The King of Bay Area

In the center of Candlestick Park, a wave of red crashed into a wave of white. Red and white mixed together, surging forward with a mighty roar, spreading out across the green field and creating a breathtaking sight.

"Sprinting, sprinting, the 49ers' receivers and the Giants' defenders are all sprinting. Every player is trying to get to their top speed. This is a deep pass! This is a straightforward deep-pass play! The offense isn't using any tricks, and the defense isn't making any mistakes. The gap between the first and second lines of defense is getting bigger and bigger, revealing a whole patch of green turf! What a magnificent sight!"

Both the offense and defense were displaying the ferocity of a tiger descending from a mountain. Both sides were locked in a fierce battle, with the offense pushing forward and the defense using its numerical advantage. The entire showdown was a heated, desperate fight. In a narrow path, the brave one wins!

This was clearly Lu Ke's specialty: the deep pass. But on the other hand, this was not Lu Ke's usual style of offense. It was simple and direct, with almost no tricks, as if... as if all the tricks had been used, and now they were just relying on pure strength in a head-to-head battle. This wasn't Lu Ke.

Just as Troy was filled with questions, his eyes caught a change on the field. Without warning, his voice contracted, and his words became incredibly fast: "Vernon Davis and Chris Canty! The two players are falling behind! Their sprint speed is clearly not as fast as the others on the field. Ted Ginn has already passed the twenty-yard line and is about to break through the fifteen-yard line, but Vernon and Canty have only just passed the thirty-yard line! What's going on? Something's not right, this isn't right!"

Although speed is not a tight end's strong suit, and Vernon is a big, physical tight end, the speed difference between Vernon and Ginn shouldn't be so great in a forty-yard sprint. The fact that they were ten yards apart in just two seconds was very strange. Either Canty's close coverage was constantly harassing Vernon, preventing him from getting to top speed, or...

"He's passing! Lu Ke is passing! One step back, one step forward. In just a split second, Lu Ke completed the pass in the pocket! The target is Vernon Davis! My God, number 85, Vernon Davis! It's a ten-yard pass, and he caught it! Davis made the catch! He shook off Canty's close coverage and made the catch in just a flash!"

"Brilliant! This is truly brilliant! Vernon! Vernon Davis successfully caught the ten-yard pass! The San Francisco 49ers have converted on fourth down! They've converted a long fourth down for the second time this game! The game is still going! Jesus Christ! The game is still going! Lu Ke is leading the San Francisco 49ers, and they are still fighting hard!"

In an instant, Troy started roaring wildly. At the same time, Candlestick Park, which had been quiet and suppressed for a long time, exploded! Li Monien had completely lost his mind, leaping up and standing on his chair. He clenched his fists and shouted uncontrollably, "Ah! Ah! Ah!" Each roar was like a lion's cry, letting out all his emotions. He forgot the chants and the cheers, just simply letting out his extreme excitement. It was a show of force against the away team and a show of support for the home team. A simple exclamation, but it was filled with unimaginable energy. It was not a touchdown, but it was better than a touchdown. Facing a desperate fourth-and-six, they had gotten a new life and kept the hope of a comeback alive.

Li Monien was not alone. Lu Zhengze and Jiang Youning both stood up, forgetting everything else, and roared at the field, constantly waving their fists and putting pressure on the away team. As they were shouting, they realized that all five hundred Chinese fans had also stood up and joined the wave of cheers. Regardless of whether they understood the rules of football, regardless of whether they knew the specific process of the game, or even whether they really understood the danger of the moment, no one was an exception. At that moment, they had become one with all of Candlestick Park, truly becoming a part of the 49ers, moving forward toward victory without giving up!

So, they roared, all of them roared together, "Ah! Ah! Ah!" The overwhelming sound came crashing down, and for a moment, it seemed as if the world was trembling!

"In that last play, all the players on both the offense and defense were running in a straight line. The scene on the field looked like a track and field event. This is definitely going to be one of the most classic plays of the week."

"But in that, Vernon Davis deliberately slowed down his sprint. Without changing his route, he silently broke away from the main group of defenders, and in a one-on-one situation, he used a simple emergency stop to cause Chris Canty to lose his balance, instantly creating a passing window."

"A passing window of about half a yard and less than a quarter of a second! But Lu Ke grabbed it! With an incredibly accurate pass, Lu Ke found Vernon Davis at the twenty-six-yard line. Vernon barely had to adjust his position and caught the ball right at his chest. Brilliant! This is truly brilliant!"

"Facing a fourth-and-six situation, the San Francisco 49ers were already on the edge of a cliff, with one foot already over the edge of the canyon, but the connection between Lu Ke and Vernon once again pulled the team back. My God, my heart is about to burst! This is just so..."

As he was speaking, Kirk's commentary suddenly stopped. Even after rewatching the replay and re-analyzing the pass, it was still amazing. A seemingly simple play contained a powerful strategy, and more importantly, it fully utilized the receiving player's matchup advantage.

"This is truly incredible." After thinking about it, Kirk still chose his classic catchphrase to summarize, "Anything is possible. Now it seems, anything is possible! The San Francisco 49ers are now on the twenty-six-yard line. The entire league knows that twenty-six yards is within Lu Ke's range! Anything is possible!"

After successfully converting a crucial fourth down and keeping the hope of the game alive, Lu Ke didn't show any joy. Instead, he quickly made a "timeout" signal to the referee, forcing the team to use their last timeout. The clock was stopped at thirty-three seconds. "Damn it," Lu Ke muttered, expressing his dissatisfaction. As the commentators said, on fourth-and-six, the 49ers were on the edge of a cliff, so Lu Ke had no choice. A successful pass and a fourth-down conversion were the only goals. As for getting out of bounds after the catch or controlling the clock, that had to be put aside, because if they failed to convert on fourth down, the game would be over, and there would be no need to control the clock.

In the face of crisis, Lu Ke had no choice but to throw a pass to the middle, using Vernon's strong receiving ability in the short-pass area to advance. Vernon's situation was more favorable than Ginn and Logan, who were being heavily covered by defenders. Sure enough, Vernon lived up to expectations and made the catch!

But after successfully converting on fourth down, Lu Ke had to face a harsh reality. There were only thirty-three seconds left, less than forty seconds. This was too little time for a play, especially a deep pass. Helplessly, Lu Ke had to use their last timeout to stop the clock and re-plan their strategy. Now, the 49ers had no timeouts left. If this pass play failed, they would have no way to recover.

The problem was that they knew this, and so did their opponents. A deep pass would definitely be the Giants' main focus on defense, and at twenty-six yards, it was too close to the end zone to open up the field. This actually gave the defense less area to cover. "Damn it." Although Lu Ke knew this was unavoidable, he couldn't help but feel frustrated. The timeout he used on that delay of game in the second half now seemed very, very unwise. This was a result of Lu Ke's lack of experience.

But the frustration and anger were only temporary. After letting it all out, Lu Ke immediately put it behind him. They still had a victory to win! During the timeout, both teams' players returned to the sidelines and gathered around their head coaches to plan their strategies. In the last thirty-three seconds, everything was on the line. Now, all the pressure was on the 49ers' offense and the Giants' defense. The question was: who could handle the pressure?

When they returned to the field, the Giants' defense, which had been inconsistent with only a few good plays all game, was the first to make a move! After the snap, Jason Pierre-Paul found a small gap between Joe Staley and Anthony Davis, a space as small as a crack in a door. In a flash, he broke through the offensive line's pocket and cleanly sacked Lu Ke, not giving him any time to react. This was the Giants' second sack of the game. The 49ers' offensive line, which had been excellent all game and gave Lu Ke plenty of protection and time, had made almost no mistakes. But at the last moment, a small oversight became the key to turning the game around. Now, the goddess of victory was waving at the New York Giants!

The sack resulted in a four-yard loss, putting them back on the thirty-yard line. At the same time, and even more fatally, the clock was still running, and the 49ers had no timeouts to stop it. This was truly hanging by a thread. The clock was ticking. Tick, tock, tick, tock!

🗒️NOTE:

New chapters drop Three times a day, every Monday through Sunday! Plus, you have the power to unlock more: we'll release Three bonus chapters for every 300 votes! Let's get this story moving together.

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/MistaQuartz

Explore up to 30 chapters in advance!