball. In the most critical moment, the entire play was completely changed.
His relaxed muscles tensed up, and Ginn started to quickly back up, adjusting his position with small steps, anticipating the target position of the pass—it looked like it was around the fifteen-yard line. He could catch it. He could do it. No problem!
But in between his adjustments, the football, which was getting bigger in his vision, was losing altitude faster, and its rotation was also breaking.
Damn it!
In the instant the pass was released, Lu Ke must have been hit on his throwing arm by a defensive player, which disrupted his passing motion. Both the power and the control were off. After the football reached the top of its arc, it immediately lost control.
This wasn't a pass that would land at the fifteen-yard line; it would probably land around the seventeen-yard line.
In a flash, Ginn made a judgment. He had to make another emergency stop and immediately ran back forward. But his center of gravity felt a little heavy, and he didn't have time to adjust. As a result, he had to dive forward and try to catch the ball in the air.
Closer, closer!
Ginn's eyes were fixed on the football, and his hands were in a catching motion. He touched the football, and he caught it!
But before his joy could surge, the next second, Ginn broke out in a cold sweat. The football's rotation and passing power were both irregular. It bounced off Ginn's fingertips like a clown's juggling ball, bouncing, falling, adjusting, and bouncing again... Ginn tried his best to control the football.
At the same time, the pull of gravity was causing Ginn to fall quickly. He saw the football about to slip out of his grasp. "I got it!" Ginn's right hand firmly held the football, and before he could think, a huge force slammed into him. The world spun, and he completely lost control. His right hand immediately became empty.
His mind was blank. Ginn's eyes were fixed on the football that had flown out of control. He had only one thought: control the ball, control the ball, control the ball!
At this moment, the football had been touched by Ginn's body and had lost control. It was now a fumble. If a player from the other team could catch the ball in mid-air, it would be an interception. If a player from the other team could gain control of the ball on the ground, it would be a turnover after a fumble.
The football drew a small arc and landed on the ground, rolling twice. In an instant, it attracted the attention of half the stadium and all the fans. You could even hear a collective gasp.
Falling hard to the ground, Ginn couldn't care less about his pain or his image. He got up clumsily, using his hands and feet, and pounced on the ball, falling hard to the ground and frantically pulling the football into his arms. He didn't have time to use his hands to control it, so he just hugged it tightly with his arms, using all his strength.
Almost at the same time, he could feel a heavy pressure on his body, one after another, piling on top of him like a failed attempt at a human pyramid.
Ginn couldn't tell if the people were his teammates or opponents, so he just curled up like a baby, clutching the football tightly to his chest, refusing to let go.
...
The football in his right hand hadn't even had a chance to be released when Lu Ke felt a powerful dragging force. It wasn't the kind of head-on collision, but the kind where a thousand-pound jack was attached to his right arm. His entire center of gravity shifted instantly, and he could clearly feel that he had lost control of the football. His heart screamed out in alarm, but there was no time to regret it.
After the football was released, Lu Ke fell to the ground in a messy heap, rolling twice, his right elbow hitting the ground hard.
Everything happened so fast. On the one hand, he didn't have time to use his skills. Otherwise, if he had used Absolute Footwork or Iron Skin and Bones at that moment, he wouldn't have been in such a mess. On the other hand, in a flash of thought, Lu Ke had consecutively thought it was still last week's game, where he was prohibited from using special skills, so he instinctively avoided using them. It was only when the impact started to hit his muscles and bones that he remembered.
Now, Lu Ke didn't have time to regret or feel annoyed. After two rolls, he finally got his body under control. He looked up and saw Ginn's juggling-like catch. After all the bumping and thumping, his heart was bobbing up and down. In the end, he still couldn't complete the catch. Watching the hard hit Ginn took, Lu Ke couldn't help but frown.
"Damn it!"
Lu Ke grabbed a handful of grass from the ground and waved his arm forcefully, but his fist only hit the air. The feeling of loss and frustration was overwhelming.
"Bambi, are you okay?" A right hand appeared in front of him. Lu Ke looked up, and the apologetic face of Joe Staley came into view. Standing next to him, Anthony Davis was getting angry with himself, grumbling, "It was a one-on-one. How did it suddenly become a mismatch! Damn it, I didn't even see it. What the hell happened? What a nightmare!"
Not far away, the Philadelphia Eagles' number fifty-seven, outside linebacker Keenan Clayton, was cheering wildly and celebrating.
Just now, Clayton didn't get a sack, but he did force a rushed throw at a critical moment, playing a key role in this incomplete pass.
Clayton made his breakthrough from the San Francisco 49ers' right side, and Joe Staley and Anthony Davis were fully responsible for that.
They were facing a third-and-six situation, and they were on the opponent's thirty-four-yard line. They only needed to advance a little more to get into field goal range. But now, all their efforts were in vain. After working so hard for so long, a moment of carelessness and a mistake at the last minute resulted in the team not being able to score. You could see from Davis's expression and curses that he was incredibly annoyed and angry right now.
Lu Ke grabbed Staley's right hand and stood up, patting Staley's shoulder. "I'm fine." Then he called out loudly, "Davis, calm down. The game has just started, and we still have plenty of time."
But Davis avoided Lu Ke's gaze, his emotions still a bit unstable. Lu Ke stood in front of Davis, not giving him a chance to avoid him. "I need you guys to get it together and find your rhythm. I need my pocket, guys! You understand? I'm not as strong as you guys and can't take this many hits."
The last sentence was said in a joking tone. Davis laughed in spite of himself, and Staley, who was standing next to him, rolled his eyes and complained, "So that everyone knows you're Bambi?"
After the brief joke, Lu Ke didn't say anything else. He looked ahead, where the referees were clearing the players, hoping to make a judgment on which side had possession of the ball.
...
"The pocket has been breached! The Eagles' number fifty-seven launched a blitz, pouncing on Lu Ke. That was close! Lu Ke made a move and evaded the first tackle. Beautiful! But, number fifty-seven made a second tackle, grabbing Lu Ke's throwing arm! In a crisis, Lu Ke completed the pass. He still completed the pass!"
"Oh my God, this is a pass of about nineteen yards. The target is... Ted Ginn! The 49ers' number nineteen is quickly adjusting his footwork, but the passing accuracy seems to have been affected by the tackle. Oh, there was a misjudgment. Ginn ran past it and is now quickly running back! What a shame, he wasn't able to complete the catch and even caused a fumble. Ginn, Ginn, wait, who was the first to recover the football?"
"The referee is making a judgment. It's the 49ers! The 49ers still have possession of the ball! Ginn is standing up, holding the football high. Although he wasn't able to complete the catch, the 49ers have maintained control of the ball. So, that was an incomplete pass. Now, the 49ers have a problem. Should they punt? Or should they try a field goal? Or should they go for it on fourth down? Jim Harbaugh has always been an unpredictable head coach. I wonder what he'll choose."
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