"This is a truly terrible day for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After a defensive misjudgment on the first down, they fell into a spiral of continuous mistakes. Their momentum has been completely suppressed by their opponents, and one mistake leads to another. The Buccaneers' offense was on the field for less than 60 seconds before their drive ended with an interception, and they can only watch Lu Ke take the field again. This is an absolute nightmare."
In the broadcast booth, Kirk and Teddy, as neutral commentators, still had to call out the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offensive mistakes.
"Facing a second-and-six, Buccaneers' quarterback Josh Freeman made an outrageous error. Wide receiver Mike Williams, number 19, was running an out route, but Freeman's pass was significantly off Williams's running path. In mid-air, it was intercepted by a diving play from the 49ers' inside linebacker, Patrick Willis, number 52, who made a dramatic play."
The replay of the interception appeared on the TV screen again. Kirk maintained his professionalism. "The Buccaneers' offensive line faced a powerful blitz. Under pressure, Freeman threw the ball in a hurry, but despite a clear passing lane, he made a fatal misjudgment. Communication with his wide receiver also completely failed. Willis got his first interception of the season, and it was easy, with not much of a challenge. This mistake must be blamed on Freeman."
"After a fantastic season last year, Freeman has had some serious turnover issues this season. His pass choices and his judgment on his throws are unconvincing. In the past four games, he has only had two touchdowns and two interceptions. Freeman is currently being put to the test," Teddy concluded simply. "So now, Lu Ke is leading the 49ers' offense on the field again. Facing such an excellent starting field position, it's all up to Lu Ke now."
"Did you notice? This starting field position is the exact spot where the San Francisco 49ers scored a touchdown with a pass just a minute ago," Kirk noted this detail. After he pointed it out, everyone immediately realized it.
An interception, which causes a turnover, is fatal for any team. If the interception happens in front of their own end zone, it's an even bigger nightmare because the opponent will start their drive from there.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers must be thankful that after Willis made the interception, he lost his balance and fell to the ground, and the offensive players rushed to the scene immediately, which prevented Willis from running the ball back for a pick-six. However, now they had to stop the San Francisco 49ers' offense, which was on a roll, and that was a difficult task in itself.
At the opponent's 33-yard line.
All the offensive teammates gathered around Lu Ke. Lu Ke relayed the play call from the coaching staff, then clapped his hands. "Alright, we need to start over, stay focused, everyone stay focused, don't take it easy! Come on, let's go get some touchdowns!"
At his defensive line position, Michael Bennett let out a long breath. Since the start of the game, everything had happened too fast. They didn't even have time to think. Everything came flooding in like a torrent. They fell back one step, then another, and in the blink of an eye, they were already in their current position.
Looking at the lightly-equipped opponents, Bennett's eyes were fixed on the 49ers' offensive formation, and his brows furrowed again. It was a "two-by-two" formation again. "Damn it," Bennett cursed to himself.
The so-called "two-by-two" formation was actually the same formation as the San Francisco 49ers' first offensive drive today, a basic pistol formation with two receivers on the left and two on the right. And there were no extra tricks. The distance between the receivers was basically the same, which was the standard diagram for explaining the pistol formation in a textbook.
Because it was standard, it could be used in many different ways. They could pass, run, long pass, or short pass, and there were countless running routes. They also had to be thankful that Lu Ke was not a running quarterback, otherwise, they would have to guard against an unexpected quarterback run in a read-option play.
In the first offensive drive today, the San Francisco 49ers unexpectedly chose a running play, which caught the Tampa Bay Buccaneers off guard. Now, with the same offensive formation again, the Buccaneers had no choice but to change their defensive strategy.
It wasn't because they were scared, but because they were now at their own 33-yard line, not the opponent's 20-yard line. The defensive strategy had to be changed, otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Bennett looked up and gestured to his teammates, and then they changed their defensive strategy.
Two cornerbacks were on the outermost side, each guarding the two wide receivers who were on the outermost side of the formation. Two safeties were positioned a little more to the inside, but their feet were about six or seven yards back, guarding the two receivers on the inside. This was a man-to-man coverage formation, with all four receivers locked down. At the same time, they were guarding the medium and long passing areas, but what about the short passing area?
The short passing area was left to the three linebackers. The three linebackers gave up their blitzing strategy. All their focus was on the short passing area to prevent a similar shallow crossing route as Crabtree's touchdown play. They were correspondingly guarding the two receivers on the inside in the short passing area, and after they entered the long passing area, they would slow down and let the safeties take over.
In other words, the three linebackers and four secondary defenders were layered to cover all passing positions.
Finally, the four defensive linemen were responsible for stopping the run and blitzing. At the very least, they couldn't let the opposing quarterback pass the ball comfortably. They had to apply pressure. If they missed a runner, the three linebackers would also make a stop in the short passing area.
Does this strategy sound familiar? In the second week of the regular season, the Dallas Cowboys' successful defense in the first half was using this exact strategy, truly maximizing the power of pass defense. However, the Buccaneers' secondary was weak, and they had to cover and support each other, otherwise, their man-to-man coverage would have almost no advantage.
This was a classic offensive formation versus a classic defensive formation. It was a battle of wits.
Bennett's attention was highly focused. His left foot behind him was constantly stomping hard on the ground, like a motorcycle engine, gradually picking up speed. His eyes were fixed on the number 14 quarterback behind the offensive line, not hiding his intention to blitz at all. Then, a command exploded in his ears:
"Set, hut!"
Bennett charged forward with abandon, but unexpectedly, Mike Iupati, who was lined up against him, seemed to have anticipated his blitzing route. With a brutal and powerful collision, like a wall, he slammed into Bennett head-on. Bennett's center of gravity shifted severely, and his feet stumbled. Then he saw the number 14 quarterback raise his hand and make a passing motion.
This isn't good!
Bennett lowered his center of gravity, crawling on the ground with his hands and feet to avoid falling. He was back on his feet after just three or four steps and charged toward Frank Gore, who was in his line of sight.
Gore, number 27 of the San Francisco 49ers, was the running back.
In a two-by-two offensive formation, every receiver has a defender covering him, or even two defenders. So, when the running back changes his route and creates a short pass route, he often has a slight advantage over the last middle or inside linebacker who is still in place. This has become the best option to break a stalemate and a defensive mismatch.
This was a short-passing strategy that the New England Patriots used most often. It was hard to guard against and effective. There were also countless variations of it.
Now, Bennett had caught sight of Gore. The Buccaneers' middle linebacker, Mason Foster, was a rookie who had just entered the league this year and was undoubtedly the weakest link in the defense. He had already made a mistake in the first drive. So Bennett followed his on-field instincts and rushed over to support Foster.
Gore's footwork was light and his body was strong. A simple in-cut route immediately made Foster lose his balance, and his feet stumbled. He could barely keep up, but Foster was still trying to make a play relentlessly. Bennett became even more convinced of his judgment. His footsteps became faster and faster, and he rushed over like a moth to a flame, trying to stop Gore.
But the next second, out of the corner of Bennett's eye, he caught sight of the brown football in the air, arcing through the air and rotating quickly in a blurry light. He could even clearly see the shuttle-like trajectory.
"Damn it!"
Bennett cursed again. The pass was not to Gore. He had missed it! After giving up on blitzing, the San Francisco 49ers' pocket was rock-solid, which gave the opposing quarterback a comfortable space to pass. And their own defense was facing more challenges.
This was just awful!
"He got fooled!"
In terms of play calls and tactical changes, the Buccaneers were once again at a disadvantage and couldn't keep up with the 49ers. They had studied the game films from the past four weeks over and over again and had a good understanding of this rookie quarterback. But since the start of the game today, this quarterback had sped up again, not giving them any time to breathe after the opening kickoff.
What in the world was going on?
But in a flash, his brain didn't even have time to think. The next second, the air in his chest was completely gone, and he fell heavily to the ground, kicking up a patch of grass. He completely lost the ability to get up again and could only hope that the secondary would make a play.
Bennett's eyes were still fixed on the football, following its trajectory, curious as to who the target was.
Logan Newman? Or Kyle Williams?
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