The King of Bay Area

Chapter 485: Run


The game was delayed for nearly two minutes before it restarted. In the slow-motion replay, all the controversy was clear. Darnell Dockett's roughing the passer and his unsportsmanlike conduct after the play were both undeniable. The referees made the correct calls immediately. The problem was that after the foul, Dockett acted nonchalant and seemed to have said some trash talk, which instantly ignited tensions between the two teams. Three offensive linemen surrounded Dockett, and a fight was about to break out. Jonathan Goodwin tried his best to control the situation, but he couldn't do it alone.

Fortunately, Lu Ke stood up in time and stopped his teammates, successfully controlling the situation before any physical violence occurred. This prevented them from getting an unfavorable penalty. Don't forget, this was the Cardinals' home field. Just as in soccer and basketball, there is a home-field bias in football. The 49ers were the victims, but if they had resorted to physical violence, they would have become the aggressors in the eyes of the referees, and the situation would have been reversed. But for Lu Ke, he was more worried that his teammates would get distracted and lose their focus because of the conflict, which would be a net loss. Now, the signs were already starting to show.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Adam Snyder had a fiery temper, and his curses were endless. He seemed to be on the verge of an explosion. Chilo Rachal had sprained his ankle in a previous game, which was not a serious injury, but he needed a little rest. In this game, backup offensive tackle Adam Snyder was the starter, with two other offensive tackles rotating in at any time.

"Calm down!" Lu Ke shouted, but Snyder's emotions were still extremely agitated, showing signs of losing control. He had to raise his voice again and say fiercely, "Shut up!" This time, Snyder finally shut his mouth.

"We are winning! Do you understand? We are winning!" The home crowd was booing loudly, protesting the referee's call, believing that Dockett was being treated unfairly. Obviously, they didn't care if Lu Ke was being treated roughly, since Lu Ke seemed to be fine and showed no signs of injury. In this situation, Lu Ke had to shorten his words and said concisely and forcefully, "We are winning! And our goal is to score a touchdown! Okay? A touchdown!" The powerful voice came down heavily. Lu Ke pointed forward and emphasized again, "A touchdown!" This time, Snyder finally reacted. He nodded heavily and spat to the side. "Damn it! Touchdown! Touchdown!" He couldn't help but raise his hands high and cheer, and his nearly-distracted attention finally returned to the field.

Marcus, who had just made the big play, reunited with his teammates. His face was still full of excitement, but he also looked at Lu Ke with worry. Lu Ke smiled and waved his hand, signaling that he was fine. Marcus was relieved, and the two of them bumped shoulders, congratulating each other on the last play. Lu Ke was indeed fine. The initial surge of pain after the collision was very noticeable, but it gradually subsided. He was not injured; it was just the physical pain of the impact. He was okay.

Led by Lu Ke, the San Francisco 49ers' offense lined up again, ready to start the drive from the opponent's 30-yard line. In the crowd, Lu Ke could see Dockett's bloodthirsty eyes, which seemed to be sending a message: "Next time, I will hit you hard again!" The blatant provocation was directed at Lu Ke without any disguise, but Lu Ke was not afraid. He slightly raised his chin, used his right thumb to draw a line across his throat from left to right, making a cutting motion. His eyes stared fiercely at Dockett, not only showing no weakness but also being more aggressive.

As a quarterback, he might not be good at running or tackling, but he absolutely could not be afraid of being hit. When a quarterback starts to fear a head-on collision, it's the beginning of the collapse of the offensive play. Once the pocket starts to collapse, he might get flustered, and all the remaining parts of the play would become a mess. Lu Ke knew that Dockett did it on purpose. Because of their personal grudge, he pretended that he couldn't stop after the collision, but in reality, he kept accelerating and made a hard hit, wanting to teach Lu Ke a lesson. The grudge off the field was now turning into sparks on the field.

But Lu Ke would never back down! Since the opponent wanted a head-to-head collision, Lu Ke would give them a head-to-head collision. It was called: getting what you want! Dockett obviously didn't expect such a reaction from Lu Ke. In the Twitter storm of the past few days, Lu Ke had always been low-key and quiet, looking like a player who didn't like conflict, which completely conformed to their stereotype of Asian immigrants. But today, Lu Ke's bloodlust and aggression caught Dockett completely off guard. The gap between his expectations and reality made him freeze for a moment. In his line of sight, Lu Ke was still calmly reading the defense. After confirming everything was correct, he decisively called the snap.

Such a calm demeanor was truly unexpected. The chaotic thoughts in his mind were half a step, or maybe even just a quarter of a step, slower. But in an intense game, this short delay could trigger a domino effect, and Dockett realized this now. Something was wrong, completely wrong. So far in the game, the San Francisco 49ers' passing offense had been completely open, with both short and long passes penetrating the defense. They had only managed to force one incomplete pass. The last powerful blitz was still half a step too slow. Although Dockett taught the opponent a good lesson, the defensive misalignment resulted in a loss of nearly 50 yards.

In the league, everyone knows that the 49ers' passing offense is powerful. Today's game proved this. The dismal passing performance from the last game was completely gone. So, the Cardinals' defense had to start spreading out their players to cover the passing game more. At the same time, the defensive line's blitzing tactics were not weakened. They had to put enough pressure on Lu Ke. Correspondingly, the linebackers' positions were slightly retreated by one to two yards, to provide a more comprehensive coverage of the short-pass area. All these changes were made in real time based on the flow of the game, but Lu Ke, while reading the defense, seemed to have once again caught their defensive movements. This time, he actually chose to hand the ball to Marcus Lynch! Was this a fake run and a real pass?

After being half a step slow, Dockett's eyes were fixed on Lu Ke's handoff. The reflexive thought in his mind was still "fake run, real pass." Even after seeing Marcus complete the handoff, firmly holding the football, and starting to look for a gap to run, his body's movements still couldn't keep up with his thoughts. Whether it was half a step or a quarter of a step, it was in this short window that Marcus found a small gap between Jonathan Goodwin and Mike Iupati. He broke through like a high-speed train. Dockett only had time to dive to his right, but his body's center of gravity didn't follow. He fell to the ground clumsily, getting a mouthful of grass and dirt, and watched as Marcus lightly jumped over his hands. A humiliation below the belt. Dockett couldn't take it anymore and slammed the ground. They were being played, played like monkeys!

"In an 'I' formation, the 49ers are showing a powerful running play. After the snap, Lu Ke quickly meets up with Marcus Lynch, which looks like a fake run and a real pass. No! It's a handoff! Lu Ke completed the handoff. It's a running play! It really is a running play!"

Choosing to pass from an "I" formation and run from a shotgun formation, the San Francisco 49ers' play calls this season are often unpredictable and diverse. So, today, when they actually chose to run from a running formation, it caught everyone off guard, and the explosive running play began.

"The San Francisco 49ers made an unexpected choice to run the ball! The player with the ball is Marcus Lynch, who just made a huge play!"

"The Cardinals' defense has lost its position. The defensive line is at a disadvantage in their matchups and couldn't stop Lynch. Lynch broke through the defensive line, and then with a full sprint, he burst out of the circle before the two outside linebackers could close in! Beautiful! The Cardinals' front line opened up space in the short-pass area. After the linebackers retreated, this became Lynch's runway to accelerate and successfully break through!"

He accelerated once, running past the defensive line. He accelerated a second time, leaving before the two linebackers could close in. After two consecutive accelerations, Marcus's momentum still didn't slow down. He could clearly feel a wave of air behind him, but his eyes were fixed on the front. Two players on the left were quickly coming to cover. He reflexively found a narrow path to the right, where the dark-red tide was closing in. He slammed on the brakes, made a lateral move, and with the momentum of his forward sprint, he was forced to move sideways. As the circle on the left closed in, he accelerated for a third time along the path to the right.

The lactic acid building up made his muscles ache. They were so tense they started to stiffen, but Marcus gritted his teeth and unleashed another burst of incredible energy. After the third acceleration, his steps continued to speed up. At this moment, three dark-red figures appeared all at once on his right, ferociously diving toward Marcus. Marcus's eyes instantly made a judgment. He didn't avoid them but lowered his shoulder and continued to move to the right, and then—"Thud!"

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