Chapter 1334: Chapter 1333: Aggressive and Overbearing
Leading and victory are two different things.
Being able to win and daring to win are also two different things.
In the past twenty years, there have been more than a handful of teams capable of challenging and even defeating the New England Patriots. The capability and strength are already there, and they have even pushed the Patriots to the brink during gas. But whether they have the courage and boldness to cross the finish line when victory seems within reach is another matter entirely.
The 49th Super Bowl, the one-yard line standoff of the Seattle Seahawks.
The 51st Super Bowl, the Atlanta Falcons’ 25-point lead in the third quarter.
These are cases right in front of us.
Now, once again, the Tennessee Titans once led “28:0,” completely overpowering the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs with unparalleled performances. Not to ntion others, even Vrabel might find it hard to believe that they could embarrass the Kansas City Chiefs, who had an undefeated regular season, so thoroughly.
Now, the question arises: Does Vrabel have the courage and boldness to push the Kansas City Chiefs to the finish line with full speed?
The answer?
Perhaps it requires a question mark, giving Vrabel a mont to catch his breath.
For Vrabel, everything happened too fast and too hurriedly, like a torrent overwhelming him instantly. He needs so ti to gather his thoughts—
How did all this just happen?
From “28:0” to “28:14,” it seems as though there wasn’t even ti to blink before the Kansas City Chiefs surged unstoppably forward. What to do now?
With just seven years of coaching experience and being in his second season as head coach, Vrabel lacks the experience for such strategies. Involuntarily, Vrabel reflects on how Belichick would have handled it back when he was with the New England Patriots.
Stand firm!
Vrabel knows that they need to wait for halfti, returning to the locker room to gather thoughts and adjust strategies. Now is not the best mont to calmly review the ga; yet, he still needs so breathing room.
And most importantly, slow the pace and return to the Tennessee Titans’ favorable scenario.
The Kansas City Chiefs have been upping their tempo on both offense and defense, particularly evident in their offense. Their last two offensive drives were light, agile, efficient, and powerful, with the total ti spent on two touchdowns barely reaching three minutes.
Undoubtedly, the Kansas City Chiefs’ offense, which terrorizes the league, is fully reviving.
However, the Tennessee Titans have never excelled at blitz offenses, especially with Henry shining this season. Ground warfare is their strength.
Unlike Romo’s slightly different perspective in the live broadcast, Vrabel sees two distinct solutions to the predicant in front of him:
Continue to follow the Kansas City Chiefs’ pace and fight to the bitter end, using our weaknesses against their strengths; or abandon the emotional contest and return to their strengths?
This is not a difficult decision.
The key spirit inherited from Belichick is not fearing to win ugly because victory is victory. As ti passes, nobody rembers how those gas were played out. What people rember are the wins and losses, and victory is what is worth rembering.
So, Vrabel is completely free of burdens. He doesn’t care about being noble or fair in winning and losing.
“Derrick!”
In just an instant, Vrabel montarily regains his focus and calm, turning around to find Henry’s figure in the crowd, looking over with earnest sincerity.
“How are you feeling?”
Henry is a little tired—
In more than a quarter and a half of the ga, maintaining a state of 120%, continuously burning and exploding, almost single-handedly carrying the entire offensive group forward, exhaustion is natural. The dual tests of physical and ntal aspects are hollowing out the soul.
However, in his four seasons in the league, the mont Henry has been waiting for and longing for has finally arrived, stepping up at critical monts, carrying the team forward with his own feet, breaking the shackles, and scoring victory, just like in the days of the Crimson Tide Storm.
Now, the opportunity is finally here.
He won’t give up, he won’t surrender. His pride and dignity don’t allow it, and his fighting spirit and passion are boiling.
“Very good,” Henry said.
Vrabel gazes into Henry’s eyes, “It’s only the second quarter right now. We still have the entire second half, so, are you sure you’re okay?”
Determination burning, Henry puffs his chest, without any hesitation, categorically, “Of course.”
Vrabel pats Henry’s shoulder, “Good, do you rember the fourth quarter of our last wildcard ga? Let’s do it that way.”
The “drag” tactic is not just about drawing out the ga, maintaining a lead, consuming ti, and buying Vrabel thinking space to reach halfti; it’s also about slowing down the pace, forcing the ga into a quagmire, disrupting the Kansas City Chiefs’ rhythm, and finding the pace the Tennessee Titans are used to.
A double win.
In Vrabel’s view, this is the best strategy. He isn’t worried about comntators’ and netizens’ slander, calling his ga dirty and ugly. As long as the Tennessee Titans can defeat the Kansas City Chiefs, it’s all worth it—
To upset the Kansas City Chiefs after the New England Patriots, once again?
That’s a good headline for news.
But Vrabel’s ambition doesn’t stop there. He also plans to conquer the Houston Texans in the conference finals, winning three underdog victories in a row.
Let everyone witness the miracle of the sixth seed, when the Tennessee Titans stand on the Super Bowl stage, the entire North Arican continent will go crazy.
By then, people will realize that his decision tonight wasn’t ugly but rather a triumph of wisdom.
Gently exhaling a breath, Vrabel crossed his arms over his chest with his head held high, reclaiming his confidence amidst chaos and deadlock.
However, three minutes and seventeen seconds later, the smile froze on Vrabel’s lips, full of astonishnt, with a hint of panic in his eyes.
Everything happened as Vrabel anticipated, the ga’s pace beca fragnted due to penalties and delays, similar to the fourth quarter against the New England Patriots. Alongside the constant appearance of yellow flags, conflicts between offense and defense on the field also increased, and the ga was continually interrupted.
From the perspective of ga-ti consumption, “three minutes and seventeen seconds” appeared, but in reality, this segnt of the ga had tangled back and forth for nearly ten minutes, persistently back-to-back.
For the Tennessee Titans, they gradually regained their stability, unfolding positional warfare primarily relying on ground attacks.
But there was a variable present.
Apparently, Reed had watched the wildcard ga’s video and made preparations accordingly, with the Kansas City Chiefs Defense responding very promptly in the positional warfare.
The “human wave tactics,” stacking layer upon layer, continuously creating pressure upfront, not only compressed Tannehill’s short-passing ga with zonal defense pressuring but also impeded Henry’s ground attack with layers upon layers of obstacles, as the Kansas City Chiefs abandoned backfield defense altogether, advancing full throttle.
Aggressive, not giving an inch.
Ultimately, the Tennessee Titans only managed to secure two first downs, and then—
Three strikes out.
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