Chapter 431: Never-Ending

A decisive touchdown, followed by a decisive penalty. In less than five seconds, the San Francisco 49ers had gone from hell to heaven for the second time, only to be plunged right back. Such a wild rollercoaster was almost too much for the heart to bear. But for any neutral fan, this was an absolutely spectacular game!

The referee called back the San Francisco 49ers’ second touchdown. After reviewing the instant replay, the commentators agreed with the call. At the moment of impact with Kiwanuka, Crabtree’s left hand had pulled on his helmet. It was the combination of the block and the illegal pull that sent Kiwanuka straight to the turf.

It was a penalty. Undeniable.

For the San Francisco 49ers, whether the call was debatable or not, they had to put it behind them. The game was still on, and the key to victory was still in their hands. Their grasp was precarious, but they had absolutely no intention of letting it slip away.

Three seconds on the clock. Starting position: the eleven-yard line.

Anything was still possible. Even though they were still standing on the edge of a cliff, tossed back and forth, up and down—a thrilling, heart-stopping ride like an endless bungee jump—anything was still possible!

The entire stadium held its breath, fans’ hearts pounding as if they were about to burst. It was the kind of tension that could give a healthy person a heart attack. Yet Lu Ke, the man at the center of it all, was growing calmer by the second. He felt no frustration, no nervousness, no anxiety. His emotions settled, and he stared, unblinking, at the New York Giants’ defensive formation.

It was the same man-to-man coverage, but this gave the quarterback plenty to work with. On the bright side, being pushed back to the eleven-yard line gave the offense more space for a pass compared to a gamble from the one-yard line. Everyone knew they would choose to pass, not run, so their specific yard marker inside the red zone didn’t have a major impact on the 49ers.

A thought flashed through Lu Ke’s mind. ‘What if I surprise them with a running play? Marcus could run it, or I could use Absolute Step and run it myself. With three seconds left, there are just so, so many plays we could use.’

TWEEET!

Deep in concentration, Lu Ke was startled when the referee suddenly blew the whistle. He snapped to his feet and saw the signal: the New York Giants had called their second timeout.

Clearly, the coaching staff recognized how battered their Defense Team was. Whether they intended to change tactics or not, the defense desperately needed a breather. Otherwise, faced with the 49ers’ powerful momentum, they wouldn’t stand a chance. The timeout was a chance to see if they could quickly recharge.

The San Francisco 49ers players on offense didn’t leave the field. Team staff members hurried over, handing out water bottles for them to quickly replenish their electrolytes.

Lu Ke quickly jogged to the sideline alone. Jim Hubble, Craig Roman, and Kip Kester all converged on him to lay out the next play. The two backup quarterbacks, Alex Smith and Scott Torsin, came over as well—Colin Kaepernick didn’t follow.

Alex watched the perfectly composed Lu Ke. He was calmly discussing the play with Hubble, even offering his own opinions. His brilliant gaze didn’t waver in the slightest; there wasn’t even a ripple of uncertainty in his eyes.

After having two touchdowns nullified, they now had to try for a third. Even for those just watching from the sidelines, palms were starting to sweat. The players from the Defense Team and special teams were going wild, so agitated they were losing their minds. But Lu Ke himself remained utterly composed, showing no emotional ripples whatsoever.

In that moment, Alex had a faint realization. ‘Some people are just born for this stage. It’s something intangible, something you can’t see or touch, but it’s real. It has nothing to do with passing technique or physical prowess.’

Once the play call was settled, Alex’s gaze met Lu Ke’s. On reflex, he clenched his fist and shouted, “Bambi! You can do this!”

Standing beside him, Scott clenched both his fists and pumped them forcefully. “This is a war, and victory will be ours!”

Lu Ke raised his right fist and gave it a firm squeeze, a simple, sharp gesture that conveyed his determination. Then he turned and jogged back onto the field, ready for the next play.

“They’ve changed their strategy! The New York Giants’ Defense Team has finally switched it up. Now it’s zone coverage, with three players covering the right side and four covering the left—two underneath and two providing help over the top.”

The moment the players were set, Kirk noticed the change in formation. He quickly pointed to the New York Giants’ right side, which was the San Francisco 49ers’ left. “Now, look at the three players on that right side. Two of them are positioned much further up. They’re keying in on Crabtree.”

“Crabtree has been in solid form today, consistently making catches in crucial moments, but he’s also been plagued by penalties. Now, the Giant Team is trying to use him as a focal point to contain the 49ers’ offense. The question is, can Lu Ke see through their strategy?”

Lu Ke remained patient, intently focused on reading the defense.

He had two receivers to his left and three to his right. With the New York Giants having switched to zone coverage, it meant they had to rely on precise route-running to create passing lanes. It was more complex, but this was a strength the 49ers honed in practice every day.

“Hut!”

The moment he called for the snap, Lu Ke’s brow furrowed. The New York Giants’ bluff had worked perfectly, deceiving his pre-snap read. Their entire defensive formation was a trap—

They showed four men on the Defense Line, but after the snap, only two of them rushed the passer. The other two quickly dropped back into coverage, completely clogging up the middle of the field. On his left, it was three defenders versus two receivers; on his right, four against three. The defense had them outnumbered across the board.

In other words, they had completely abandoned the pass rush and the run defense.

Right then, if Lu Ke had handed the ball off to Marcus and let his receivers block, it would have been a spectacular gain, and a Touchdown would have been highly probable. But alas, there were no ‘what-ifs’.

For one, the Giant Team’s defense was genuinely deceptive, and Lu Ke hadn’t read it correctly. For another, Hubble had called a passing play, so Marcus was already running a route on the right side along with Logan and Williams.

The thought to use Absolute Step and run it himself flashed through his mind, but Lu Ke immediately saw the dense wall of bodies in front of him and decisively abandoned the idea. He raised his right arm high, took a large stride forward, and lofted a gentle arc toward the middle of the field, finding Logan who had just popped open. The pass was complete!

…

‘Passing play, passing play, passing play.’

That was the only thought in Logan’s mind.

In a crisis moment like this, their routes were fluid and ever-changing. A general area was designated, but the rest was left to the Wide Receivers to improvise their routes and find an opening, while Lu Ke had to find that opening on the move and deliver the pass. Without a doubt, it was a play that pushed a quarterback’s personal passing ability and his understanding of the playbook to their absolute limits.

Simple, yet effective.

Logan knew Lu Ke’s passing tendencies and his preferred routes. After his initial sprint from the line, his field of vision opened up, and he quickly noticed the change in the New York Giants’ defensive formation. With only eleven yards of space, thinking time was almost nonexistent. He instantly seized upon the gap created by two Defense Line players who couldn’t drop back in time and two safeties who couldn’t step up in time—

A narrow window in the middle of the field, less than three yards wide. But Logan knew that was enough.

A forward burst, then a sharp cut inward. It was a post route, one of the most basic in the playbook, but incredibly effective.

Facing a cornerback who was sticking to him like glue, Logan used the hesitation in his initial move to his advantage, successfully shaking the one-on-one coverage. By the time his feet landed in the middle of the field with his back to the end zone, Lu Ke had already thrown the ball. The two didn’t even need to make eye contact; they were perfectly on the same wavelength. And then—

He leaped high, reaching for the ball, but… the unexpected happened again.

A catch he would make a hundred out of a hundred times in practice, yet Logan was somehow slightly out of position. The football didn’t land in his chest but instead ricocheted off his helmet. He couldn’t adjust his hands in time, and with a ZING, it flew up into the stands.

Amid a collective groan from the entire stadium, Logan clutched his helmet, an expression of utter desolation and regret on his face, as if he had just let the whole world slip through his fingers. He squatted down, refusing to accept the cruel reality. ‘We failed. We lost…’

Wait. The unexpected twists weren’t over. Another one was about to happen!

TWEEET!

The referee’s whistle sounded again, and with it came some welcome news. “Illegal hold, Defense Team, number twenty. Five-yard penalty. The game clock remains at zero. San Francisco 49ers, first and goal.”

The New York Giants’ number twenty, Prince Amukamara—a name that had been quiet for a long time—had suddenly reappeared in the most unexpected way.

While covering Logan’s route, Amukamara failed to get proper position. Seeing that Logan was about to break free, he had no choice but to grab him, resulting in the illegal hold. The penalty not only cost his team yardage but also gave the San Francisco 49ers one more offensive play.

And so, the game still wasn’t over.

All the commentators were completely stunned. The twists and turns in these final moments seemed utterly endless. “Ha! It looks like this game simply refuses to end! The game is still going, even though the clock has already run out.”

Just as the referee had announced, the last three seconds had been exhausted, and the game clock read zero. But according to the rules regarding penalties, the San Francisco 49ers were granted one more offensive play—a so-called untimed down.

But before Lu Ke, standing in the pocket, could complete his read of the defense, the referee’s whistle once again disrupted the rhythm of the game.

TWEEET! “New York Giants, third timeout.”