Chapter 641 Determined to Win
Marvin Lewis and his Cincinnati Bengals are united from top to bottom, inside and out, they are united, full of confidence, and pointing to victory.
Maybe, some people will say, who gave the Cincinnati Bengals the courage, Taylor Swift?
One is a team that has missed the playoffs for two consecutive seasons and is slowly declining, and the other is a team that has just won the Super Bowl and continues to rise.
Even if the Kansas City Chiefs lost to the New England Patriots in a fierce battle in their last game, they should still be the favorite.
However, this is not the case.
This season, the Cincinnati Bengals are back in full swing.
They defeated the Indianapolis Colts in the season opener, then defeated the Baltimore Ravens, and upset their playoff seeded opponents in two consecutive games. This young player who has gotten rid of injuries has finally matured and returned to strength.
Although the Carolina Panthers suffered a small setback in the third week after a hard-fought defeat, they immediately regained their strength and narrowly defeated the Atlanta Falcons by one point on the road. They also severely defeated the Miami Dolphins at home to continue their winning pace and quickly returned to the right track.
In the 2018 season, they started with four wins and one loss, ranking second only to the undefeated Kansas Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams, standing at the top of the league pyramid.
There is no doubt that the Cincinnati Bengals have become the biggest surprise of the new season, especially the offensive team, which averaged 30.6 points per game and won acclaim.
Quarterback Dalton has returned to the public eye and has entered the discussion of regular season MVP candidates.
It is a little regrettable that in the sixth week of the regular season, the Cincinnati Bengals faced the Pittsburgh Steelers. The offensive team encountered a real wall for the first time this season. They scored "only" 21 points and lost by a touchdown.
Currently, the season record is four wins and two losses.
Simply put, the Cincinnati Bengals had nothing to fear against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Judging from the record, status, history, etc., Lewis's confidence is not arrogant and groundless. The Cincinnati Bengals do have the ability to defeat the Kansas City Chiefs.
The most important thing is that both the Cincinnati Bengals and the Kansas City Chiefs have just suffered a defeat. For young teams, how to get rid of the shadow of failure, quickly adjust, and regain the rhythm and state of the game is the key. In this regard, Lewis has absolute confidence.
Not to mention, just this season, the Cincinnati Bengals have only completed a "recovery". After losing to the Carolina Panthers in a fierce battle, they quickly completed adjustments and defeated the Atlanta Falcons in a strong collision to win.
Losing will not demoralize the Cincinnati Bengals. In fact, on the contrary, it will stimulate their desire to win and burst out with more energy.
However, look at the Kansas City Chiefs -
The off-field controversy surrounding Levi has always kept the team at the forefront, and the media on three floors inside and outside made the training base completely unable to calm down.
Even young quarterback Mahomes also experienced the feeling of being chased and intercepted by paparazzi.
At the end of practice on Wednesday, Mahomes and Levi left the training base together. As a result, they were stunned by the overwhelming flashbulbs of more than 300 reporters and were scattered in the surging crowd.
Finally, Levi found Mahomes, who was surrounded by reporters and had no way to escape, in a park public restroom not far from the training base. After pushing through the crowd to save Mahomes, he fought his way out.
That night, a photo of Mahomes leaving the bathroom in a panic went viral.
The last wave of news has not subsided, and Mahomes has become popular again in a reluctant way, and has become a meme, living in the timeline of social networks.
The next day, the crowd gathered around the Kansas Chiefs training base continued to grow. Even if Reid completely closed the training, he could not stop the paparazzi's frenzy.
Off-field tidbits are undoubtedly playing a disturbing factor.
In this short week, the Kansas City Chiefs should not be quiet inside or outside.
Lewis is a little more confident in defeating the Kansas Chiefs.
The Cincinnati Bengals will prove themselves, prove that the Kansas City Chiefs are their little brother, prove that the Kansas City Chiefs' glory last season was purely coincidental, and prove that they are the real kings who should reach the Super Bowl.
but--
The Kansas City Chiefs might disagree a little bit.
"Mahomes!"
"Mahomes is watching, Kelsey ran out of space on the left wing!" "Wait, fake pass run!"
"Mahomes turned the football over to Levi and for the second time in a row, he ran a fake pass in an attempt to get past the Cincinnati Bengals defense again."
"Oh no!"
"This time, Atkins said no!"
Geno Atkins is a defensive end. Although his reputation is not as famous as that of JJ Watt, Aaron Donald and others, he is also a well-known figure who has been selected to the Pro Bowl five times, even if he missed the opportunity with the Cincinnati Bengals. In the two seasons of the playoffs, he was also a well-deserved highlight of this team's defensive team.
Today, Atkins has his sights firmly set on Mahomes and Levi.
If you fall for the same tactic once, it's fine. If you fall for it a second time in a row, you'll be an idiot.
In this offense, Atkins had already been on guard. Although his eyes were fixed on Mahomes, he never forgot Levi——
He won't let the Kansas Chiefs' ground attack take whatever it wants on his own territory.
Kick off the ground and step forward.
Dislocation, get rid of.
Atkins' steps when preparing to sack the quarterback were very light and flexible. He used the changes in his center of gravity and footsteps to easily get rid of the offensive line. In the blink of an eye, he had cut into the pocket and straddled the slot route, blocking Levi's straight breakthrough. The road is like a crab.
and!
Atkins was not reckless.
On the one hand, he knew that he needed to hurry up and not give Levi time to speed up.
On the one hand, he also knows that he needs to stay calm and not make a rash move and miss a tackle.
The situation was obviously tight, and the offensive linemen on the side were still entangled and colliding. However, Atkins briefly braked and paused at the critical moment, keeping his center of gravity flexible and not losing his position or blocking the route.
This is not all.
At the same time, his upper body leaned forward, his arms opened, and his eyes locked on Li Wei, forming an overwhelming invisible pressure, forcing Li Wei to lose patience and calmness in the panic, and make wrong judgments and choices.
Everything happens in the blink of an eye.
Levi had just held the ball and was about to start, when he could feel the invisible pressure coming towards him. It was obvious that the opponent in front of him was well prepared.
The air was slightly condensed, and you could clearly feel the collision of the two people's auras and a slight pause, just like the aura duel between martial arts masters before making a move, and the tension was full in an instant.
However, Levi did not pause.
He took a step forward and rushed straight towards Atkins.
Atkins: Well done.
Atkins ignored Levi's bluff, bent his knees and lowered his center of gravity, using me as the master. He took the lead before Levi was about to change direction, and opened his arms to complete the grapple.
However, they saw that Levi did not sway from side to side, but braked to an emergency stop, turned 360 degrees counterclockwise on the spot, and missed Atkins' solid tackle.
The two people, one on the left and one on the right, could easily miss the track.
Understatement, leisurely stroll.
(End of chapter)