"Antonio Brown! It's Antonio Brown again! My God! Pittsburgh Steelers' number 84 wide receiver, Antonio Brown, has delivered the best performance of his career! Touchdown! This is a touchdown! This is a 57-yard touchdown!"
"Facing a critical third-and-eight, Roethlisberger was already in danger of being sacked. In the final moments, he threw a desperate pass that seemed to have no plan and was about to fly out of bounds! But Brown stepped up, and despite being double-covered by two defenders, he successfully completed the catch and maintained his balance. Taking advantage of the two defenders losing their balance, he turned and advanced!"
"Then, Brown completed a long run of over 50 yards, crossing the entire midfield and rushing into the San Francisco 49ers' end zone, scoring another touchdown! My God, oh, my God, this drive is definitely the best of the week! A catch in an extreme situation, a catch against tight coverage, and an advance through a tight defense! And it ended with a touchdown! Beautiful!"
"My God, Antonio Brown, where did this monster come from?"
"I mean, he's an excellent player. His rookie season and games before this season had already shown great potential, but before tonight, that was just potential! In this game, however, he has shown the qualities of a top-tier wide receiver, and in the first half, he almost single-handedly destroyed the San Francisco 49ers' defense!"
"It's not that the 49ers' defense didn't play well; it's that Brown was absolutely unstoppable! My God! Antonio Brown! Where did he come from? Jesus Christ! All three of the Pittsburgh Steelers' touchdowns in the first half were directly related to Brown. Incredible! This is definitely a situation no one expected!"
"The first half of the game has ended. The referee blew the whistle, and the San Francisco 49ers, playing at home, have been shut out and are currently trailing by a huge margin of 0-21. Did anyone predict this result for this game?"
"This reminds me of Week 2 of the regular season when the 49ers played against the Dallas Cowboys at home. The halftime score was 0-17. The young rookie quarterback Lu Ke was completely helpless against the tight pass defense, but in the second half, he made a kingly comeback! He replicated Joe Montana's 'The Catch' and ultimately reversed the game 21-20!"
"So what about today? The biggest question now is, what is Lu Ke's condition? From the first half, it seems that this year's top offensive rookie has cold hands and is completely out of rhythm. He only got five first downs and didn't even get into field goal range. This is a desperate situation, an absolute desperate situation!"
"Who could have predicted that the game would go like this? 0-21? This is absolutely crazy."
In the ESPN studio, the three commentators were expressing their opinions one after another. This kind of first half was destined to not satisfy everyone. Even the Pittsburgh Steelers' performance was bumpy and stumbling. Ben Roethlisberger's passing was inconsistent, and many of his passes were terribly off. They only got nine first downs in the first half and also had one fumble, but luckily it didn't result in a turnover.
As for the yellow flag penalties that kept interrupting the game, there were a total of 13 penalties in the first half, five for the Steelers and eight for the 49ers. The entire game was fragmented. It was obvious that both teams were negatively affected by the unusual weather in San Francisco and had not yet adjusted to their best form. If it weren't for the sudden appearance of Antonio Brown, this half of the game would have been boring and sleepy.
But it was this unknown Antonio Brown who shined in the first half of the game. He not only single-handedly led the Steelers to a three-touchdown lead, two of which came from his own long runs, but he also saved this Monday night's nightmare with his brilliant individual performance. Now, social media was completely buzzing. After all the anticipation, people were seeing this kind of game?
"I've already taken off my pants, and this is what you show me?"
"Is that number 84 a god? He single-handedly dominated the entire game! My God, he's so cool!"
"What...what's going on? The Steelers are playing offense, and the 49ers are playing defense? Did I get the jerseys wrong? Did these two teams switch places?"
"Bad review. I almost fell asleep. This is probably the most boring Monday Night Football game of the season."
"I said before that Monday Night Football is often boring and can't be compared to Thursday Night Football. We might as well cancel Monday Night Football from now on. It's too boring."
Halftime was for commercials, for bathroom breaks, and for complaining. Amidst all the noise and complaints, Charles Davis, who didn't have a show to record today, sparked a heated discussion in another way. He posted a tweet, "@MikeTirico, I predicted this."
This seemed to be a response to the rhetorical question Tirico posed during the ESPN "Monday Night Football" broadcast. He then retweeted a video clip from a previous episode of "Inside the League," clearly expressing his opinion and position, and once again mocking and attacking Lu Ke. Then, Twitter went crazy.
"What else is there to say? I knew it, the Chinese quarterback is unreliable. It was like this last Thursday Night Football when he was crushed by the Ravens, and it's like this again. What the hell? Are the 49ers blind? There are so many good quarterbacks to use, but they have to use this weakling?"
"This is garbage. The league is still promoting a Chinese quarterback. Is this his level? I could play better than him."
"All the previous victories were achieved by his teammates, right? This quarterback is probably just riding on their success. Is he a system quarterback? But today, I saw that even a system quarterback plays better than him. @AlexSmith, what do you think?"
"What about Colin Kaepernick? Isn't he better than this undrafted rookie? Why not replace the starting quarterback?"
"I'm telling you, this quarterback has a fear of the camera. He gets soft legs every time he's on national television, and he's especially impressive in regular games. Now they are celebrating their first playoff appearance in eight or ten years. I think they'll kneel in the first round of the playoffs."
"What is this? Is this the level they are trying to promote? We have to be politically correct, but that doesn't mean we have to be blind, right?"
"This is absolutely terrible. Get out of here, get out of the league. Football is not something you can play."
"There's a reason why the NFL hasn't had an Asian player for so many years! Look at today's game! Not enough evidence? Then look at Thursday Night Football in Week 12!"
"Damn it, what's wrong with this Chinese kid? He's embarrassing all of us Asians. I don't even want to go out!"
"Is that Chinese kid fixing games? Is he intentionally losing the game?"
Among the bustling discussions, this was just the tip of the iceberg. According to incomplete statistics, during halftime, there were 200,000 related topics on Twitter and Facebook, setting a series of records for both social networks. The entire North America was watching, giving it Super Bowl-level treatment. So naturally, it had to be met with a higher level of complaints and curses.
Sitting at home watching the live broadcast, Charles hummed a tune and walked to the refrigerator with a spring in his step. He took out a tub of ice cream, ready to enjoy this visual feast. He genuinely felt that the peak of his career had arrived.
In the San Francisco 49ers' locker room, it was quiet. There was no anger or dissatisfaction, but more of a sense of confusion. Since Week 2 of the regular season, they hadn't been so passive for a very long time. Even in the three games they lost, the situation on the field was not so one-sided. It was so unfamiliar and so embarrassing that they were all dejected and full of questions.
Logan Newman felt a lump in his chest that he wanted to let out, but he couldn't, which was frustrating. Then Logan noticed something strange. Where was Lu Ke? Where was Lu Ke's voice? Every time they faced such a demoralizing situation, Lu Ke was the one who refused to compromise and give up. But today, Lu Ke was unusually quiet. Could it be that the Pittsburgh Steelers had also intimidated Lu Ke?
Impossible, absolutely impossible!
Logan stood up and looked around the locker room. He saw Lu Ke sitting in the corner, wrapped in a coat and wearing a hat, not saying a word. Logan walked over quickly. "Bambi?" He took off Lu Ke's hat, and his voice immediately changed. "My God, Bambi, what's wrong with you? Jesus Christ, you... what's wrong with you?"
Lu Ke's cheeks were flushed, as if they were painted with rouge. But when Logan's fingertips touched Lu Ke's hands, he felt a coldness. There was no warmth at all, it was even colder than ice. He couldn't help but shiver. It was like a high temperature, and it was also like a low temperature. His entire state was contradictory, and there were no suitable words to describe it.
Logan felt a moment of panic. "Bambi? Are you okay?"
Lu Ke tried to answer, but before he could speak, his teeth started chattering, and he could even hear a crisp sound of them clashing together. He couldn't make a sound. In the end, he could only shake his head, but he didn't know what he was trying to express. Was he okay, or was he not?
"Doctor? Doctor?" Logan panicked and started yelling for the doctor. Then the other teammates sitting nearby also stood up and gathered around, all looking panicked. "Bambi? What's going on? You look bad right now, really bad."
Lu Ke was curled up in his thick down jacket. Even though he was wrapped in layer after layer, his body still couldn't feel any warmth. It was as if his whole body was submerged in an ice cave, and even his blood was cold. The hotter his cheeks became, the colder his body became. He couldn't feel any warmth at all. For a moment, Lu Ke felt as if he was in the Arctic Circle, wearing a T-shirt and shorts, and soaking in an ice cave. This feeling was truly exhilarating.
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