Chapter 410: Flawless Stratagem

The moment his body launched forward, his muscles exploding with power, Linval caught the stillness of both lines out of the corner of his eye. In almost the same instant, he realized he’d moved early.

He squeezed his eyes shut in frustration, the tension draining from his body as he slumped to the ground. He punched the air, muttering a few curses, complaining and venting his annoyance. He didn’t need to see the referee’s flag; he already knew the outcome. “Damn it!”

But the referee’s voice boomed over the stadium’s sound system anyway. “Encroachment, defense, number ninety-seven. Five-yard penalty, automatic first down.”

In an instant, the entire Candlestick Park erupted!

Almost instinctively, Lu Zhengze leaped to his feet, becoming one with every other fan in Candlestick Park, a single drop in a roaring tide. Everyone was cheering and shouting, the “AAAAH” pounding against their eardrums. Everyone was laughing freely and heartily, expressing their joy in every way they could.

Just moments ago, it seemed like the first drive of the day would end with a whimper. They never expected such a sudden turn of events—the team had gotten a first down without even trying, keeping the offensive momentum alive.

The exquisite thrill of the sudden reversal had every fan unleashing their emotions.

Lu Ke turned his head toward the sideline and saw Hubble give him a thumbs-up in praise. Lu Ke couldn’t help but chuckle.

Drawing the defense offside was one of the most common tactics on fourth down, and defensive players were always on high alert for it. Still, Lu Ke had given it a shot, fully prepared with a follow-up play in case they didn’t fall for it. He never thought it would actually work!

Just when everyone expected a powerful, head-on assault like the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms—a show of force to convert the fourth-and-three—it turned out to be an unorthodox feint, a Ripple Step. In a dazzling turn, they’d secured a brand new first down. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

In the broadcast booth, Teddy and Kirk couldn’t help but exchange a look. Now they were truly staring at each other in bewilderment. An unexpected start, an unexpected finish—the opening of today’s game was already proving to be something else. “An encroachment penalty gives the San Francisco 49ers an automatic first down. They’ve already lined up again, ready to advance. Let’s get back to the game.”

On the field, the two opposing sides lined up in a strange formation.

On offense, nine players formed a line that was slightly raised in the middle and compressed at the ends. On defense, nine players formed a corresponding line, creating a nearly parallel state.

The two lines were positioned on either side of the twenty-two-yard line. Behind the offensive line stood the quarterback and running back, side by side. Behind the defensive line, one safety loitered around the middle of the field five yards back, while another strolled leisurely back and forth fifteen yards deep in the backfield.

It looked like… a game of Pong on an old NES console. Not a perfect analogy, but certainly a unique one.

In reality, this was simply a spread offense formation against a man-to-man defense.

On the San Francisco 49ers’ side, the five offensive linemen were set. To the right stood a single tight end, Vernon Davis. To the left stood three receivers: Michael Crabtree, Ted Ginn Jr., and Logan Newman.

Such a tactic was already quite common in the 49ers’ offensive scheme. This time, however, Vernon Davis had replaced Kyle Williams, expanding and evolving the tactic into a two-tight-end variation.

The strange part was the New York Giants’ defensive approach: they had opted for a complete one-on-one, man-to-man coverage strategy.

Typically, when facing a spread offense and Lu Ke’s rich variety of passing routes, teams would use zone defense to cover the entire field. But now, the Giant Team was using man-to-man coverage, and against a two-tight-end tactic with its stronger individual matchups, no less. This was certainly a surprise.

Furthermore, the Giant Team had compressed their defensive formation even more. Instead of backing off three to five yards to wait and react to the receivers’ routes, this move compressed the offense’s space, but it also compressed their own. Of course, at the same time, the threat of a blitz rose exponentially.

It had to be said, the New York Giants’ defense had clearly studied the San Francisco 49ers and made adjustments. As for whether they would be effective, only the game itself would tell.

Standing in the pocket, Lu Ke’s mind raced. ‘This is a short-pass play,’ he thought. ‘The question is, how should the routes be structured?’ Each receiver had their own route, and it was up to Lu Ke to choose the target based on how the play unfolded.

So, Lu Ke’s eyes scanned each defensive player, his mind rapidly cataloging the matchup advantages and disadvantages. His gaze shifted nonchalantly to the right, carefully sizing up the defenders covering Crabtree and Logan. In a flash, he made his decision.

“Attack!”

Lu Ke intentionally barked out another confusing command. He wasn’t trying to draw them offside again. Rather, with the defense terrified of committing a second penalty, they’d be hesitant to react. Their focus would be stretched even tighter, more concentrated. Every one of his snap signals could be the trigger, and no one could afford to let their guard down.

After a string of signals, Lu Ke called for the snap. As his hands closed around the ball, he indeed noticed a momentary hesitation from the defensive players. It was a pause of less than a millisecond, but in sports, that was critical. Lu Ke immediately began a quick drop-back, his steps incredibly decisive, even faster than usual.

In his peripheral vision, he caught Marcus’s figure cutting across in front of him. Then he saw two defensive players closing in from both flanks in a pincer—cunning versus cunning. The New York Giants had feigned man-to-man coverage, but it was actually a blitz. Both sides were trying to deceive and outguess the other.

The Giant Team’s defensive coach had come prepared.

But the defensive players hadn’t anticipated Lu Ke’s drop-back being so decisive this time. With no pause or hesitation, he created distance the instant the ball was snapped, immediately widening the gap between the quarterback and the defenders. This created more trouble for their task of sacking him.

Among the pass rushers was Linval, the very player who had just jumped offsides. Like a savage beast, he exploited a mismatch in the defense, bursting through a gap between Joe Stanley and Vernon Davis. Because of the crossed assignments, he wasn’t blocked at all.

Linval noticed out of the corner of his eye that, after the snap, Vernon had instantly taken off, sprinting out with his head down. It was just as they’d predicted: the 49ers offense was still planning to open things up with their two-tight-end short pass strategy. Their blitz was going to catch the opponent completely off guard.

Now, the 49ers’ rookie quarterback was completely exposed in his sights. The distance was still a little far, but there were no more offensive linemen in front of the quarterback, nor was there a running back to pick up the blitz at the critical moment. This meant the quarterback was now a sitting duck. The corners of Linval’s mouth curled up slightly, revealing a bloodthirsty smile.

He was going to give Lu Ke a nice, long taste of the same powerful and ferocious sack that had given Brady hell last week.

Just then, Linval saw Lu Ke raise his right arm toward the left, attempting to complete the pass with a swift, clean motion. ‘Crap!’

‘There are still about five yards between me and Lu Ke,’ he thought. ‘It’s too late to lunge for him now. And on the other side, if I remember correctly, there are three receivers over there, two of whom are deep threats.’ If Lu Ke completed the pass, his sack would be meaningless. More importantly, he couldn’t tackle the quarterback roughly after the ball was released, or it would be another yellow flag.

As a reflex, Linval glanced out of the corner of his eye toward where Lu Ke was throwing.

No football?

‘What! There’s no football? Damn it!’

All these thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. Linval’s momentum didn’t stop; he used it to lunge viciously at Lu Ke. But after that split-second lapse and recovery, Linval refocused only to find that Lu Ke had taken a small sidestep to his left.

It was just one step, but the positioning between the two of them had completely changed.

Before a curse could even escape his lips, Linval saw Lu Ke turn, and the dark-red football in his right hand traced a gentle arc, leaving his hand with a light, nimble flick.

Subconsciously, Linval reached out with both hands, as if trying to catch a butterfly, attempting to bat the ball down. But he swatted at empty air, able only to watch helplessly as the arc of the football climbed higher and higher, until it was completely beyond his control.

In that instant, which lasted less than half a second, Linval completely lost his balance. He crashed down hard, but not onto Lu Ke as he had intended. That lunge had shifted his balance again, and he slammed violently into the turf. A huge chunk of grass and dirt was jammed into his helmet, forcing its way into his mouth. It was an utterly pathetic sight.

It was too fast. Everything was too fast. Even Lu Ke’s throwing motion was incredibly swift; the pass was completed in less than the span of a single breath.

Linval suddenly realized that he’d never had a chance. Not from the very beginning. Even though it all seemed to come down to a matter of millimeters, it was nothing more than an illusion—the moon’s reflection in the water, a flower in the mirror. The more beautiful the fantasy, the crueler the reality. Everything had been under that quarterback’s control.

‘That’s terrifying!’

‘Wait, the pass? To the right side? Who was Lu Ke’s target? It couldn’t be… Vernon Davis, could it? But… how is that possible? There are two defenders on the right side. A two-on-one matchup? Isn’t that choice way too risky?’