In the NFL, everyone has their own battles.
Although the spotlight is always firmly on the quarterback, the charm of football lies in the fact that any elent, any bolt, can be the key to the ga, outshining even the quarterback himself.
Standing on the sidelines, Henry quietly watched as Li Wei and Hill celebrated wantonly, finally lowering his proud head to face the junior fellow disciple who Coach Burns couldn't stop praising—
Forr arrogance, disdain, contempt, and neglect had all beco a level gaze of observation.
Then.
Li Wei seed to sense the gaze, stopped in his tracks, and after searching through the crowd for a mont, he and Henry's eyes collided in the air.
Unfamiliar, yet familiar.
They might not be friends, and they might never beco friends. From the start of the story to now, they were nothing but competitors.
But that didn't prevent them from respecting each other and striving to surpass one another as they continued to battle through their performances on the field.
Henry noticed—
Li Wei's expression.
There was no provocation, no attack, no contempt, only a dignified and upright spirit of combat, clearly issuing a challenge:
May the better perforr win!
That fighting spirit blazed fiercely in his eyes.
Quietly, Henry straightened his back and squared his shoulders, as the fighting spirit that had been slumbering deep in his soul slowly awoke—a fla he hadn't noticed within himself, seemingly nonexistent yet suddenly bursting forth with incredible energy.
Back in the NCAA, the exceptionally talented Henry could easily crush his opponents without exerting his full strength, the Clemson Tigers included.
Later in the NFL, Henry was full of energy but had nowhere to use it. The coach always just had him hit walls again and again, with absolutely no strategic collaboration, which led him into a state of self-pity and furious frustration.
Until now.
He could not and would not lose to Li Wei.
The exchange of glances awoke the beast within Henry.
The look was only a brief intersection; right after they parted ways, Henry's brain began to operate at high speed.
If Coach Mulkai continued to employ the sa tactics, letting him hit the wall and relying on Mariota, Henry wondered how he might change the situation—
Thinking.
Thinking!
Wait, so is this what Coach Burns had always emphasized as Li Wei's strengths?
Henry used to think, he wasn't an idiot, he was always observing and always thinking, how could he possibly run the football blindly?
Now it seed, this thinking was not that kind of thinking.
A running back's thoughts should be an observation of the offensive and defensive formations. The 'hit the wall' that the coach set up was often a middle path route because that's where the line players were concentrated, requiring the running back to move like a bulldozer.
For a running back like Li Wei, breaking through from the sides could fully utilize his speed and agility; for soone like Henry, breaking through the middle could maximize his strength and confrontational advantages.
Side breakouts often require coordination with the wide receiver and the tight end's routes; middle breakouts often require cooperation with the offensive line, and improper coordination could lead to a scenario of dully crashing into a wall of people.
Now it seed, Henry had always been trapped in his own fixed mindset—
If his offensive line couldn't help clear a path, was the running back helpless?
No, of course not.
Aside from how well the offensive line opened a path, a running back could still observe the defensive line and linen's positions, find weaker spots in the middle, and even if the gaps weren't as apparent as on the sides, it didn't matter, Henry wasn't planning on squeezing through a narrow fissure anyway.
What did this an?
It was not just about observing but also about deciphering the team's offensive tactics.
Why choose such offensive tactics? In these tactics, where are the wide receivers and tight ends positioned, and how do the offensive line and the quarterback coordinate? Only by truly understanding the whole layout could one grasp the defensive group's tactics and predict the movents of the defensive players.
This was real thinking and observing.
The running back position wasn't just about physical confrontation.
Finally!
The unchanging tactical layout and the monotonous confrontation formation finally took on their true form in Henry's mind, dynamic and multifaceted.
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When he awaited his next appearance in the second half, the world in Henry's eyes looked slightly different.
The Tennessee Titans' offensive tactics were still the sa, with Mulkai still focusing on Mariota—
This was what the team managent wanted to see.
They always believed that the fundantal reason the team hadn't been able to break through was that Mariota's athletic talents had not been fully exploited. The head coach could be fired at any ti, but the quarterback could not just be replaced on a whim.
Therefore, Mulkai had to arrange tactics according to the wishes of the team managent.
This ti, Mariota finally got into form, leading the Tennessee Titans past the midfield line with so difficulty, yet encountering a crisis again at the forty-yard line, trapped in a third and three yards situation, on the verge of striking out again—
The opportunity ca to Henry.
"Attack!"
Henry was the first to react, his gaze firmly locked on the linen in front of him; he knew that the wide receivers would either move towards the vertical route or near the sideline, dispersing the crowded middle area imdiately.
However, this was still not everything.
The Kansas City Chiefs used a "3-4" defensive formation, and their three defensive linen had perford well this season, especially in red zone ground defense, still ranking top in the league, having completely blocked Henry's breakthroughs in the first half.
So, Henry needed to adjust, or else hitting the wall was a foreseeable outco.
Push off the ground.
Hold the ball.
Exert force.
Henry's eyes were firmly fixed ahead, bursting with a resolute determination, taking the football from Mariota and pushing forward.
According to the tactics, Mulkai hoped that Mariota would push Henry through the middle to forcefully break through, creating an opening and advancing three yards just enough to complete the third down and three yards conversion, and continue the offense.
But now, Henry was thinking one step ahead of Mulkai.
Step, step, step.
Henry's stride was firm and powerful, without any hesitation, in a critical mont about to collide with the linen.
A sidestep.
Wedge, wiggle, push.
Henry forsaking speed, instead forcefully wedging open a gap with his strength, the offensive line perfectly pushing the defensive line to both sides, like opening a door.
Seeing defensive end Bailey reaching out with both hands in an octopus pose, trying to contain Henry through an offensive tackle, Henry did not evade but confronted him head-on, using the offensive tackle as if at in a sandwich, squeezing continuously and stepping forward with tenacity against Bailey's moves.
Mariota was dumbfounded, watching Henry advance against two massive figures, akin to participating in a Guinness World Records contest; he montarily forgot to assist.
But Henry didn't mind—
Push off the ground, stride, exert force.
Energy, burst!
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