This was the San Francisco 49ers' fourth passing touchdown of the entire ga! Their fourth!
If "luck" was a reasonable explanation for the first and second touchdowns, and Logan Newman was a plausible explanation, then the third and fourth touchdowns were not.
In the shotgun formation, Lu Ke's strengths and advantages were maximized. Defensive reads, passing control, run-pass distribution, and on-field command... The entire play distribution was not only logical but also sharp, especially the distribution of long and short passes. With a complete combination of short, dium, and deep passes, it was almost impossible for the defensive players to make an accurate judgnt, and they were constantly scrambling.
Of course, the solid pocket protection from the offensive line was definitely a major factor. However, in the first half, the 49ers' offensive line's protection was full of holes, but in the second half, it was completely new.
In the end, the reason was that the shotgun formation gave Lu Ke more room to pass, which disrupted the defense's rhythm. The intensity of the defensive line's rush was inevitably weakened, and the secondary defense was never able to effectively stop the passes. Thus, a vicious cycle was ford.
Everything, the core of it all, was this rookie quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. The fluid and controlled offense was truly astonishing.
Four touchdowns, four undeniable touchdowns, were like a loud slap in the face, hitting every doubter with such a loud, shocking, and brutal force that everyone was stunned for a mont and couldn't say anything.
Pete Carroll, standing on the sidelines, was in a daze. What was going on? What was happening? But as the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, he couldn't panic at this mont. He had to pull himself together, put Lu Ke's amazing performance aside for a mont, and focus on his own team's play calls.
But this was not an easy task.
Turning around, Pete saw a dumbfounded Karl. He was furious and charged forward, grabbing Karl's collar and yelling at him like a madman, "Snap out of it! Snap out of it! Damn it, what's wrong with the quarterback? Our quarterback has disappeared on the field! Do sothing! You're the f**king quarterback coach!"
Karl, covered in spit, was still in a daze.
Troy Bauer let out a series of astonished cheers, even jumping up and down, feeling very excited. He watched the replay again, and his astonishnt didn't stop. "This is a true passing offense! This rookie quarterback is showing the maturity and cunning of a ten-year veteran! Wow, wow!"
anwhile, the comntary booth was a scene of confusion and shock, with hesitant sighs and exclamations.
"I have to say, the course of this ga is completely unexpected. The 49ers are dominating, and the Seahawks are in a desperate situation now."
"The 49ers' rookie quarterback is showing excellent control, with a seasoned and smart choice of passes, successfully suppressing the Seahawks' defense and breaking the deadlock."
"Four touchdowns. Without a doubt, this rookie quarterback has proven that he's not a pushover. But the question is, how will the Seahawks respond? Travis Jackson and Marshawn Lynch, they won't just surrender."
...
In their panic, the comntators could only express their astonishnt, and they cleverly avoided the topic of Lu Ke's excellent performance for now. They could comnt on those things after the ga when they had ti to organize their thoughts and digest their emotions. For now, they were focusing more on the ga itself:
What would the Seattle Seahawks do? There was still enough ti in the ga, and a coback was still possible. The key was, what should the Seattle Seahawks do?
After the San Francisco 49ers' special teams kicked the extra point, the team was now leading with a score of 28-10, and the Seattle Seahawks were running out of ti, but anything was possible. Lu Ke's first college ga was a coback from three touchdowns behind.
However, at least not in the third quarter. The score remained the sa until the beginning of the fourth quarter.
The Seattle Seahawks' offensive drive lasted from the third quarter to the fourth, taking a total of six minutes, but they still couldn't score. At the forty-six-yard line on the San Francisco 49ers' side, the Seahawks chose to go for it on the fourth down, but the offense failed. So, the San Francisco 49ers' offense took the field and started their drive at the forty-six-yard line.
This ti, the Seahawks' defense finally woke up. The San Francisco 49ers lined up in a run formation. With a huge lead, they decided to run out the clock, and running the ball takes much more ti than passing. But unfortunately, Marcus's three runs couldn't break through, and they only gained six yards, ending in a quick three-and-out.
The Seattle Seahawks, who took the field next, also couldn't take advantage of the opportunity. Not only did they go three-and-out, but Travis was also sacked, being pushed back to their own fourteen-yard line. At this position, a fourth-down attempt was aningless, and they could only punt.
Before the San Francisco 49ers' offense took the field again, both special teams had to co on for the punt. The Seattle Seahawks would punt, and the San Francisco 49ers would catch the ball and return it. The position of the return would be the starting position of their next drive.
Punting, in fact, is a skillful job.
First, both teams' players would line up in a formation, similar to the face-off between the offensive and defensive lines, and the position would be where the offense just stopped. For example, the Seattle Seahawks had just been sacked, and their drive stopped at their own fourteen-yard line, so the punt would be at their own fourteen-yard line.
After lining up, the punting team's center snaps the ball to the punter, who is seven or eight yards away. After the punter catches the ball, he kicks the ball out, just like a goalkeeper's goal kick in a soccer ga.
A truly good punt has requirents for height, position, and distance. It's not about kicking as far as possible; it's about control.
The best punters can make precise adjustnts to their kicks based on their position. For example, they can make the football land within five yards of the end zone, forcing the opponent's offense to start their drive at such an awkward position. Conversely, a bad punter might kick the ball with no special features, and the opponent's special teams could catch the ball and return it for a touchdown, which is not uncommon.
In a football ga, besides the offense, the defense and special teams can also score. The defense, after making an interception, can return the ball for a touchdown as long as their knee doesn't touch the ground. The special teams can return the ball for a touchdown on a punt or a kickoff.
People often overlook the scoring ability of the special teams, but in fact, the difference between a bad special team and a good one is a sign of a strong team.
In an official NFL ga, each team has a roster of fifty-three players. The starters for the offense and defense make up a total of twenty-two players, so the composition of the special teams is a bit special.
Each team's special teams have only three permanent mbers: the holder, the kicker, and the punter. The kicker is for field goals, and the punter is specifically for punting and kickoffs. Their functions and skills are different. Besides these, there might occasionally be a designated returner, usually a player with top-tier speed, but sotis a wide receiver can also fill in, so not every team has one.
Besides the three permanent mbers, the remaining eight players on the special teams are made up of players from the offense and defense, who can be either backups or starters. The combination of players on the special teams can change slightly every ti. In so special plays, a backup quarterback might even take the field as a holder or a kicker to serve a special purpose.
Similar to a soccer team's bench strength, the special teams can show a team's depth.
Today, the Seattle Seahawks were completely in a state of chaos, and their special teams imdiately made another mistake.
After the punter kicked the ball, the 49ers' special teams' number forty-three, Colin Jones, broke through the opponent's offensive line, raised his left hand high, and actually swatted the rising football, changing its trajectory. It didn't fly high but bounced to the side, then touched a Seahawks player's body, and the play was imdiately dead.
The ball was dead at the sixteen-yard line.
This ant that the San Francisco 49ers' offense would start their drive directly from the sixteen-yard line.
Colin Jones, this year's sixth-round pick, was a safety who didn't win a starting spot. As a backup, he was temporarily on the special teams. No one expected that in this special teams play, he would make such a great contribution and beco a key figure in turning the ga around!
The entire stadium erupted in cheers, with screams, roars, and shouts echoing endlessly.
All the Seattle Seahawks players looked like they were on death row. This was almost a death sentence for them. There were still ten minutes and thirty-three seconds left in the ga, and the San Francisco 49ers were going to start their drive at the sixteen-yard line in front of the end zone. Unless they could intercept Lu Ke, a field goal was a sure thing. If they scored a touchdown, the gap would widen again, and they were really running out of ti.
As expected, in the face of such a great opportunity, the all-out Lu Ke showed no signs of relaxing.
After directing the defensive line to line up, Lu Ke imdiately snapped the ball. The first ti he faked a pass to Logan, but then pulled his arm back. He faked a pass to Crabtree again, and just when everyone thought it was another fake, the football was thrown out of his hand. It was a short four-yard pass that, in the middle of a dense defense, landed accurately in Crabtree's arms.
Sherman finally made his first effective tackle of the night, holding on tightly to Crabtree and not letting him go any further. But he still couldn't stop the pass. The San Francisco 49ers advanced another four yards, and they were now only twelve yards away from the end zone.
Lu Ke signaled for everyone to calm down and not get too emotional, which could lead to mistakes in executing the plays. His eyes remained hungry and sharp. He reorganized the play and planned the offense again.
On the second down, the offensive line steadily blocked the defenders from getting to him. The Seattle Seahawks also had no intention of rushing. They had seven players stacked in the end zone, setting up a dense defense. There were at least three defenders near Logan, who were guarding him tightly.
Lu Ke calmly began to adjust his footwork, taking in the entire situation in the end zone. Then he raised his chin, signaling for Marcus to co forward, and with a flick of his wrist, the football was thrown.
There was only a gap of about two yards, and Lu Ke saw it, and Marcus caught it. He smoothly caught the football and, facing the two Seahawks defenders who were closing in on him, Marcus lowered his center of gravity and showed his strength as a power running back. With sheer force, he slamd into them and squeezed through the gap.
End zone, touchdown! The suspense was killed! Everything was so simple.
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