The instant his body launched, his muscles exploding with power, Linval caught a glimpse of the calm on both offensive and defensive lines. He realized he had committed a false start.
Annoyed, he closed his eyes and let his tense body relax, slumping heavily to the ground. He pounded the air in frustration, muttering a few choice words and venting his annoyance. Without even needing to hear the referee's call, he already knew the result. "Damn it!"
But the referee's voice still came through the stadium speakers. "False start, defense, number 97. Five-yard penalty, automatic first down for the offense. Play continues."
In an instant, all of Candlestick Park erupted! Lu Zhengze almost spontaneously jumped up, becoming one with all the fans in the stadium. Everyone cheered and yelled, a wave of "Ahhh's" crashing against their eardrums. Everyone laughed heartily and expressed their joy in every way possible.
They had all thought the first drive would end unceremoniously, but instead, the team got a first down without any effort, keeping the drive alive. The wild swings of emotion allowed every fan to unleash their feelings.
Lu Ke turned and looked at the sideline, where Harbaugh gave him a thumbs-up in praise. Lu Ke couldn't help but smile. The false start deception is a common tactic on fourth down, and defensive players are always on high alert for it. Still, Lu Ke had tried it and was prepared for it not to work, with a backup plan already in place. He never expected it to actually work!
Everyone thought it would be a tough, head-on challenge, a do-or-die play on fourth and three. Instead, it was a subtle maneuver, a dazzling piece of footwork that automatically resulted in a new first down. It was brilliant, truly brilliant.
In the broadcast booth, Teddy and Kirk exchanged a glance. They were genuinely looking at each other in disbelief. It was an unexpected start and an unexpected end. The beginning of today's game was truly unique. "A false start penalty, and the San Francisco 49ers get an automatic first down. They've already lined up again, ready to move down the field. Let's continue to watch the game."
On the field, the two teams lined up in a strange formation. The offense had nine players in a line that was slightly raised in the middle and compressed on the sides. The defense also had nine players lined up in a straight line, almost parallel to the offense. The two lines were on either side of the 22-yard line. Behind the offensive line were the quarterback and running back, standing parallel to each other. Behind the defensive line, one safety was wandering five yards back, and another was casually walking back and forth fifteen yards deep in the backfield.
It looked a little like... an old-school video game of ping-pong. It wasn't a perfect analogy, but it was certainly unique. It was a multiple-receiver offensive formation against a man-to-man defensive formation. On the 49ers' side, five offensive linemen were lined up, with only Vernon Davis as a tight end on the right side and three receivers—Michael Crabtree, Ted Ginn Jr., and Logan Newman—on the left side. This kind of play was already common in the 49ers' playbook, but this time Vernon was in place of Kyle Williams, expanding the play with a two-tight-end formation.
The strange thing was the Giants' defensive scheme. They were using a pure man-to-man defense. Generally, when facing a multiple-receiver formation, it's impossible to predict Lu Ke's many passing options, so opposing teams usually use a zone defense to cover all areas. But now the Giants were using a man-to-man defense, and they were also facing a two-tight-end formation with better one-on-one matchups, which was indeed a surprise. Furthermore, the Giants had compressed their defensive formation, not retreating three to five yards to wait for and observe the receivers' routes. This action, which squeezed the offensive space, also squeezed their defensive space. Of course, at the same time, the threat of a blitz increased significantly.
It had to be said that the New York Giants' defense had seriously studied the San Francisco 49ers and made adjustments. Whether it would work or not, only the actual game could tell.
Standing in the pocket, Lu Ke's mind was racing. It was a short passing play, but the question was, how should he set up the short passing routes? Every receiver had their own running route, and Lu Ke would choose the target based on the situation during the play. So, Lu Ke's eyes were on every defensive player, his mind quickly listing the advantages and disadvantages of each matchup. His eyes casually moved to the right side, carefully observing the players matched up against Crabtree and Logan, and in a flash, he made a decision.
"Set!"
Lu Ke deliberately shouted another dazzling command, not to bait another false start, but because with the threat of a second false start, the opponent would be more hesitant. Their focus would be even more intense, and every snap count could be a trigger point. No one could be careless.
After a series of commands, Lu Ke announced the snap. As his hands received the ball, he noticed the defensive players' momentary hesitation, a pause of less than a millisecond, but in sports, that's crucial. Lu Ke quickly took a step back, his footwork incredibly decisive, even faster than usual. He saw a quick glimpse of Marcus Lynch running across in front of him, and then he saw two defensive players forming a trap from the outside. It was a bluff-on-bluff situation. The New York Giants were lining up in a man-to-man defense, but it was actually a blitz. Both sides were trying to deceive and outguess each other. The Giants' defensive coordinator had come prepared.
But the defensive players didn't expect Lu Ke's retreat to be so decisive. There was no hesitation. The moment the ball was snapped, he quickly created distance, further separating the quarterback from the defenders. This created more problems for the defenders trying to sack him.
The rushers included Linval, who had just committed the false start. He charged forward like a beast, using a mismatch in the defense to burst through the gap between Joe Staley and Vernon Davis. Because of the overlapping matchups, he wasn't blocked at all. Linval noticed in his peripheral vision that after the snap, Vernon immediately took off and ran forward. As they had expected, the 49ers' offense was planning to use a two-tight-end short-pass strategy to open up the game, and their blitz would catch the opponents off guard.
Now, the 49ers' rookie quarterback was completely exposed in his sights, though the distance was a bit far. But there were no linemen in front of the quarterback, nor was there a running back to block. This meant the quarterback was a sitting duck. Linval's mouth curved upward into a bloodthirsty smile. He was going to show Lu Ke just how powerful and fierce the sack that had tormented Brady last week was.
Just then, Linval noticed Lu Ke raise his right hand and try to pass the ball toward the left side. "Damn!" The distance between him and Lu Ke was still about five yards. It was too late to lunge at him. On the other side, if he remembered correctly, there were three receivers, two of whom were powerful receivers. If Lu Ke completed the pass, his sack would be meaningless. More importantly, he couldn't roughly tackle a quarterback after the ball had been thrown, or it would be another penalty. Instinctively, Linval glanced in the direction of Lu Ke's throwing hand.
No football? What! There was no football! Damn it! All those thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. Linval didn't stop moving. He used his momentum to lunge fiercely at Lu Ke. But after his momentary distraction, he refocused and realized Lu Ke had taken a step to the left. Just one step, but it changed the position between them.
Before he could even curse, almost at the same time, Linval saw Lu Ke turn, and the dark red football in his right hand traced a light and agile arc as it left his hand. Linval instinctively reached out, like he was trying to catch a butterfly, to swat the ball away. But he missed and could only watch as the football's arc got higher and higher until it was completely out of his reach. In that less-than-half-a-second, Linval's body completely lost its balance. He crashed down hard, but not toward Lu Ke. That lunge had shifted his center of gravity, and he slammed into the grass. A large amount of grass clippings flew into his helmet and into his mouth, leaving him in a complete mess.
It was too fast. Everything was too fast. Lu Ke's throw was so quick that the pass was completed in less than the time it takes to breathe. Linval realized he had no chance. Not from the beginning. Even though everything seemed to be a matter of inches, it was all an illusion. The more beautiful the illusion, the more cruel the reality. Everything was under the quarterback's control. It was terrifying!
Wait, the pass? To the right side? Who was Lu Ke's target? Could it be... Vernon Davis? How is that possible? There were two defenders on the right side. Two-on-one? Wasn't that too risky?
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