Chapter 995: Chapter 995: Away Game Crisis

Chapter 995: Away Game Crisis

According to the official post-game statistics, the Seattle Seahawks successfully completed the first touchdown of the game, and it was Marshawn Lynch who initiated Beast Mode. CenturyLink Field erupted with an unimaginable sound wave of 136.6 decibels.

What level is this?

To put it into perspective, it’s somewhere between the sound of thunder and a jet taking off. To put it into a different perspective, this sound broke a Guinness World Record. Before this, the Guinness record for the loudest noise in an outdoor stadium was 131.76 decibels, and now CenturyLink Field had broken the record by a large margin.

To be even more direct, according to a report from the local Seattle earthquake monitoring bureau, this sound wave caused a 2.2 magnitude micro-earthquake near the stadium. However, the earthquake didn’t cause any damage or destruction. It was confined to the area around CenturyLink Field and didn’t have any further impact on city life.

The earthquake was real. Not only Lu Ke and Kipp, but every player on the field felt that slight shock and truly experienced the deafening and powerful momentum.

This was CenturyLink Field’s way of showing them who’s boss!

In the seventh week of the regular season, the visiting Seattle Seahawks were completely defeated. They only managed to score one field goal in the entire game. They couldn’t move the ball forward no matter what, and their ground game and passing offense completely fell flat. But now that they were back at home, they showed their absolute dominance as an undefeated home team. They scored a beautiful touchdown on their first offensive drive.

The clear contrast between playing at home and on the road was inevitable.

With the kicker making the field goal, the Seattle Seahawks, who were playing at home, took a "7-0" lead.

When Lu Ke led the San Francisco 49ers’ offense onto the field, the boos from the entire stadium rained down on them. It wasn’t a wave of sound; it was hail—a dense hail storm, like a magnificent meteor shower, that didn’t leave any room to breathe. The muscles in their bodies could clearly feel the air getting tense, as if their feet could barely move.

But the current Lu Ke was no longer a rookie who had just started. He had been refined and tempered this season, and he had a strong demeanor. Amidst the boos from the entire stadium, Lu Ke calmly gathered his offensive teammates and gave them their assignments with the most concise commands.

Finally, Lu Ke’s eyes swept across his teammates one by one, and he showed a firm and confident smile. He only said one sentence, "They’re scared!"

Yes, the Seahawks were scared because the threat the 49ers brought was too strong, so even just one touchdown caused such a huge commotion. Yes, the Seahawks were scared because after facing the same opponent for two consecutive seasons, they not only failed to win but also repeatedly became the backdrop for humiliation.

They were scared.

The stronger the cheers, the more obvious the unease and fear in their hearts.

With just one simple sentence, Lu Ke turned the dangerous situation of playing on the road into a psychological advantage. He was doing his best to minimize the negative impact of playing away from home.

It was impossible for it to completely disappear. The sound waves at CenturyLink Field were truly too brutal and overwhelming. Lu Ke could feel a slight change in his own state. The "State" section in his system was the best proof:

"75% (Away game negative impact value +10%)."

The power of CenturyLink Field had been recognized by the system. Lu Ke naturally couldn’t let his guard down. He was looking down on his opponents strategically but taking them seriously tactically.

Now, Lu Ke needed to focus all his attention on the game. He also needed to make sure his teammates were focused as well. A short and powerful cheer was the most effective way to do this. Standing in the position of the offensive captain, Lu Ke was slowly getting the hang of it.

The members of the offense looked at Lu Ke with a unified purpose. After experiencing the ups and downs of a slump and a comeback, and after the test of last week’s tough game, they finally found their spirit and rhythm again, and Lu Ke was the core of the core.

After that, the San Francisco 49ers’ offense quickly lined up.

First and ten from their own 20-yard line.

For their first defensive play of the game, the Seattle Seahawks actively chose to blitz the quarterback.

The reason the Seahawks’ defense was ranked first in the league was that they had a unique defensive strategy.

They almost completely gave up on blitzing the quarterback on first and second downs. They would only blitz when they were putting a lot of pressure on the third down. Throughout the season, their blitzing rate was just over 20%, which was almost the lowest in the league.

This tactical arrangement was unique but also very effective.

First, it increased the intensity and strength of their third-down defense. Second, their first and second-down defense could focus on the ground game, using the pressure from the front line to unleash the full power of their secondary defense.

The right side of the secondary defense, Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman, who were torn apart by the San Francisco 49ers in the seventh week of the regular season, were now truly two of the best players in the league. Their excellent performance cut off the quarterback’s space for long passes, forcing the entire offense to constantly compress, which would then lead to them being caught in the Seahawks’ front-line grinder.

But today, the Seattle Seahawks’ head coach, Pete Carroll, had obviously carefully studied Lu Ke’s game footage and created a corresponding tactical plan. They blitzed on the very first defensive play. If the San Francisco 49ers had carefully studied the Seahawks’ game footage, this blitz would truly be a surprise, and they would be caught off guard.

The 12s in CenturyLink Field had already noticed the home team’s powerful momentum and became even more excited. The interference from their boos and cheers also increased, and the continuous waves of sound had become an acoustic attack.

Jim Harbaugh and Lu Ke really didn’t anticipate the Seattle Seahawks’ tactical intention.

Because the Seahawks’ defensive players and their positions were all set up as a normal first-down defense, in order to maintain the element of surprise, Carroll naturally kept everything as it was. Lu Ke didn’t notice the different intention when he was reading the defense.

But the problem was that the Seahawks’ defensive strategy was truly too unique. When they chose to blitz on the third down, the players on the field would be rotated, and the overall setup would be slightly different. This also meant that the players who were responsible for the first down defense now were good at ground defense, not at blitzing the quarterback.

So, when they chose to blitz, they had to take a certain risk!

This was Lu Ke’s opportunity.

After the snap, as Lu Ke quickly dropped back, he immediately noticed the huge change in the Seahawks’ defense. Although his left and right senses were still a bit weak, Lu Ke still made a quick decision and changed the play based on the players’ movements.

He immediately handed the ball to Frank Gore.

Originally, it was a passing play, and Frank was supposed to be a blocker for Lu Ke, but now he suddenly got the football. Frank’s steps paused for a moment. He quickly made a judgment based on his game instincts and looked for a path to move forward.

Lately, the efficiency of Frank and LaMichael James’s runs had been inconsistent. Overall, they were still below their average level, but there was a slow trend of recovery. This could be seen in their ability to judge the defense and choose a path after getting the ball, which were things that were done with instinct.

In a split second, Frank gave up on the idea of running to the sides and chose to run up the middle. Although the middle looked completely closed off, after he got closer, Jonathan Goodwin and Anthony Davis had torn a small gap open. Frank stumbled and ran through it.

The Seattle Seahawks’ defense went all-in on the blitz, and their weight shifted too far forward. They couldn’t tackle Frank immediately. Frank successfully got a first down—he moved forward 13 yards before three players tackled him together, ending the drive.

The brilliant run successfully broke the defense’s plan, and Lu Ke’s ability to read the defense and react on the fly once again gave him the upper hand.

Another first and ten. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The San Francisco 49ers quickly lined up, and the Seattle Seahawks’ defensive formation didn’t change much. But it was clear that after the first blitz didn’t work as they had hoped, the defense temporarily went back to their usual first-down defensive strategy.

In other words, their ground defense and secondary defense were tight, but they didn’t choose to blitz the quarterback, which gave Lu Ke enough time and space to observe and look for an open receiver.

Was this an opportunity?

If the secondary defense completely shut down all the running routes, then it was an opportunity for the defense. But if the quarterback could find a passing route to break the stalemate, then it was an opportunity for the offense.

The Seattle Seahawks’ defense seemed to have already anticipated Lu Ke’s play choice and intentionally left the short-passing area open to tempt Lu Ke to use short passes to break the situation. But Lu Ke noticed that the short-passing area was a trap. Even if he could complete the pass, the opponent could make a tackle immediately and stop the forward momentum.

This tactical strategy was clearly inspired by the 49ers’ last game against the New England Patriots. Pete Carroll had created a specific defensive plan for this. So, what should Lu Ke do?

Should he choose to use short passes and move forward little by little? Or should he look for another route?

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