Chapter 599: An Offensive Battle
"With two minutes and fifteen seconds left in the first quarter, the San Francisco 49ers' offense is in a huddle. After the New Orleans Saints quickly tied the score, the pressure is now back on the rookie quarterback Lu Ke. Both of the league's top offenses are showing a rare level of performance in the first quarter!"
Troy Bauer's commentary style leaves no room for silence. Even when taking a breath, he fills the airwaves with a continuous stream of words, bringing vivid imagery to his listeners. This is why he is so popular.
"Pistol formation! Snap! Lu Ke's feet move quickly to the right, trying to hand off the ball to Marcus Lynch, but it's a play-action pass! Lu Ke quickly pulls the ball back at the last second, and without any hesitation, a quick little flip finds Vernon Davis on the right side!"
"Vernon Davis successfully holds his position, using his back to fend off the oncoming outside linebacker, and completes the catch smoothly. Logan Newman rushes over in time, blocking the cornerback's tackle, and creating space for Vernon to advance!"
"He broke a tackle, and the drive is still going! Davis! 25 yards, 30 yards, 35... wait, a second tackle! Two Saints players quickly form a double-team and make the tackle successfully, but the San Francisco 49ers still managed to get a first down and have reached their own 34-yard line."
"A quick huddle! The San Francisco 49ers chose to quickly huddle. There was no huddle process. It's only the first quarter. Are they going to start a no-huddle offense now?"
"Another snap! Lu Ke is in a shotgun formation, moving quickly to the left. Ted Ginn gets open, and it's a pass of about 15 yards. Wait, the target of the pass is Michael Crabtree, who is standing six yards to the left of Ginn. The body adjustment and wrist control at the moment of release completed a precise pass. Crabtree has a wide-open space! No defender! No defender!"
"Crabtree is advancing quickly along the sideline. The cornerback and safety are trying to catch up, and Ginn gets in the way. Crabtree successfully escapes the defense, and he's still advancing! 40 yards, 45 yards, midfield! The Saints' secondary is quickly making a tackle, and Harper and Porter finally catch up and push Crabtree out of bounds!"
"The first pass took 1.33 seconds, and the second took 1.98 seconds. The San Francisco 49ers' quarterback Lu Ke is increasing the pace of the offense, choosing to use a no-huddle offense without any warning in the first quarter to speed up the game. The New Orleans Saints' defense is once again at a disadvantage."
"A run! Lu Ke unexpectedly hands the ball to Marcus Lynch!"
"The Saints missed a tackle. Oh, Malcolm Jenkins immediately comes up to help and makes a successful tackle while Marcus is off balance, preventing a loss of more yards. But this run still managed to gain eight yards! The Saints' poor run defense this season is really worrying. They give up an average of five yards per run, which is one of the worst in the league, and they have been unable to find their rhythm in this game."
"A run! The 49ers chose to run again. Kendall Hunter advanced two yards with a tough push and successfully got a first down!"
Through the no-huddle offense, the San Francisco 49ers raised the entire game's pace to a new level. The four plays took only seventy-three seconds, and they had already crossed midfield and reached the opponent's 38-yard line. It was not only fast but also efficient. Even Troy's commentary was getting breathless.
"Still a no-huddle offense! Pistol formation! Lu Ke quickly takes a step back. On the right side, there are three receivers stacked up: Vernon, Logan, and Ginn. Lu Ke turns and looks to the right side. No, the middle! Lu Ke's pass is to the middle! Logan Newman! Logan appeared in the middle!"
"Two defenders are trying to make a pincer move from the front and back. Logan makes a lateral cut, entering the space between the two players' coverage areas. He jumped up high in the air before the two players could close in and caught the football! Beautiful! Logan made a catch that was a close call!"
"But now Logan has to face the two players' coordinated defense. Oh, a missed tackle! Harper missed the tackle! My God! Roman Harper actually missed the tackle!"
After the snap, Logan made a small cut to the inside, faking out the inside linebacker and defensive end. He then moved diagonally into the central area and suddenly accelerated. His small steps turned into big strides. In just three or four big steps, he had created an open space of about five to six yards. Then, he moved along the left side of the middle, maximizing his explosive speed within a short ten yards.
He instantly arrived in the open space near the opponent's 25 to 27-yard line. With a quick adjustment of his footwork, he was ready to make a catch. He could see two defenders in front and behind him from the corner of his eye. According to the original pass route, he should have gone deeper, but Logan knew that if he continued to advance, he would lose the advantage of his catching position.
So, without hesitation, he jumped up, high into the air, and intercepted the football. After controlling it with one hand, he landed lightly. He listened and watched carefully. As soon as his feet touched the ground, his center of gravity quickly dropped to the left, and with the inertia of gravity, he made a huge lateral move with accelerated speed.
He narrowly avoided safety Roman Harper's fierce tackle. He could even feel a gust of wind next to him, but there was no time to think. He straightened his knees and his body and started running again. The arm of the defender behind him who was trying to help was already close enough to hit Logan's back, but Logan's timely acceleration widened the gap again, and the pressure completely disappeared.
He ran forward while looking back: Harper, who had lost his balance, fell where Logan had landed. And the number 53 middle linebacker, Roman Humber, who had been trying to help, put all his strength into the tackle. His feet couldn't keep up, and he tripped over Harper. Both of them were a complete mess.
Logan looked away. To avoid Jenkins, who was coming over to help, he quickly cut to the left sideline and maximized his vertical speed. Amidst the uncontrolled cheers and shouts from Candlestick Park, he crossed the end zone without any doubt, scoring a touchdown!
"Ahhh! Ahhh!"
The entire stadium was in an uproar. The first quarter hadn't even ended, but the enthusiasm of this divisional game was almost enough to melt the camera wires. The red ocean was erupting like a volcano, continuously spewing out excitement.
"Touchdown! Touchdown! Logan Newman scored another touchdown! Oh my God, another touchdown! We've already seen three touchdowns in just the first quarter! An offensive battle! We are truly witnessing an offensive battle! This is just too exciting!"
"Logan! Just now, Logan jumped up high and slammed the football into the goalpost! This is undoubtedly the biggest response to Jimmy Graham. Just a moment ago, after Graham scored a touchdown, he provoked the power and passion of the home team with his celebration, but in less than two minutes, Logan responded with a touchdown!"
"In this tight end showdown, it's clear that the San Francisco 49ers are not giving in!"
With Troy's passionate commentary, the entire state of California could truly feel the intensity and excitement of this divisional game. Although everyone was expecting an offensive battle, considering Lu Ke's inexperience and Brees's slow start, people naturally assumed that the second half would be the main event.
Who would have thought that there would be three touchdown passes in the first quarter alone? In an instant, all the fans became antsy and wanted to go home immediately to turn on their TVs and join this rare offensive battle. And then the second quarter officially began. In less than eighty-five seconds, those fans who were still outside were probably regretting it immensely.
"Interception! Drew Brees threw an interception!"
"Colin Jones! The rookie safety who came in to replace a player made an interception near the 49-yard line! My God, my God, what on Earth happened? Jones is still returning the ball. Jones is still going after the interception! The Saints' offensive players don't seem to have realized what happened. The 49ers' defense is quickly gathering and helping him clear the way!"
"Chaos! Complete chaos! The Saints' offense can't make an effective tackle. No one can even get close to Colin. The 49ers' defense is using blocks to open up a wide path! My God, 45 yards, 35 yards, 20 yards... Jones! Colin Jones is still going! He's in the red zone!"
"Jones broke one tackle! And another! Jesus Christ! Under the double-team of four, no, five players, Jones finally went down. He fell on the three-yard line in front of the end zone! God, oh my God! The entire stadium is in an uproar, and all the San Francisco 49ers players are in an uproar! The direction of this game is completely unexpected!"
"What happened? What happened just now? Drew Brees threw his first interception of the game. How did this happen? The noise from Candlestick Park is far beyond what we imagined. We have to watch the replay to see how this interception happened!"
"Who knows if this interception will become the turning point of the entire game! But it's clear that no one could have predicted that in the first half, Lu Ke would be so much stronger than Drew Brees! My God! This is definitely a game for the history books! At least the first half is!"
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