The TV screen was still replaying the third-and-six play, and Kirk and Teddy were analyzing it from different angles. It was clear that with the pocket collapsing, Lu Ke had done his best, and Ginn had done his best. It could only be said that in this drive, the San Francisco 49ers' rhythm was still not back on track.
"The young San Francisco 49ers offense is now facing a serious problem. All the players are focused and have entered the game early, but their rhythm is always a little off. This is true from the offensive line to the receivers and the running backs. At least three passes were just a hair away, but the 49ers missed them. This has caused their offense to never find its flow."
After Teddy gave his opinion, he turned to Kirk, asking for his partner's thoughts.
Kirk nodded in agreement. "Either they're too excited, or they're not excited enough. The 49ers' offensive players today just can't seem to get in sync. They feel a little anxious, and the details of the play execution are not there. They're not showing the seamlessness they had in the first three games. I feel that playing on the road is definitely having an effect."
At the same time, Kirk replayed the pass for the third time. "Also, was Lu Ke's pass selection too aggressive? That's also debatable."
After quickly drawing two circles on the screen, Kirk explained, "At the same time that the Eagles' Clayton was making the sack, both Crabtree and Lynch were open. Although they were both short passes and not enough to get a first down, after advancing, the 49ers could have tried for a field goal instead of being in an awkward situation like this. Trying a field goal from here is too risky; the distance is too far."
"For a young rookie quarterback, Lu Ke has shown enough intelligence in the past three games. But in the end, he's still a rookie, he's still young, and he's only twenty-two years old this year. So, every game is a new test. We'll see in the next game if Lu Ke's passing choices are too aggressive," Teddy agreed.
As they were talking, the players on the field were already moving again. Players from both teams were leaving the field, and special teams players were coming on.
"It seems that Jim Harbaugh doesn't want to rush it for now. After all, it's only the first quarter, and he's not going for it on fourth down. Six yards is still too risky. Also, it looks like it's going to be a punt, not a field goal attempt. The score will probably remain a stalemate for a while longer."
After leaving the field, Lu Ke sat on the bench on the sidelines.
Lu Ke could feel some subtle differences, but he was too close to the situation to put his finger on it. The strategy and choices for each play were fine. Aside from the few miscommunications, the execution was also fine, but the final result was always just a hair off.
So, they were able to get first downs, having gotten six of them so far, while the Philadelphia Eagles had only gotten two. But the problem was that the 49ers could never turn the momentum of a first down into points, which was quite frustrating.
Grabbing a water bottle, he took a few big gulps to calm himself down a bit. "Guys, come here. The offensive linemen, all of you, come here." Lu Ke stood up and called his teammates together.
The two players on the blind side, Mike Lupati and Chilo Rachal; the two players on the right side, Joe Staley and Anthony Davis; and the center, Jonathan Goodwin.
The center's job isn't just to snap the ball. He's a crucial part of the pocket that the offensive line forms. He also needs to help clear a path for the running back's run. For a casual fan, the center's qualities are often not obvious, but for an offense, a top-tier center is invaluable.
"The strongest part of their defensive line is in the middle. The two defensive ends and the defensive tackle have a great ability to stop the run. But their blitzing tactics are effective, why? Because they use defensive cross-positioning to deliberately empty out the strongest part in the middle, intentionally leaving space for a run, and then waiting for a chance to rush around and blitz from the outside to make the tackle."
Even though the first quarter was not yet over, Lu Ke already had a clear understanding of the defensive formation in his mind. His eighty percent tactical awareness and seventy-five percent observation skills were starting to show their power today. Lu Ke felt that the entire field was clearer and more definite, and he could see things that he couldn't see before.
The Philadelphia Eagles' tactics today were the result of in-depth study.
They noticed that the San Francisco 49ers' offense was still better at passing than running. Even Marcus Lynch had not been able to have a truly great game in the first three games—the long run in the last game was more of an accident.
So, they deliberately showed a gap for a run, luring the 49ers into running the ball. But if they did run, their linebackers would cover in time and could often make a quick stop. The running game's effectiveness so far had been average at best, with a maximum of four yards gained on one play.
But if they chose to pass, it was exactly what the Eagles wanted. Their two-sided blitzing tactics always prevented Lu Ke from having a comfortable passing pocket. Not to mention long passes, even the space for short and medium passes was suppressed.
Although the San Francisco 49ers' offense had rhythm problems, it was undeniable that, to a certain extent, the Philadelphia Eagles' constantly changing defensive tactics had also broken the 49ers' usual routines.
Everyone knew that the San Francisco 49ers had a very young offense.
Of the five offensive linemen, three were sophomores and one was a senior. The most senior player was the center, Goodwin, who entered the league in 2002. It was the same for the receivers, with two freshmen, one sophomore, one junior, and one senior. And the quarterback was a rookie.
In other words, other than Jonathan Goodwin, the most senior players in the San Francisco 49ers' starting offense were the two seniors, who were only twenty-six or twenty-seven years old this year.
The team was already incredibly young and lacked experience. At the same time, half the team had only started to get in sync during the offseason, so the chemistry after the massive change was still not good enough. Today, the Philadelphia Eagles seized this characteristic and successfully disrupted the team's rhythm. After three regular season games, everyone's plays were starting to become obvious, and the difficulty of the game was naturally increasing.
"So, when we're blocking, we shouldn't use a one-on-one tactic. We should use a position-to-position tactic. Don't get into mismatches. Even if they get into a mismatch, we stick to our position, one person per spot! Don't let anyone get through! Force them to change their tactics as well. Either they give up on stopping the run and blitz, or they give up on blitzing and focus on stopping the run!"
The tactic was actually not complicated. There were five offensive linemen and seven players on the defensive front. If each of them covers one person, then the opponent would only have two players left. They couldn't do everything. They could only choose one thing: either continue to blitz or focus on stopping the run. This would stop all the changes in their tactics.
So far, the opponent's defense has been successful because of its versatility, which made it difficult for the 49ers' offensive line to defend against. They either had a mismatch on defense or were unable to cover all their bases, allowing at least three or even four of their opponents' players to focus on their jobs with ease.
Now, Lu Ke was using a single strategy to counter all their changes. If the opponent defended against the run, he would make a short pass. If the opponent blitzed, he would run the ball. In a way, this was a variation of a running quarterback's read-option offense. The only difference was that Lu Ke wouldn't run the ball himself, but his passing would have more options.
Of course, this was a theoretical idea. Things on the field change in an instant, and all kinds of things can happen. In the end, it still came down to the players being highly focused and fully engaged in the game.
Without anyone noticing, the two offensive line coaches, Mike Solari and Tim Drevno, had come over.
"Coaches, what do you think? Is my plan suitable?" Lu Ke wasn't an expert on the offensive line. His ideas were just targeted plans based on his own thoughts, so he still needed to ask the coaches.
"God, Bambi, did you read the entire offensive line playbook too? If you keep this up, we're going to be out of a job," Solari said with a laugh. Drevno also nodded slightly. "Bambi's idea is correct, but the details still need to be adjusted. The opponent's defensive front..."
The two coaches began to delve into a detailed analysis of the Philadelphia Eagles' defensive lineup.
Lu Ke didn't leave but stood on the side, communicating with tactical analyst Bryan Hampton. As someone in the middle of the action, he couldn't see the whole team's plan, and he needed the opinions and perspectives of others to supplement his own. Unfortunately, Bryan wasn't able to offer much advice today.
The play execution wasn't the problem; it was that the players' individual performances weren't at their best. It was like they were perfect on paper, but they were helpless in practice.
Both Lu Ke and Bryan could sense that something was wrong, but they couldn't put their finger on it. It was a terrible feeling.
The San Francisco 49ers' offense was working quickly, trying to get back on track. Meanwhile, on the field, the Philadelphia Eagles' offense was also struggling.
Michael Vick also seemed to be off his game today. Neither his passing nor his running game was working. It wasn't that the 49ers' defense was playing too well; it was that Vick's touch was not at its best. Several passes were thrown wildly into open spaces without any defenders, resulting in incomplete passes.
After struggling to get two first downs, the Philadelphia Eagles had another three-and-out, and they still couldn't cross midfield. The first quarter was coming to an end, with less than four minutes left, but the score on the scoreboard was still "0-0." This was a far cry from the exciting matchup everyone had imagined and was so dull it could put you to sleep.
The San Francisco 49ers' offense, led by Lu Ke, took the field once again.
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