Chapter 796: Refusing to Fumble
The entire stadium was silent. It was truly a dead silence. It was as if even the sound of breathing had completely disappeared in Candlestick Park. When they were huddled to plan the play, the 49ers had already tightly closed their mouths, not making a single sound, maintaining absolute silence to ensure that their offense could successfully complete the tactical arrangement.
A suffocating moment.
Then, the San Francisco 49ers' offense collectively spread out and quickly lined up.
It was a multi-route offense.
On the left, it was a trident formation. Vernon stood alone at the very front, and Moss and Ginn were two yards behind Vernon, forming a triangle. Furthermore, the three of them were positioned on the left side of the offensive line, and there were only two bodies' distance between Vernon and Staley.
On the right, it was a lone wolf formation. Logan stood alone, far, far out on the side, about six to seven yards away from Boone, standing all by himself.
In the middle, it was a shotgun formation. Lu Ke and Marcus stood side by side, about four yards behind Goodwin. Lu Ke was on the left and Marcus was on the right. The entire formation looked a little casual.
Lu Ke lifted his right leg, signaling that he was ready to snap the ball, but Marcus suddenly changed positions, moving from Lu Ke's right side to behind him, only one yard behind. The two of them were stacked on top of each other, once again showing a strong running formation. Although Marcus might only have five yards of running room, it was enough for the red zone.
After Lu Ke bent over, he seriously started to read the defense.
It was clear that the New York Giants had strengthened their front-line defense. There were once again seven players on the defensive line, spread out like a dam, completely blocking the San Francisco 49ers' offensive line. Then two players were on the right side of the Giants, going head-to-head with the 49ers' trident. One player stood in the middle, keeping a close eye on Marcus's position, and another player was lined up against Logan, standing alone on the outside.
With this formation, the New York Giants' defensive line and the San Francisco 49ers' offensive line created a mismatch in numbers, "seven versus six." This also meant that there was an extra player, Linval Joseph, on the right side of Lu Ke. He was eyeing Lu Ke's position, seemingly waiting for an opportunity to sack the quarterback.
Lu Ke straightened up again, stepped forward, and shouted to Goodwin, "Ninety-seven! Ninety-seven!"
Was this a tactical slogan for a running route? Or was it a key player tactic—Linval's jersey number was 97?
Lu Ke shouted loudly toward the left, making sure the trident on the left received the signal. Then he moved his feet to the right and shouted to the offensive line on the right and Logan on the far side, making sure they didn't miss the change in the tactic. This was normal for Lu Ke, who often changed tactics on the fly.
At this moment, something unexpected happened.
Lu Ke stood behind Alex Boone and lightly patted Boone's waist. Without any warning, center Goodwin shouted the snap.
Standing at the quarterback position was none other than Marcus Lynch!
Calmly, Marcus caught the football and made a dropback motion. In an instant, the entire New York Giants' defense was terrified. This was a trick play?
Damn it! In such a crucial moment of a crucial game, Harbaugh actually chose a trick play. This was simply too audacious! And too unbelievable!
But there was no time to curse.
The offensive line collectively moved quickly toward the left, where the trident was. All the defensive players also subconsciously moved in the same direction. The defensive line and linebackers collectively charged forward, trying to break through the pocket protection and tackle Marcus.
Compared to Lu Ke, Marcus, as an amateur quarterback, was a complete disaster in the pocket.
The most unbelievable part was this: Marcus didn't complete the pass quickly. Instead, he adjusted his steps in the pocket and moved to the left. His clumsy movements were simply unbearable to watch.
The entire defensive line swarmed in, using their numerical advantage to smash the offensive line to pieces. But before they could get close, they could clearly see:
Ginn, who didn't run forward after the snap but instead ran back, ran in a small arc and quickly ran past Marcus from behind. As the two of them crossed paths, Marcus gently tossed the football to Ginn, completing the exchange. Then he continued to charge toward the offensive line.
The defensive line was in chaos.
The linebackers were in chaos.
The cornerbacks were in chaos.
The safeties were also in chaos.
The steps that were originally charging forward all shifted their weight at the same time, giving up on Marcus and following Ginn.
Ginn continued his lateral movement to the right. All the defensive players were in a complete state of disarray. They couldn't make an accurate judgment, didn't understand what was happening, and couldn't predict what would happen. All their defensive running routes had lost their order. They could only passively aim at Ginn's running steps and react a half-second late.
But Ginn didn't leave much time or space for them to react.
Ginn's steps were unhurried. He only moved laterally about five yards, and in less than a second, he had already adjusted his steps with small movements. He raised his right hand and tossed the ball, which soared high in an arc, soaring over the offensive line and the defensive line, gliding lightly and cleverly toward the right side of the end zone.
What?
The right side?
It was the right side?
The receiving player on the right side was Logan Neiman! Damn it! Wait, it's not Logan! It's actually not Logan Neiman! That's... that's actually...
Lu Ke decided to "change" the play.
He straightened up again and started shouting a code word to his teammates, "Ninety-seven," signaling for the entire defense to focus their attention on number 97, Linval. First, he shouted to the left side, and then he shouted to the right side. Lu Ke even raised his voice to Logan's position to make sure Logan also received his signal.
Then, Lu Ke lightly patted Boone's waist. After Boone gave the signal, Goodwin immediately announced the snap.
"Hut!"
Goodwin's snap count came from his ear, and Lu Ke didn't panic and run. Instead, he stood still for a moment, seemingly also shocked by the unexpectedness.
This action successfully deceived Linval, who was standing across from him.
Linval's first reaction was to move quickly to the right side of the New York Giants, following Marcus's footsteps, trying to push away Boone's block, break through the pocket, and complete the important task of tackling Marcus as soon as possible.
At the same time, Lu Ke's peripheral vision was also cleverly observing.
Logan, who was on the right side, was lined up against safety Rolle. After the snap, Logan used his shoulder to push Rolle away and then moved quickly to the left, constantly increasing his speed and cutting into the middle. Facing Rolle's close coverage, Logan used his back to block Rolle's body, facing the offensive line's direction, and made a receiving gesture.
Rolle, who was fully focused, didn't have any doubts. He started to hit Logan hard, disrupting Logan's running balance.
In this way, Logan and Rolle both quickly passed by Lu Ke.
The description seems long, but in the actual game, it only took a second or so. Then Lu Ke started to move. Without the ball, his long legs only needed two big strides to reach the front of the end zone. Then, he slightly turned to the right, lining up with the quarterback's position, and Ginn appeared in his sight.
Lu Ke constantly adjusted his running rhythm and body position with small steps, his eyes locked on Ginn like a hawk. He was fully focused and tense, even more so than when he was a quarterback calling plays.
Because this time, Lu Ke was on the field as a wide receiver.
When Harbaugh proposed this trick play, Lu Ke had used all his strength to refuse. His receiving ability was only 40 points, and his running routes were only 18 points. Wasn't this just completely setting him up for failure?
But in the end, Lu Ke was convinced by Harbaugh. Or rather, Harbaugh's orders were impossible to refuse. He didn't give Lu Ke any room to refuse.
Lu Ke could only grit his teeth and push forward, even if he didn't want to.
Very few people knew that Ted Ginn was a quarterback in high school, then was moved to the defense, and finally became a wide receiver in college. Overall, his passing fundamentals were reliable—at least more reliable than Marcus's, which was the reason Harbaugh designed this play.
As Harbaugh said, if they failed, they would still have one more chance. If they succeeded, it would be a huge reward.
He ran out of the pocket with a steady pace. After running out, he turned around, and Lu Ke's eyes were fixed on the incoming ball. He completely ignored the running routes of the other defensive players. All his attention was focused on the incoming ball.
Lu Ke could even clearly see the axis and rotation speed of the football, because Ginn's pass didn't have much control. The ball speed and arc were very basic, which could be said to be an entry-level passing and receiving practice. It minimized Ginn's passing risk and Lu Ke's receiving difficulty to the greatest extent.
Despite this, Lu Ke still didn't dare to be careless!
Lu Ke completely turned his body, almost facing the football head-on. He made a light jump, actively reached for the football, and without any spin, impact, or even much force, Lu Ke's hands completed the catch. But Lu Ke's whole body's muscles were still tense to the limit. He held the football tightly, not daring to relax at all, for fear that a moment of carelessness would result in a fumble.
He used all his strength to prevent a fumble!
His feet landed on the turf, and Lu Ke obeyed the guidance of inertia and force, constantly adjusting his steps to ensure that he landed accurately in the end zone.
He turned his head and could see three defensive players gritting their teeth and sprinting toward him. He could even see their terrified faces through their helmets. But then, Lu Ke's steps stopped, and he stood firmly in the end zone, giving his opponents a big smile.
The referee's whistle sounded in his ear: Touchdown!
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