Chapter 221 The momentum is like a rainbow
“Hush, rookie!”
"Shh!"
Violent and bloody curse words mixed with boos were poured out at Gillette Stadium, and they surged towards Levi who was standing on the sidelines with a ferocious expression.
Although this is always the case on the road, the firepower gathered on Levi today was particularly ferocious, and it reached its peak again with Levi's touchdown.
Levi, with a calm face, these attacks just prove his excellence.
However, Justin Houston couldn't stand it.
This linebacker, who was drafted into the professional league by the Kansas City Chiefs with the 70th overall pick in the third round of 2011, has now grown into the team's defensive leader——
Since the 2012 season, he has entered the Pro Bowl for four consecutive years.
Last season, Houston suffered a torn knee ligament and unfortunately missed most of the season. He returned in the eleventh week of the regular season, but he never found his form.
New season, new beginning.
Houston is ready for a comeback, starting with its title defense.
Levi is a rookie. Yes, this is a fact. There is no need to deny it. Even now, the Kansas Chiefs still half-jokingly call Levi a rookie, including Mahomes' rookies.
But it's one thing for them to shout. It's another thing for their opponents to humiliate Levi.
Houston didn't like it when their Kansas Chiefs rookie had someone else's turn to tell him what to do, not to mention that Levi had just slapped him in the face.
"Brothers."
Seeing Brady having a discussion, Houston also called his teammates together.
"Hey, listen, the game is difficult, very difficult, but we still fight."
"The rookie just taught us old guys a good lesson. He ran the ball three times for 75 yards, and the pats couldn't stop him at all. The defensive team was useless, and the rookie gave us the lead."
"Now, it's our turn."
Simple and clear words, but powerful.
Pats is the nickname given by New England Patriots fans to their team. It is derived from the abbreviation of the pronunciation of Patriots, but over time, it has gradually evolved into the abbreviation of this team.
Cornerback Marcus Peters also nodded repeatedly, "Listen, Gillette Stadium was infuriated, but they vented all their anger on the rookies who had no ability to resist. Next, we should shut them up. Let them know that novices can be bullied by just any cat or dog, and I haven’t even had time to bully them yet.”
Like Houston, Peters has been an orthodox Chief and has been firmly united with the team since entering the professional league in the 2015 season.
His words made everyone burst into laughter.
Safety guard Eric Berry, the undisputed leader of the entire defensive team, gently nodded, "We should also show our abilities, otherwise we will not be able to hold our heads high in front of the rookies when we go back to training."
The Kansas Chiefs, the king of passing offense, even though they have had top running back Jamal Charles in the past few seasons, their ground attack is still not ranked first; but just now, Levi used three consecutive runs to score three first downs Convert and run long into the end zone --
The momentum instantly reached its peak.
The defensive team playing away games also had murderous intent in their eyes.
At the first moment, Belichick noticed the quiet change in momentum.
Just now, the New England Patriots have continuously adopted proactive strategies on the defensive end, hoping to stifle the momentum of the Kansas Chiefs; however, they have not succeeded. Under the ebb and flow of one another, the Kansas Chiefs defensive team must be very motivated, and they will endure the next Huge pressure.
Belichick is all too familiar with this situation.
Therefore, as soon as the New England Patriots came up, they slightly adjusted their offensive strategy and tried to use the ground attack to complete some head-on advances in the first or second gear. This not only relieved Brady's pressure, but also limited the high morale of the opposing defensive team. Slow down the pace, and finally rely on Brady's pass to complete the first attack transition. It has to be said that Belichick is indeed an old fox, with an exceptionally good grasp of the context of the game, and at the same time, he can calmly lay out and control the rhythm.
However, what Belichick cannot control is the players' on-the-spot performance.
Running the ball on first gear and second gear, the New England Patriots' running backs were blocked and suppressed by the Kansas Chiefs' frontline defense, so that Brady had to face the difficult situation of six yards on third gear.
For the first time, Brady showed his big heart, completing the pass before encountering a sack crisis, stuffing the football into the arms of tight end Gronkowski, and relying on Gronkowski's personal ability to force the advance. , a thrilling completion of the first attack conversion.
"ah!"
Brady also produced some blood.
Whether it was Levi's tough performance that caused the score to be completely tied, or the defensive team's increased intensity to create pressure, Brady could feel the change in the atmosphere of the game, which was obviously not what he expected in the pre-game preparations——
The Kansas City Chiefs are more difficult to deal with than imagined.
Of course, Brady's state was also aroused, with murderous intent bursting out of his eyes.
But the second time, Brady soon realized that the situation was getting more and more difficult, and the Kansas Chiefs actually burst out with even more amazing energy.
On first down, the running ball was intercepted at the line of scrimmage.
In the second gear, the Kansas Chiefs only used a four-man pass rusher, three defensive frontmen plus...a cornerback, an unconventional strategy.
Generally speaking, when multiple pass rushers are involved, linebackers join the ranks of defensive fronts; but in the past two years, especially after the Seattle Seahawks detonated the Legion and completely changed the league's definition of defense, there have been more and more big cornerbacks, relying on cornerbacks. The defensive tactic of rushing the quarterback also became popular.
This time, the Kansas City Chiefs adopted this tactic without warning, catching Brady completely off guard. Peters was in no one's land, and the Tigers came down the mountain to complete the sack. Brady had no chance.
The situation suddenly turned into crisis.
In the dilemma of 14 yards on third gear, Brady tried to sneak a long pass to resolve the crisis, but found that the Kansas Chiefs' zone defense was highly focused and failed to find the target of the pass; what was even worse was that the pass was slightly delayed, and the pocket Just ripped open, Houston cuts into the pocket—
The Kansas Chiefs are in a "3-4" defensive formation, with just three defensive linemen, three! As a result, facing the New England Patriots' five offensive linemen, Houston actually tore the pocket, which made Brady particularly angry.
But there was no time to be angry now. Brady finally found an opportunity to try to complete a long pass connection before Houston completed a sack or impact.
He found his No. 1 wide receiver --
After Julian Edelman, the wide receiver who wrote countless miracles last season, was injured for the season, Amendola is now Brady's number one passing target.
However, one thing is that Amendola, who was an undrafted rookie back then, still lacks in personal ability. Especially when passing large numbers in the third gear, his route running is often easy to be seen through by opponents in advance.
Just like this time.
Safety guard Berry just kept an eye on Amendola and saw through Amendola's running route one step ahead. When he saw the passing arc falling, he got stuck in the position. Not only did he create interference, he even came close to intercepting——
If Amendola hadn't simply called a foul at the critical moment to destroy Berry's focus, I'm afraid Berry would have scored the first interception of the game at this time.
Just a little bit.
Although he unfortunately missed the interception, Berry still accurately defended Amendola.
Brady's thirty-five-yard sneak pass ended with the pass incomplete.
Strikeout!
The situation suddenly changed and the initiative turned to the Kansas City Chiefs.
(End of chapter)