Aldon Smith: Is Bambi watching some explicit video? Why does his face look like he's... about to climax? Wow, he's so bold. I wouldn't even dare to do that in public.
Marcus Lynch: You don't know this, but game footage is the best catalyst for Bambi. I'd bet a piece of licorice that Bambi is watching a J.J. Watt training video right now. His expression is just priceless...
Logan Newman: Oh my god, you guys are so perverted. Bambi is such an innocent and cute kid. He's definitely watching a video of humans and animals. I'm sure of it.
Everyone's eyes were focused on Logan, the beast! Then, Scott Tolzien chimed in, "I think Kip just took a million-point critical hit. He's about to cry." Everyone's attention then turned back to Lu Ke and Kip.
"Yes, yes, yes, that's it." Lu Ke nodded repeatedly and patted Kip on the shoulder. "Buddy, when we get back to San Francisco, how about we do a tactical drill? A tactical meeting would be great too. We can analyze our game videos from the last few weeks. I think we can study the playbook some more."
"What?" This was the only thought in Kip's mind. He had no idea what Lu Ke was talking about. His stiff neck nodded slowly, once, and then again, giving a soulless response. Lu Ke smiled contentedly and walked back to the physical therapy room with light steps and a cheerful tune. He nodded at the teammates who were lined up like gophers on the side and said with a big smile, "See you guys in the tactical room when we get back."
Everyone collectively had a "what the heck" look on their faces. "Tactical room?" That had to be a joke, right? It had to be!
Lu Ke returned to the physical therapy room and found the massage therapist, Lucas Bergman. However, Lucas was massaging Patrick Willis, and Vernon Davis was also in line. Lu Ke obediently stood behind Vernon and waited patiently, opening the system again. He opened the attribute panel and immediately saw the "Tactical Awareness: 100" skill. This skill was in bold and capitalized, so it was easy to spot. This not only meant that Lu Ke had his first skill with a perfect score but also that he no longer needed to add base skill points to this skill. His long journey had finally reached its first goal at the end of the regular season.
But this was just the beginning. Given how rare golden skill points were, and with all the hungry skills on the attribute panel, his long journey had just taken its first step. He temporarily calmed his excitement and looked at the remaining skill points: "Base Skill Points: 13; Special Skill Points: 14." A thought flashed in his mind, wondering if he should exchange some points for a special skill, like "Eye of the Falcon." But the thought just passed. Compared to special skills, there was still a lot of room for improvement in his individual skills, and he needed to continue to improve steadily. As for further exploration of the Skill Point Exchange System, he hoped to have a lot of skill points in the second season and then slowly make full use of it.
First, the special skill points. After thinking for a moment, Lu Ke added the points. He added four points to Luck, continuing to improve the lower limit and moving toward zero. The current range was now (-10 - 75), and he was getting close to getting rid of the negative value. He could vaguely see a glimmer of hope. He added 10 points to Aura, which went from 55 to 65, successfully passing the passing grade. Lu Ke considered Charm and Aura for a moment but ultimately chose the latter.
Relatively speaking, Charm was more about the defensive players' defense against Lu Ke, while Aura was about Lu Ke influencing his own and the opponent's players with him as the core. The effects were different. In a dangerous playoff situation, the power of the team was still greater than the power of an individual, and Lu Ke also lacked experience, so he needed to unite the entire team to win. Therefore, he gave up Charm and chose Aura. This time, Lu Ke was finally smart. He added the ten special skill points to Aura in two separate increments instead of all at once, which avoided the risk of getting dizzy. Even so, with the rapid improvement in a short period of time, Lu Ke could still vaguely feel that his mind was a little swollen and his focus was a little blurry. But thankfully, it wasn't too obvious. He just shook his head a little and then returned to normal.
Next, the base skill points. Just when he was tallying the mission rewards, he had a whopping 43 base skill points, which was enough to get him excited. He could have made a huge change in his attributes and even entered a new phase. But after exchanging for one golden skill point, he was back to where he was before. Thirteen base skill points were only equivalent to what he would get after one regular season game. However, the meaning and weight of a golden skill point were extraordinary, and Lu Ke didn't regret it. The question now was how to make the best use of the 13 base skill points to gain more leverage in the playoffs.
Instead of trying to improve his all-around skills, Lu Ke was more inclined to improve his offensive ability. He would play and win the game as a pocket quarterback, continuing the way he added points at the end of the regular season, and continue to improve his strengths, truly becoming as sharp as a sword coming out of its sheath. The six best and most urgent skills were: Throwing Power, 82; Short Pass Accuracy, 83; Mid Pass Accuracy, 83; Tactical Zone Accuracy: 80; Wrist Control, 81; and Observation Vision, 90.
After his eyes went back and forth between the skills for a few rounds, Lu Ke gave up on the idea of distributing the points evenly and chose to focus his firepower. He added five base skill points to Observation Vision, raising it to 95. He added five base skill points to Tactical Zone Accuracy, raising it to 85. He added three base skill points to Wrist Control, raising it to 84. In the blink of an eye, all 13 base skill points were added, and each of the three skills had its own purpose.
Observation Vision complemented Tactical Awareness and Prediction. Before the snap, it helped him make more comprehensive tactical arrangements and plans, staying one step ahead of the defense. Tactical Zone Accuracy was a crucial part of winning the game, whether it was a throw to the sideline or to a specific area in a critical or dangerous moment. Wrist Control was about making adjustments and changes at the moment of release, further avoiding interceptions with a soft touch, and minimizing the error rate. Otherwise, with how risky and bold Lu Ke's passes were, a turnover could happen in an instant.
The reason for making this choice was not a reckless or blind judgment but a targeted improvement. The six NFC playoff teams were the Green Bay Packers, the San Francisco 49ers, the New Orleans Saints, the New York Giants, the Atlanta Falcons, and the Detroit Lions. According to the league's overall statistics after the regular season, the six playoff teams' rankings were as follows:
Offense: Packers 1st, 49ers 3rd, Saints 2nd, Giants 10th, Falcons 8th, Lions 5th.
Defense: Packers 19th, 49ers 3rd, Saints 13th, Giants 25th, Falcons 18th, Lions 23rd.
All six teams ranked in the top 10 in the league in offense, and the funny thing was that among the remaining four teams in the top 10, only the New England Patriots, who ranked fourth, made it to the playoffs. The Carolina Panthers, the San Diego Chargers, and the Philadelphia Eagles all missed out.
In defense, except for the San Francisco 49ers, the other five teams all ranked outside the top 12. Interestingly, among the six teams that ranked in the top 12 in defense, six of them made it to the playoffs, one in the NFC, and the other five were all in the AFC. Although this was a bit one-sided and biased, overall, in the NFC this season, offense was clearly stronger than defense, while the AFC was dominated by strong defensive teams. Offense wins games, defense wins championships. Does this mean this year's Super Bowl champion will come from the AFC?
The winner of the Super Bowl was yet to be determined, but one thing was for sure: no matter who won the two NFC wild card games, the San Francisco 49ers would be hosting a true offensive shootout in the divisional round. This season, the San Francisco 49ers had already played against two strong playoff offensive teams, the Detroit Lions and the New York Giants. The former's score was 20-28, and the latter's was 28-27. Both games were not high-scoring duels in the true sense, at least not exceeding the 30-point threshold, but they were definitely key duels between two strong offenses, and the quality and intensity of the offenses were not to be underestimated.
In the playoffs, the intensity of the offensive confrontation was bound to be further enhanced. In other words, it would be a game where firepower would suppress each other, and it would be a game where the offense would decide the winner. So, after careful consideration, Lu Ke timely improved his offensive strengths across the board, getting ready for the offensive shootout in the playoffs. As for the distant Super Bowl, he would take it one step at a time and not aim too high for now. Before getting to the Super Bowl and the NFC Championship game, the San Francisco 49ers needed to focus on their first opponent. Only by winning the divisional game could they earn the right to advance to the next round.
His inbox was now completely empty. After confirming that all the points had been added, he once again browsed the entire attribute panel from top to bottom. After confirming all his choices, Lu Ke was content and closed the system. Now, he was ready to go and prepared to fight at any time. Lu Ke was a little impatient for the first playoff game of his career. So, who would his first opponent be?
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