Chapter 1084: Chapter 1084: Third and Six
Chapter 1084: Third and Six
"Whoosh!"
Vernon Davis successfully caught the football while running at high speed. His hands steadily controlled the ball, almost just before the defensive players closed in on him.
It wasn’t a short pass, or a medium pass, but a long pass! A 23-yard long pass! A seemingly effortless throw had completed a long pass with the force of a thousand pounds! With the Atlanta Falcons’ defense having already heavily defended against a long pass, Lu Ke and Vernon’s connection tore through the defensive line, all the way from the line of scrimmage, and completed the pass powerfully in the deep-pass area!
A sword unsheathed! A fatal blow!
Such a feat heavily crushed the morale of the Falcons’ defense. They had made their judgment in advance. They had completed their formation in advance. They had pushed Lu Ke into a desperate situation, but they still lost this crucial offensive and defensive showdown. What were they supposed to do? What could they do?
Frustration!
All the frustration and anger exploded in their chests. Michael McLain and Thomas DeCoud charged toward him from the front and back.
First, there was DeCoud’s lateral outward force, and then McLain’s longitudinal forward force. Both of them were filled with anger and fiercely collided with him. Vernon couldn’t get away with his strength alone. It became incredibly difficult to even maintain his balance. He was directly thrown out of bounds and couldn’t continue the drive.
But it was already too late.
The 23-yard long pass was lost just like that. The San Francisco 49ers instantly went from the 41-yard line to the 18-yard line. The crisis was becoming heavier and heavier, making it difficult to breathe.
Where did it all go wrong?
Outside linebacker Stephen Nicholas.
Nicholas had already cut off Vernon’s position in advance but tried to use a foul to stop Vernon. He hadn’t expected to lose his balance in the head-on confrontation and was flipped over by Vernon, landing on his back. He then lost his man-to-man coverage, and Vernon took off like a shot.
Damn Nicholas!
Wait, a foul?
The Falcons’ defensive players suddenly reacted. They swarmed the referee, complaining about Vernon’s foul and demanding a yellow flag from the referee.
The 49ers’ offensive players were in disbelief. The offensive linemen also followed up and started cursing the defensive players for shamelessly twisting the truth and confusing right from wrong.
The scene was a bit chaotic.
Randy Moss immediately jogged over and helped Vernon up, asking if he was okay. DeCoud and McLain’s collisions were both acts of revenge, and their force and momentum were beyond a reasonable range. Vernon, however, waved his hand nonchalantly. "I’m fine. I’m fine. I just managed to get back into form. How could two little flies affect me?"
Seeing that Vernon was still in the mood to joke, Moss was relieved. Apart from Moss having integrated into the team now, Moss and Vernon were the two players with the best relationship on the team before. From their seniority to their experience to their situation, they had countless common topics to share.
In the last game, Michael Crabtree’s form had a strong comeback and he became the number one contributor to the team’s victory against the Seattle Seahawks. Vernon had joked then that it was his turn now. In this game, Vernon had indeed become the key to turning the tide. His several catches so far had been exceptionally outstanding.
Now, with Vernon in good form, he wouldn’t easily give up.
The chaotic scene lasted for about two minutes before it was finally brought under control. The referee announced the penalty, "Holding, unnecessary roughness, defense, number 54. But due to the principle of offensive advantage, the foul is nullified. The offense gets a first down at the 18-yard line on the right side of the field. The time will be adjusted to..."
The referee lowered his head and looked at his watch, confirming the game time that had been lost due to the commotion, and informed the official timekeeper to make the adjustment as well.
In short, the referee believed that Nicholas had committed the foul first, and Vernon’s defensive move was not a foul. However, because the offense had just gained 23 yards, Jim Harbaugh forfeited the penalty, allowing the defense to escape.
But the Falcons’ defensive players were still complaining, grumbling about their dissatisfaction, emphasizing that it was clearly Vernon’s foul and that they were being cheated by the home-field bias, which cost them a foul. Even head coach Mike Smith spoke up, saying that he would file a complaint after the game.
"Focus! Focus!" Lu Ke kept yelling.
The offensive players were all indignant, their emotions surging because of the visiting team’s complaints and curses. Their focus was a bit scattered. Even Lu Ke was no exception. But as the quarterback, Lu Ke couldn’t just be limited to this one drive. He had to think about more of the subsequent situations, so he forced himself to calm down and brought his teammates’ focus back.
After a moment of chaos, the game continued. But the emotions of both sides were slightly shaken, and the distractions on the field were increasing. This was not good news for Lu Ke. Their offensive rhythm was disrupted. Could this be Mike Smith’s strategy?
As expected, standing at the 18-yard line on the opponent’s side, facing a first and 10, the offense’s fluidity was noticeably lacking.
Lu Ke consciously slowed down the rhythm, trying to regain control of the situation, but the players’ minds were still a bit scattered. The four receivers’ running routes were more or less off. They were either too far or not far enough. The offensive line’s blocking was also slightly off, and the pocket protection became unstable.
In the chaos, Lu Ke was forced to release the ball in a hurry, trying to find Moss in the middle with a six-yard short pass, but the location of the pass was off. Moss couldn’t complete the catch, and the football fell cleanly to the ground.
Second and 10.
Lu Ke handed the football to the subbed-in Frank Gore.
Gore used his ability to find seams and ran out along the narrow channel on the left wing. But the Falcons’ tight ground defense didn’t give Gore much of a chance. He stumbled and ran for four yards, and then the ground drive ended in a pile of players.
In the blink of an eye, the San Francisco 49ers were in a third and six situation.
Before the foul, the entire offense was still fluid and powerful. After the foul, the dispersal of focus affected every part of the play, including the running routes, the blocking, and the tactics. Two consecutive plays were just slightly off, and the details’ deviation made the offense suffer the consequences. Now they had to face the predicament of a long third down.
If they couldn’t adjust in time, a three-and-out would only be a blink of an eye away.
Lu Ke didn’t choose to play immediately. Instead, he gathered all the offensive players and started a huddle.
Before officially calling the play, Lu Ke’s sharp eyes stared at each of his teammates. "Are you guys back now? Are you ready for the next drive? If anyone was on vacation just now, you must come back now! Or were you scared away by that judo expert?"
With just a few simple sentences, Lu Ke’s words made all the offensive players burst into laughter. The anger and unwillingness finally dissipated, and their attention returned to Lu Ke.
Lu Ke’s eyes checked each of his teammates one by one, confirming that everyone had recovered, and only then did he start to call the play.
If it wasn’t necessary, Lu Ke didn’t want to use a timeout when the third quarter wasn’t even halfway over. So, his play call was very fast. Before the 40-second play clock ended, the 49ers’ offense had already lined up again, ready for the next drive.
Pistol formation with a two-by-two formation. This was the offensive formation that the 49ers used most frequently this season. In this drive, Randy Moss was off the field, and Michael Crabtree was subbed in. The entire offensive formation became heavier, adjusting to the changes in the Falcons’ defensive formation.
On the right wing, it was the old duo of Logan and Ginn, but their positions were slightly different. Both of them were standing in the middle of the right wing, with Logan in front and Ginn in the back. Ginn’s right toe was aligned with Logan’s right heel, almost in a diagonally overlapping stance.
This also forced the Falcons’ defense to make an adjustment. Cornerback Asante Samuel stood almost face-to-face with Logan, as if they were on opposing sides of the offensive and defensive lines, with the only space between them being the line of scrimmage. Safety William Moore also came to this side, standing about three yards behind Asante, on the same line as Ginn.
On the left wing, it was the duo of Crabtree and Vernon, and their positions were also a bit different. Vernon was still standing on the outside of the offensive line, side by side with Joe Staley. But Crabtree’s position had moved from the outside to the inside, and his position was almost parallel to Vernon’s, with a distance of only about two yards between them.
The Falcons’ defense, however, made a huge adjustment. Defensive end John Abraham was covering Vernon, and outside linebacker Stephen Nicholas was covering Crabtree. In other words, the entire defensive line had moved one position laterally toward the Falcons’ right, using Abraham to cover the tight end and Nicholas to cover the wide receiver.
As a result, on the defensive line, there were only two defensive tackles and one defensive end facing off against the five offensive linemen. There were no defenders in front of Anthony Davis and Jonathan Goodwin, creating an open space.
But the Falcons’ defensive formation still had a mystery to it.
In the middle, the two linebackers, Akeem and Weatherspoon, were standing one on the left and one on the right, about three yards behind the defensive line, like two gatekeepers. Weatherspoon was covering offensive tackle Alex Boone and could make a move to blitz the quarterback at any time. Akeem was covering the running back Kendall Hunter, who had subbed in again.
As a result, all of the San Francisco 49ers’ receivers were in man-to-man coverage, and the Atlanta Falcons still had one cornerback, Dunta Robinson, and one safety, Thomas DeCoud, who were free and could seize the opportunity. This was still a passing defense, so would Lu Ke choose a ground attack?
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