American Football: King of the Bay Area

”Hike!”

After calling the snap, Lu Ke didn’t take a drop step. Instead, he extended his hands, faking a handoff to Marcus Lynch, but his eyes were constantly scanning the field before him—the Offense Line, the Defense Line, the secondary, the receivers... he took in the positions of all the players.

Lynch was lined up behind Lu Ke, about four yards deep. After the snap, Lynch charged forward with his head down. He slowed slightly beside Lu Ke, faked taking the handoff, then shuffled in front of Lu Ke and charged into the gap between Jonathan Goodwin and Anthony Davis.

It was a play-action pass.

After cutting into the gap opened by the offensive line, Lynch joined his teammates in confronting the defensive linemen, doing his best to form a more complete and solid pocket for Lu Ke.

Bringing the ball back into his hands, Lu Ke held it and lifted his chin slightly, his eyes rapidly scanning. To his right, he could see Williams and Logan’s routes; both were running short patterns, one a straight sprint and the other breaking to the outside. To his left, he saw Crabtree and Ginn’s routes, one cutting inside to the middle and the other doing a curl route.

An opening!

Lu Ke’s eyes caught the opening Crabtree had created. After a straight sprint of seven or eight yards, Crabtree faked continuing his sprint but chopped his feet in place. The defender covering him overran the route due to inertia. Crabtree then spun around, raised his hands, and signaled for the ball.

He raised his right arm, drawing it back slightly in an arc to prepare for the pass, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught the figure in a navy blue jersey in the lower right.

Help coverage. It was a short pass, and a linebacker who had dropped back slightly only needed to adjust his steps to cover the short and intermediate zones. Clearly, this defensive player had read Lu Ke’s intentions and quickly moved to cover the play.

In an instant reaction, Lu Ke forcefully halted his throwing motion, then slightly shifted his aim, preparing to throw deeper to Ginn. Ginn was currently running a route down the middle of the field. Under double coverage from a cornerback and a safety, Ginn was desperately trying to get open, but the fleeting window vanished before Lu Ke could even draw his arm back.

’What do I do?’

Williams appeared in Lu Ke’s field of vision, still sprinting in a straight line. He was the team’s other speedy Wide Receiver, and he was charging ahead with his head down. He had already crossed midfield, running a deep route for a pass of about twenty-five to thirty yards. A defender was closing in, but there was a small window, just enough to complete the pass.

Draw back, build power.

But before he could release the ball, Lu Ke felt a massive impact from his left rear—so ferocious, so vicious, like a bulldozer rumbling over him. His survival instincts only had time to scream one phrase in his mind: ’Copper Skin Iron Bones!’ The next moment, his world shattered and came crashing down.

”Sack! The San Francisco 49ers’ number fourteen has been sacked! The sack was made by the Eagles’ number ninety-seven, Cullen Jenkins! That’s his second sack of the game!

After the snap, Jenkins used his speed to execute a stunt with his teammate, getting past the 49ers’ number sixty-two, Chilo Rachal. Rachal lost his balance but tried to recover and stop Jenkins. But Jenkins powerfully broke free of the tackle attempt and completed the rush. It was clean and absolutely devastating!

No chance. Lu Ke had absolutely no chance to escape. He didn’t even see it coming. He was viciously sacked from his blind side! My God! On a drive where they must get a touchdown, they get sacked on the very first down. The San Francisco 49ers are in increasingly dangerous territory!”

The whole sequence of events was just as Kirk had described.

Lu Ke had no chance. Caught completely off guard, he was slammed to the ground like a rag doll. His helmet hit the turf hard, and the world spun, turning upside down.

In the instant before he hit the ground, Lu Ke was still annoyed with himself. ’Was it a waste to use the ”Copper Skin Iron Bones” Special Skill without thinking? After all, I can only use it three times in total, and I’ve already used it twice today.’ But as he fell, the sheer force of the impact made him sigh in relief. ’My gut feeling made the right call.’

Although his body felt no pain and his head hadn’t taken a physical blow, the way his vision swam and the startled cries around him were all reminders that this hit was incredibly brutal, far harder than he had imagined. So, it was a good thing he’d used the Special Skill. Otherwise, who knows what would have happened.

This time, Lu Ke didn’t rush to get up. He tossed the football he was holding to the side—another benefit of using the Special Skill was that he hadn’t directly felt the impact and jarring motion, so his poor ball protection ability wasn’t tested. That’s why he hadn’t fumbled the ball during either of the sacks today.

With a turn, Lu Ke lay spread-eagled on the turf and let out a long breath.

He had hesitated. Lu Ke immediately realized his mistake. He had overthought it, considered too much. The two previous failed third-down conversions, which led to missed field goals, had made him hesitate and second-guess his passing choice at a critical moment.

In truth, the pocket protection on that play had been relatively solid, giving Lu Ke at least three to three-and-a-half seconds to survey the field. With Lu Ke’s usual release speed, under three seconds was more than enough. Even for a deep pass, that amount of time was sufficient to launch a rainbow ball. But Lu Ke’s hesitation just now had given Jenkins the opportunity to get the sack.

Decisive passing and accurate judgment had always been Lu Ke’s strengths. Although his pass selections tended to be risky and aggressive, it was precisely because he wasn’t afraid to take the shot, and his split-second decisions often capitalized on fleeting openings, that he could always complete passes in crucial moments. The more tense the situation, the calmer his mind became.

But on that last pass, he had hesitated, and as a result, he was sacked.

The game changed in an instant; there was no time or room for second-guessing. Right now, he needed a moment to catch his breath and calm down again.

”Bambi!” Chilo Rachal ran up, his worried face looming into view, etched with deep guilt and regret. ”Are... are you...” Rachal was practically stuttering, unable to finish his sentence, as if speaking the words would make the bad news true.

Lu Ke let out a helpless laugh. He stuck out his right hand, and Rachal instinctively grabbed it and pulled. As Lu Ke got to his feet, he clapped Rachal on the shoulder. ”I’m fine.”

Turning his head, Lu Ke saw the panting members of the Offense Line. On that last play, the Philadelphia Eagles had clearly ramped up the rhythm and intensity of their rush, and it hadn’t been easy for the linemen to maintain the pocket’s stability. If it weren’t for Lu Ke’s own hesitation, whether the pass would have succeeded or not, he at least could have avoided the sack.

”Guys, look at me! Our play call was right, and there was nothing wrong with our performance! We’re still on the right track!” Lu Ke clenched his fists tightly and bounced lightly a few times. ”They’re playing tough, so we’ll play tougher! Believe me, we can win this! You hear me? I’m serious!”

In the face of such a brutal sack, Lu Ke acted as if it were nothing. The Offense Line’s slightly shaken confidence firmed up again, especially when they saw his shining eyes, which radiated a resolute and determined signal, revealing a fiery spirit. Their focus sharpened once more.

Lu Ke quickly laid out the next play, then extended his right hand. All his teammates stacked their hands on top of his. ”Touchdown on three! One, two, three!”

”Touchdown!” Everyone raised their right hands high, roaring with all their might, then broke apart and returned to their positions.

The sack resulted in a five-yard loss, now making it second-and-fifteen. The scene felt familiar, but Lu Ke’s mind was clear of all distractions. His gaze was sharp, watching every movement on the field, completely focused on reading the defensive formation. It was clear the Philadelphia Eagles were once again opting for a heavy blitz formation—

Three defensive linemen and four linebackers were all stacked on the line of scrimmage, a total of seven players. Behind them, two cornerbacks and two safeties were in man-to-man coverage, each one targeting a receiver. They had all moved their positions forward, leaving less than six yards of space between them and the defensive front.

”Lynch! Lynch!” Lu Ke called out, motioning over Marcus Lynch, who was standing parallel to him.

It was a pseudo-Pistol Formation. Lu Ke and Lynch were about four yards behind the center. Now, Lynch moved up to Lu Ke’s side, and the two stood nearly shoulder-to-shoulder.

In front of them were the five men of the Offense Line. To the left, there was only one receiver, Ted Ginn Jr. The other three receivers were stacked on the right: Michael Crabtree was lined up with the Offense Line, while Logan Newman and Kyle Williams stood parallel to each other, about five yards apart.

Before the official snap, Lu Ke and Lynch had a one-on-one conversation, which made the members of the Defense Team begin to wonder. ’Does Lynch have a special assignment? A run? A pass? Or is this just a smokescreen?’

But Lu Ke didn’t give the Philadelphia Eagles time to think, decisively calling for the snap. The offensive linemen didn’t charge forward; instead, they quickly took a drop step, retreating in unison with Lu Ke’s own steps. The pocket immediately tightened, as if they had pulled on the drawstrings of a bag.

The Philadelphia Eagles’ Defense Line didn’t expect this at all, but they still pounced like fierce tigers descending a mountain. It was seven players against seven—but the San Francisco 49ers’ players were a ”5+1+1” configuration: one running back and one quarterback, who couldn’t be of much use.

The defensive players on the left and right sides completely exploited their numbers advantage. They easily skirted the collapsing pocket of the Offense Line, quickly closing in. The outside linemen, Joe Stanley and Chilo Rachal, were desperately trying to block them, but the defenders were still rushing unstoppably toward Lu Ke!