Dominate the Super Bowl

Chapter 44: 044 Bring the horse over

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Third and thirteen.

The situation was dire; on the first down, a running attack, Li Wei was tackled behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of three yards; this directly led to substantial pressure on the subsequent offense, and on the second down, Beteman attempted a medium pass, but unfortunately, the offensive line once again faced immense pressure, forcing Beteman to throw hurriedly, and the connection failed.

Then, they arrived at the current position.

But this is football, with offense and defense constantly alternating, the result of each offensive play could change the tactics of the follow-up plays, and the situation was always evolving.

The maturity of Sweeney could be seen from the Tigers’ previous offensive series and the current defensive series: focusing on a war of attrition to run down the clock, with the defense clamping down and creating opportunities for themselves.

In response to the passive situation of the third quarter, Sweeney still came up with some countermeasures.

Now, on a long third down, even the Crimson Tide Storm couldn’t rely on a running play, given that the efficiency was too low and it was easily overwhelmed by the opponent’s defensive flood.

Unless Saban decided to give up on this offensive series to avoid making a mistake on their own end zone’s frontier, tactically using the running back to advance some distance to vie for a better punt position—

But could that be possible?

Now still trailing by ten points and with little time remaining in the game, the Crimson Tide Storm couldn’t afford to waste any offensive down.

So, a passing play?

The pressure, all on Beteman’s shoulders.

Beteman could feel all the bustling eyes in the stadium fixated on him, burning through his gear to scald his skin, his fingertips tingling and slightly moist; but turning his head to look at Li Wei, he noticed the brightness in Li Wei’s eyes.

"We can."

Li Wei’s eyes emitted that signal, causing Beteman’s fingers to clench into fists, silently psyching himself up.

Then, ready for the snap.

On their own 22-yard line, Beteman was prepared.

"Hike!"

At the signal, Beteman took the football from the center, turned around, and Li Wei had already appeared; the two executed a misdirection.

A running play?

No way, the Crimson Tide Storm opting for a run on third and thirteen?

Or was it a fake run and real pass?

In a flash, through the feigned and real movements between Li Wei and Beteman, the Tigers Defense Squad was faked out, albeit slightly.

Subconsciously, they created space, prepared to defend against the pass, especially medium and long passes, hence the need to start dropping back; but no sooner had they started than they perceived the movement between Li Wei and Beteman and hesitated.

It was precisely this hesitation that left everyone with their own judgment and choices, and thus the standoff between offense and defense unfurled across various corners of the field.

Simultaneously, Li Wei went right, Beteman went left, the two spreading apart with their backs to each other—

The deceptive running, along with the offensive line’s interference with the sightlines, made it unclear who had the football, continuously elevating the difficulty of the defensive group’s judgment.

A wave to the left, a wave to the right, the defensive layout of the Tigers Defense Squad was instantly dispersed.

But they didn’t panic because they knew the Crimson Tide Storm had to overcome the difficulty of third and thirteen. Even if they gave up a five or eight-yard gain, it would be fine as the Crimson Tide Storm still hadn’t achieved a first down; on fourth down, they would need to punt, so all the defenders had to do was hold their ground.

At this moment, the space in the short pass area was slightly relaxed, while the area beyond ten yards for medium passes was notably denser.

Of course, there were exceptions—

The defensive line.

No matter the tactic, they always held the frontline.

Then, Farrell saw the position of the football.

Number twenty-three?

Was it actually number twenty-three?

Had Saban lost his mind, opting for a running play in such a predicament?

The thought flashed by and Farrell admitted that even he was caught off guard by Saban’s unexpectedly wild tactic, clearly not anticipated, to the extent that he was entirely entangled with Cotton, the offensive tackle he was facing.

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Damn!

Farrell had no choice but to push away Cotton’s helmet—

Smack.

Yellow flag, the referee threw the yellow flag immediately.

Although there is no rule in football for accumulating yellow cards to eject a player from the game, a yellow flag still indicates a foul and depending on the scale of the violation, may require a penalty in yardage.

In the case of the helmet, because grabbing the helmet could cause serious injury to the neck, the rules strictly prohibit it, and once violated, it’s a fifteen-yard penalty.

That is to say, if the referee determined that Farrell grabbed the helmet, it would automatically give Crimson Tide Storm a first down.

But in Farrell’s view, it was just a shove, not a grab, at most it could be considered a holding foul, which is a ten-yard penalty; besides, he couldn’t care less about that now.

Farrell’s eyes were only fixed on number twenty-three, especially after just completing the first-down tackle, he couldn’t wait to tackle again.

With a push and a swing, Farrell forcibly shook off Cotton, taking a lateral step trying to rush towards Li Wei.

Unexpectedly, Cotton persisted, fiercely gripping Farrell’s right leg. Although he didn’t control Farrell, it affected his start.

With a thrust.

Farrell immediately lost his balance and lurched forward, but he still tenaciously surged forward once more, winning a bit of space for himself, pouncing towards Li Wei’s lower body with a posture like paying tribute to a pillar, arms stretched out, squeezing tight—

Tackle!

Direct hit!

Farrell rejoiced, watching as Li Wei went down with his lunge, but amidst the chaos and tumult, Farrell’s grip couldn’t tighten, he had already lost control before touching the ground, and the next second he saw Li Wei’s legs pull out, pressing on, moving forward.

Farrell: ???

What’s happening?

I definitely tackled him, didn’t I?

Indeed, Farrell did tackle Li Wei.

Li Wei realized there was a net waiting for him ahead, he didn’t have time to continue a lateral sprint to open space and then surge forward; he had to seize the quickest and most direct route to step up before the net tightened, and that’s when he collided with the formidable Farrell.

Li Wei didn’t manage to shake off the tackle.

But he didn’t give up either.

Farrell’s tackle wasn’t solid; Cotton’s disruption played a significant role, so even though Li Wei lost his balance, he didn’t lose control of his body.

With a forward dive, before hitting the ground, Li Wei pulled out his left hand to support the ground, his strength pouring down like a landslide, quickly utilizing the reactive force from the support point to win the kinetic energy for a secondary start.

Force off the ground, exerting power.

With a thrust of his waist and abdominal power, he stood up, not waiting for his body to fully stabilize; continuous thrusting strides had already propelled his body rushing forward.

One step, two steps.

Amidst staggering and chaos, Li Wei incredibly managed to stand up again, his wavering balance gradually returning, and in a blink he had rushed out five yards.

But this time, there was no space; defensive players standing more than ten yards away were approaching from all directions, the gaps and passages visibly closing one after another.

Li Wei was very calm; he noticed the earlier yellow flag, but he needed more than just the penalty yards; the offensive run with the ball wasn’t over yet! He was prepared to firmly grasp the initiative of the attack in his hands!

Not just calm, but also fired up—

"Through hell and high water, bring it on."

His gaze swiftly scanned ahead, not recklessly accelerating, noting a gap and gauging the surrounding situation; only then did he firmly break through.

One step, two steps…

Just as he started his second step, a fierce force came from the right side laterally, like a high-speed train, directly knocking Li Wei sideways.

Bang!

A muffled sound, and all his insides began to churn.