Chapter 737: Supporting Characters Shine
"Touchdown! It's a touchdown!"
The commentator hadn't even had time to roar when the entire Lambeau Field was drowned in a boiling sea of sound. The home fans collectively lost their minds. After their hearts and emotions were strained to the limit, they completely exploded. Everyone was jumping, cheering, and roaring.
This was a true turnaround!
With the offense not performing at its best, Aaron Rodgers once again showed the high level of a top-tier quarterback. He almost single-handedly outwitted the entire San Francisco 49ers defense. Facing a fourth-and-4 situation, he not only successfully converted the first down but also went for a touchdown in one go!
Rodgers once again proved his absolute ability. This is why he is the most highly-regarded player in the quarterback rating system, setting a new historical high for quarterback ratings last year. This is why, even before he turned 30, he was already among the four elite quarterbacks. This is why all the fans in Green Bay are willing to surrender to him!
This is the answer!
In this game, both quarterbacks, Lu Ke and Rodgers, delivered top-notch performances, fighting tooth and nail until the last moment. After the Packers kicked the extra point, the score was 33-36. The home team, the Green Bay Packers, was only one field goal away from tying the game.
At this time, there was one minute and fifty-five seconds left in the game, and the ball was in the hands of the San Francisco 49ers. This meant that after Lu Ke took the field, all he needed to do was convert one first down, and the game would be basically over.
But things were clearly not that simple. The Green Bay Packers refused to surrender, and they choseโan onside kick!
An onside kick is a special kickoff strategy in the NFL.
Normally, during a kickoff, the kicking team places the ball on their own 35-yard line, and the kicker runs up and kicks the ball high and far.
If the ball flies directly out of bounds, or if the receiving team chooses to fair catch the ball in the end zone, the receiving team's next drive will automatically start from their own 20-yard line. If the ball lands inbounds and the returner successfully catches it, they can return the kick. The location where the kicking team tackles the returner is where the next offensive drive will start.
The most special situation is when the returner, after catching the ball, goes all the way into the kicking team's end zone for a "kickoff return touchdown."
Last season, Marcus Lynch had achieved such a feat.
In other words, the kickoff is also a special teams showdown.
An onside kick is a special play for the kickoff. It means the kicking team kicks the ball at least 10 yards, and then both teams race to recover the ball. The kicking team and the receiving team, whoever recovers the ball and gets control of it, will have the next offensive drive. This is because, according to league rules, after the kickoff, if the ball travels more than 10 yards, it becomes a free ball, and both teams can fight for possession.
It sounds simple, so why don't teams do this every time they kick off?
The reason is not complicated. If the kicking team recovers the ball, all is well. But if the kicking team fails to recover the ball, the receiving team's starting position for their next drive will be excellent, possibly at the midfield line, or even past it, which could lead to an extreme penalty like a kickoff return touchdown.
Furthermore, according to the rules, the kicking team stands on their own 30-yard line, and the receiving team stands on the midfield line. The distance between the two teams is only 20 yards. And during the kickoff, the kicking team must kick the ball at least 10 yards from the 35-yard line. If it doesn't meet this standard, it's a failed kickoff and doesn't count.
This means that after the kickoff, the receiving team is closer to the ball, so their chances of recovering it are naturally greater.
Undoubtedly, for the kicking team, this is a gamble. They must carefully design the play, with all players sprinting in one direction, using corresponding tactics. The kicker also needs to accurately control the power and angle and hope for a little luck. If any part of the play goes wrong, they could fail.
This is a gamble where the odds are against you. Therefore, this attempt is called an "onside kick" in the league.
After weighing the pros and cons, in most cases, the kicking team will choose to kick the ball far to give their team more time and space to defend. Only when they are desperately trying to score will they choose an onside kick and take a chance.
However, this is only in most cases.
In Super Bowl XLIV in 2010, the Indianapolis Colts were playing against the New Orleans Saints.
Shortly after the start of the second half, the Saints chose an onside kick. At that time, they were only down by four points. This caught the Colts off guard, and the Saints successfully recovered the ball. In the end, the Saints successfully won the Super Bowl, and that onside kick became a classic play.
Besides a normal kickoff and an onside kick, there is another clever way of kicking called a "squib kick."
This type of kickoff is very technical. The kicker intentionally kicks the ball low to the ground, using a powerful force to make the ball bounce forward on the ground. It bounces around like a firecracker and doesn't fly too far. In the Japanese anime "Eyeshield 21," it was called a "firecracker kick."
Most of the time, the receiving team places their returners in the backfield. So, once the ball bounces in the front field, it will not be the player with a lot of speed or strength who catches it. Also, because the ball's bounce direction is irregular, the receiving team can make a mistake, which also gives the kicking team more time to defend and even a chance to recover the ball.
This type of play is generally a tactic designed for the kicking team to run down the clock when they are leading and to prevent the receiving team from scoring a kickoff return touchdown.
However, a squib kick is like a trick play. It relies on a surprise attack and cannot be used frequently, or it will lose its meaning.
At this moment, the time left for the Packers was truly limited. They could not hope that their defense would quickly force the 49ers' offense into a three-and-out. They could only hope that the onside kick would allow them to recover the ball, giving Aaron Rodgers another chance to lead the offense and try to tie the game.
In a normal game, the offense and defense are the absolute focus on the field, but during an onside kick, special teams are the key to victory.
In other words, compared to the defense, Packers' head coach Mike McCarthy chose to trust his special teams. Or rather, faced with the choice between the 49ers' defense and the 49ers' special teams, Mike McCarthy chose the latter, and he also firmly held the initiative in his hands.
An onside kick does not need to be announced in advance. Just like a trick play, the key is the element of surprise to give the team that chooses the play a better chance of winning. However, both coaching staffs can make a basic prediction in advance. For example, Jim Harbaugh could be sure that Mike McCarthy would choose to go for an onside kick.
So, when both special teams took the field, everyone was ready.
The entire Lambeau Field fell silent, truly dead silent.
The Packers' kicker, Mason Crosby, stood in the kickoff position. All 80,000 fans' eyes were focused on Crosby's shoulders. A sense of an illusion that the entire world had stopped was born instantly, causing everyone to hold their breath.
The referee blew his whistle.
Standing on the field, Jewel Hampton felt his breathing was a little difficult. The tension of being the focus of the entire stadium made all his muscles tense up, so much so that he couldn't feel the sweat in his palms. He strongly suspected that his feet were unable to move.
So, what was he doing standing there?
Someone moved.
Crosby adjusted his steps and took a slow run-up, using the arch of his foot to gently kick the ball, forcing it to fly in a small arc. It just jumped up and then quickly descended. At the same time, without any pause, he joined his teammates and began to sprint forward.
The entire field was a chaotic battle!
It was as if the two armies of the opposing sides had all launched their attack, sprinting and fighting face to face. The most primitive and magnificent way of fighting created the most sensational and passionate clash of sparks. In the air, you could almost hear the roars of "kill" echoing.
Hampton's eyes reflexively followed the movement of the object. Then he saw the reddish-brown football fly into the air, creating a small arc, and then quickly hit the ground, bouncing forward like a small flea. All the players in his line of sight were frantically rushing toward where the ball landed.
At this point, Hampton realized that he was a half-beat slow.
Start, sprint, adjust, move.
Hampton finally came to his senses, but just as he started to move, the football seemed to hit an irregular piece of dirt. The bouncing, which had been slowly slowing down, suddenly changed direction and accelerated upwards again, bouncing in a parabola to the right, like a naughty elf.
Instantly, all the players' balance shifted at the same time. They were in an awkward scramble, trying to catch up to the ball's trajectory.
Hampton found that the football was bouncing toward him, and at the same time, there were two figures charging toward him.
Without any hesitation or pause, almost instinctively, Hampton charged two steps forward and threw himself out, as if he were a flying squirrel spreading its wings in the air, or the indefatigable little squirrel from the animated movie "Ice Age" chasing its acorn.
He caught it! He caught it!
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