American Football: King of the Bay Area

The clamorous din and shouts still lingered in the air, bubbling and churning. A restless cacophony of noise rose and fell, refusing to subside. It was as if the entire Candlestick Park had reached its boiling point and simply couldn’t cool down. After the initial surge of excitement, the boiling blood in everyone’s veins refused to settle.

Watching the San Francisco 49ers prepare for their drive on the field, Chris Wilson felt compelled to stand up. He looked all around, placed an index finger to his lips, and repeatedly shushed the crowd. ”Shhh!” Once to the front, once to the back, once to the left, and once to the right, hoping everyone would calm down.

But this was no easy task. After the initial rush of elation and excitement, everyone was at a fever pitch. The bustling noise was deafening, making the very air feel scorching and turbulent. Chris’s voice couldn’t carry at all; it was swallowed up in an instant.

Seeing this, Jonathan Baldwin, Jeff Locke, Danny Rice, and others all stood up and copied Chris’s gesture. They began calling out to the fans around them, ”Quiet, we need quiet! It’s our offense. Give Lu Ke some space so he can make the play call clearly. Quiet!”

And so, the ”Shhh! Shhh!” sounds spread out, bit by bit, like ripples on water.

Standing behind the Offense Line and reading the defense, Lu Ke heard the ”Shhh” sounds swelling against his eardrums. His focus wavered for a moment. He glanced up, and in his peripheral vision, he saw fans all across the stadium putting their fingers to their lips, signaling for others to be quiet. A sense of amusement washed over him, and the tense atmosphere instantly evaporated, making him chuckle.

The support from the crowd at the start had been truly overwhelming and frenzied, an unprecedented sight. It had even made Lu Ke’s muscles tense up a bit. But after this wave of shushing, his mind began to relax. He could genuinely feel the fans’ support, and the butterflies of adrenaline started to flutter their wings.

The fifth game of the regular season had officially begun. The San Francisco 49ers had the opening drive.

Pulling his gaze back and refocusing, Lu Ke studied the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defense before him. On the first drive, both teams were still feeling out the rhythm of the game, so the Buccaneers’ defensive formation was relatively standard: a typical 4-3 formation—

Four players on the Defensive Line up front, ready to rush the passer and defend against the run. About a yard or two behind them were three linebackers, covering all the short pass zones and looking for opportunities to get past the Offense Line’s wall to complete the rush.

As for the secondary, two cornerbacks were in man-to-man coverage, pressed up against the 49ers’ two outside Wide Receivers. The two safeties were a few steps back, covering the intermediate passing routes in a zone defense, ready to drop back at any moment to defend against a long pass.

The San Francisco 49ers started with an uninspired Pistol Formation. The four receivers were also split, two to the left and two to the right, as if they had just copied a textbook Pistol Formation, dull and rigid.

The play call from Jim Hubble came through his earpiece, ”Short pass or a run. Watch their coverage in the short zones.” Lu Ke’s eyes immediately scanned the linebackers’ positioning.

Relatively speaking, the three linebackers were positioned wider apart. Rather than standing behind the Defensive Line, they were more toward the outside edges. This was partly to keep an eye on the two inside receivers, complementing the cornerbacks covering the outside, and partly to look for a chance to blitz from the edge and sack the quarterback.

A spark of inspiration flashed through Lu Ke’s mind, his gaze falling on Michael Bennett. Bennett was currently on Lu Ke’s left—his blind side—lined up against Mike Lupati. Farther out was Chilo Rachal. And behind Bennett were two linebackers, one positioned wider toward the outside and one more toward the middle.

In other words, the Buccaneers’ entire defense was shifted more toward Lu Ke’s left, stacking more power on that side.

Faintly, Lu Ke sensed what the defense was planning. Without hesitation, he strode forward and audibled.

In the quiet stadium, Lu Ke’s voice was exceptionally loud, exploding like a clap of thunder. BANG! It even startled Lu Ke himself. He was used to calling plays in a noisy environment; for it to suddenly be so easy felt strange. But Lu Ke didn’t lose focus, concentrating on completing the play change.

After the audible, the San Francisco 49ers’ formation didn’t move an inch, as if Lu Ke’s shouts had meant nothing. A quiet tension slowly spread, making both sides grow taut. The air crackled, thick with an anticipation so intense it was almost suffocating.

Lu Ke quickly returned to his position in the Pistol Formation. His sharp gaze scanned the opposing defense one last time. Seeing no last-second shifts, he crisply called for the snap. ”Hut!”

The game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was underway.

Catching the snap from Jonathan Goodwin with both hands, Lu Ke took a step toward his right, while Marcus Lynch, who was on the right, stepped to the left. As they crossed paths, one in front of the other, Lu Ke placed the football into Lynch’s hands.

Not a pass, but a run. Not a play-action pass, but a genuine run play.

After the handoff, Lu Ke didn’t stop moving. He continued to move quickly laterally, still acting as if he were looking for a passing target, but his peripheral vision was taking in the entire field—

Just as he’d expected, the Buccaneers’ defense came flying off both edges. Not just the two outside linebackers, but Bennett as well—a total of three players pushed past the Offense Line’s blocks, rushing in quickly from both the left and right sides. They charged forward, an unstoppable force. Sacking the quarterback was their number one goal.

The San Francisco 49ers’ Offense Line went with the flow. After the snap, the five linemen split into two groups, three to the left and two to the right, and actively engaged. Their goal wasn’t to stop the defenders, but to use their momentum to push them out to the sides. WHOOSH! A wide, clear lane opened right up the middle.

The lane was like an express lane, wide enough for only one person to pass through, but for Lynch, that was more than enough.

With light and agile steps, he shot through the gap between Jonathan Goodwin and Anthony Davis. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a middle linebacker to his left, but the linebacker’s center of gravity was already way off, making it impossible for him to attack immediately. Lynch just made a small, arcing high-step, easily evading him. After that, it was open field ahead.

”At the last second before the snap, Lu Ke changes the play again! This is only the first play of the game! Did Lu Ke spot a hole in the defense, or is this just a smokescreen? We’re about to find out! The ball is snapped!”

Troy Ball’s signature machine-gun commentary, full of passion and excitement, once again reached the San Francisco 49ers fans, broadcast over the airwaves.

For the past two weeks, the San Francisco 49ers had played away games, and as a local California radio announcer, Troy naturally couldn’t travel with them. It wasn’t until this week that he was back in his familiar spot, ready to deliver his brilliant commentary to the listeners.

”A quick crossover! Lu Ke and Lynch execute a fast exchange! It’s... it’s a run play! The San Francisco 49ers have actually opted for a run play on their very first down of the game! The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense was completely unprepared for this! Their focus was entirely on pass defense and rushing the quarterback! All the defenders were pushed aside, and a huge hole opened up right in the middle!”

”Lynch hits the hole perfectly! The Buccaneers’ number fifty-nine, rookie middle linebacker Mason Foster, tries to fill the gap, but his weight was already shifted the wrong way when he started. He can’t recover now! He stumbles, and he can’t even get a hand on Lynch’s jersey! Lynch blows past him like a gust of wind!”

”Open field, completely open field! The Buccaneers’ first line of defense can’t recover in time to fill the gap! Lynch has already broken through like he was shot out of a cannon, and now he’s got nothing but space in front of him! The cornerbacks on the outside can’t get there in time either; the 49ers’ two Wide Receivers did an excellent job blocking them downfield! Now all the pressure is on the Buccaneers’ two safeties, while the linebackers are scrambling to get back!”

”The thirty! The thirty-five! The forty! The Buccaneers’ number fifty-eight, the outside linebacker, dives at Lynch! Lynch! Marcus Lynch breaks the tackle! He uses a powerful spin move to shake off the tackle and keeps pushing forward! God, this is a disaster for the Buccaneers! The forty-five, the fifty! The two safeties finally get there and combine for the stop!”

”Wait, wait, Lynch is still moving! With two players trying to tackle him, Lynch is still driving forward! He’s truly entered Beast Mode! It reminds you of that other beastly Lynch from the Seattle Seahawks! God, his running is so powerful, so ferocious! With the safeties taking a bad angle, they just can’t stop Lynch!”

”The Buccaneers’ number fifty-nine, Foster, finally catches up and helps with the tackle! With three players on him, Lynch can’t go any further and is finally brought down. The referee blows the whistle to stop the play! The forty-seven yard line! Wow! The San Francisco 49ers have stormed all the way to the opponent’s forty-seven yard line in one go!”

After that string of adrenaline-fueled, passionate commentary, Troy was nearly out of breath. It wasn’t until Lynch was down that he finally let out a long exhale. ”On the very first drive, the San Francisco 49ers, on the back of an outstanding performance by running back Marcus Lynch, complete a thirty-three-yard run! God, what a beautiful start to the game!”

”What just happened? What in the world just happened on that field?” Troy exclaimed again and again. ”The running game that has been struggling for the past four weeks... has it finally broken through today?”