Chapter 586: The Crowd Watches
Julia stood gracefully in place, openly meeting Lu Ke's gaze. A mischievous glint sparkled in her eyes, showing no attempt to hide her prank. Her frank yet sly and playful demeanor, a kind of youthful brilliance, shimmered brightly amidst the sea of red.
But a childish prank like this would have no effect on Lu Ke...
At that moment, before Lu Ke could react, Logan took a big step forward and shoved Julia aside. He raised his right hand high and cheered, "The Saints! Of course, it's the Saints!" Julia was caught off guard and stumbled, falling to the side.
Just as Julia was about to hit the wall, Lu Ke took a step forward and stood between her and the wall, preventing a tragedy. Julia then slammed on the brakes, barely managing to stop herself just before she ran into Lu Ke's arms, narrowly avoiding an embarrassing "rom-com" encounter.
Logan, standing nearby, didn't even notice the small incident. He jumped up and down twice, then thought seriously, "Wait, I'll choose the Lions. I still want to play against the Lions again!" He took a step sideways and bumped directly into Julia. The next moment...
Poof. Julia's face landed right on Lu Ke's chest. She felt a hot, damp heat and heard the powerful sound of a heartbeat thumping against her eardrums. The rhythm of the thumping was clearly transmitted to her own heart, and without her noticing, her own rhythm was completely disrupted.
"Ah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Logan finally realized he had messed up. He quickly used both hands to help Julia. "Julia, are you okay?"
Julia's eyes widened. She glared fiercely at Logan. "Logan Newman! Are you crazy?" Hiding her slightly flushed cheeks in a panic, she raised her voice. "Didn't you say you chose the Saints? Since you've already chosen, you can't change your mind! How can you keep switching?"
"Bambi hasn't chosen yet. Before he chooses, of course, I can change my mind!" Logan retorted without backing down. Arguments between siblings always had a kind of unreasonable childishness to them. To parents, it was a disaster; but to outsiders, it was a truly entertaining sight.
Lu Ke quietly went to the other side and chose the New Orleans Saints. "No need to argue. I'll choose the Saints. If I can, I want to play against Drew Brees and see the power of an elite quarterback." The eager and excited look on his face made the adults who were watching the show all cheer and get rowdy. The atmosphere was instantly ignited.
In the midst of the excitement, Lu Ke and Julia's eyes unintentionally met. Lu Ke looked calm, while Julia looked as if she had been scalded. She instantly looked away, but then she turned her head back and boldly met Lu Ke's gaze. She even puffed out her chest on purpose, as if to prove that she was confident and fearless and not shy at all.
But this action only made Lu Ke chuckle. "I just wanted to ask, what's the bet?"
Julia realized her misunderstanding, and her cheeks flushed instantly. Her eyes began to dart around in a panic, but luckily, Lu Ke was not aggressive. In the midst of the crowd's noise, Julia gathered herself again and said loudly, "The bet is a bucket of water!"
What? Lu Ke and Logan were both stunned, and their minds couldn't keep up. Austin Newman walked out and explained with a smile, "It was supposed to be alcohol, but considering you guys have a more important mission ahead, we'll save the alcohol for the offseason." The real reason was that Tiffany Newman and Jiang Youning had scolded them, reminding them that the playoffs were not over yet, and drinking to excess was absolutely not a sign of professional sportsmanship. So, Austin could only touch his nose and reluctantly give up.
"So we prepared a bucket of mineral water. The loser has to drink it all through a hose," Austin said excitedly. The so-called hose was literally a hose. One end was put into a person's mouth, and the other end was held high by another person, usually standing at a high place. A funnel would be put into that end, and alcohol would be continuously poured down, forcing the person on the other end to continuously chug.
This activity was not as simple as just chugging. The young people holding the funnel would often intentionally mix all kinds of alcohol and pour it down. And it had no end. As long as there was alcohol, the hose wouldn't stop. Tragedies of people drinking themselves to death in college fraternity events had happened many times. However, after the bet was changed to using only mineral water, the fun was cut in half.
If it were Lu Ke, he might have added salt, syrup, white vinegar, Sichuan peppercorns, and other seasonings to the mineral water. There were many ways to have fun without affecting their game preparation. But, before the game result came out, Lu Ke decided to keep his mouth shut, or he might end up shooting himself in the foot.
"Wait, you guys, why don't you join in? Just watching is too passive. It doesn't feel like a party at all," Lu Ke said. He couldn't advocate adding seasonings, but he had other ways to get everyone involved and cause trouble together. Since it was a party, it should be truly fun. The playoffs were different from the regular season after all.
"You can choose Team Logan or Team Lu Ke. We'll be the representatives, and we'll not only bet on the winner but also on the number of touchdowns, the score of each quarter, and even the outcome of each play. I can only guess for the Saints, and Logan can only guess for the Lions. Then you guys can bet on who will win between the two of us. The losing team will accept the punishment together. How about that?"
When it came to crazy ideas, how could Austin and Julia compare to Lu Ke? After hearing his proposal, everyone was eager to participate. The party atmosphere truly began to heat up, and the excitement of the playoffs became more and more real.
The New Orleans Saints and the Detroit Lions had played against each other once in Week 13 of the regular season. At that time, the Saints, who were playing at home, easily defeated the Lions 31-17. Now, facing each other again in the playoffs, the two teams, known for their strong offenses, would inevitably engage in another high-scoring shootout.
When the game began, the Detroit Lions surprisingly took the lead first. In the second drive, Matthew Stafford found his tight end, Will Heller, who completed a 10-yard touchdown catch, giving them the lead in the first quarter. Drew Brees, who had set a series of historical records this season, seemed to have a slow start and a mediocre touch after taking the field. He was scoreless in the first quarter. It wasn't so much that the Lions' defense played well as it was that Brees squandered multiple important opportunities. This was not the playoff offensive shootout that people were expecting.
But in the second quarter, Brees gradually found his offensive rhythm. First, he used his running back, Darren Sproles, to complete a rushing touchdown, tying the score. Stafford didn't back down and showed his good touch today. He completed a 13-yard passing touchdown to "Megatron" Calvin Johnson. Before the end of the first half, the New Orleans Saints successfully advanced into the red zone, but they went three-and-out and ultimately opted for a field goal. A 24-yard field goal was perfectly good, and the two teams went into the locker room with a score of 10-14.
This was not a normal first half. Brees's passing wasn't very effective. He was in a bad state and didn't have a single passing touchdown. His wide receivers and tight ends also failed to make plays. In particular, Jimmy Graham, who dominated in the regular season, was almost invisible in the first half, which was not good news for the Saints. Meanwhile, Stafford played steadily. After two passing touchdowns and no interceptions, he had a much higher quarterback rating than Brees. At the same time, Calvin's performance was also eye-opening. He became the key player of the Lions' offense, and they ended the first half with a four-point advantage.
Facing this situation, Logan had already started to get excited, chattering about how he would punish the members of "Team Lu Ke." The laughter of "Team Logan" was constant.
But the situation changed dramatically in the second half. It wasn't that Stafford's performance dropped. In fact, he was still outstanding on the field. He found Calvin Johnson twice and scored a touchdown in both the third and fourth quarters, keeping the score close. But Brees, who had found his passing touch, was simply unstoppable.
As Brees got into his groove, he first successfully activated Jimmy Graham, who was like a different person from the first half. Then, he made full use of his running back, Darren Sproles, and used multiple short screen passes and slot receiver positioning to find Sproles in open space, unexpectedly advancing the ball. He was completely unstoppable on the field.
First quarter: 0 points; second quarter: one rushing touchdown, one field goal; third quarter: two passing touchdowns; fourth quarter: two passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown.
This was the trend of Brees's performance in this game. In the end, the Saints scored a whopping 45 points, with six touchdowns and one field goal. They purely crushed the Lions with their offense. After defeating them in the regular season, they also eliminated them in the playoffs, and advanced to the second round. The final score was 45-28.
With the New Orleans Saints' victory, the first divisional round matchup was officially confirmed: "San Francisco 49ers VS New Orleans Saints."
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