Chapter 651 Half-season Championship
Compared with the 2017 season when a hundred schools of thought contend and a hundred flowers bloom, which was still full of fog and suspense until the Super Bowl, the 2018 season shows a different attitude.
When the season officially kicked off, the two teams quickly opened up the situation with a series of dominant performances, fought their way out of the head-to-head competition, and lived up to expectations and continued their strength all the way. To become the leader of the alliance——
Los Angeles Rams and Kansas City Chiefs.
Faced with such a situation, the league couldn't be happier. Goodell even celebrated with everyone with wine and warmly welcomed the new era.
The two teams can be called brilliant.
One League of Nations, one League of America, just looking at each other from a distance and moving forward together.
One team is led by the third-year star quarterback Goff, and the other is led by the second-year super star quarterback Mahomes. They happen to be pocket quarterbacks, echoing the general trend of the league focusing on passing offenses.
One team includes Donald, the league's best defensive player last season, and one team includes Levi, the league's best offensive player last season. They are going head-to-head against each other, defense against offense, and can become the next pair of rivals in the league.
One team is directed by McVay, the youngest head coach in the league who made history, and the other team is directed by Reed, a legendary senior coach in the league. The showdown between the back wave and the front wave will never be short of highlights.
Most importantly, although the Los Angeles Rams and Kansas City Chiefs are now in different divisions, they were once Missouri rivals.
From 1995 to 2015, the Los Angeles Rams were the St. Louis Rams, and they were also located in Missouri like the Kansas Chiefs. During the 20 long seasons, due to the competition between Missouri residents, the two teams were at war with each other every time they met. Seeing popularity, there is never a shortage of topics.
Moreover, the Kansas Chiefs won all six meetings between the two teams during this period, overwhelming the St. Louis Rams who had been sluggish for a long time.
For the latter, the Kansas City Chiefs are a shadow, and the hatred index is off the charts.
Now, after three years, the Los Angeles Rams are about to face the Kansas Chiefs for the first time since they moved to the City of Angels. Both teams have completed their transformation; but at the same time, the hatred and entanglement in the past are not enough to completely disappear in just three years. , all the old and new grudges are entangled together.
The game has not even started yet, and the smell of gunpowder is already filling the air.
Everything, everything, perfect.
The unparalleled perfect matchup, the perfection that even the alliance could not create with careful planning, appeared in front of us naturally.
From historical grievances to the current situation, from the confrontation between offense and defense to the tit-for-tat of star players, from the confrontation between the players themselves to the confrontation between coaches and fans, all aspects have detonated energy.
Not only Goodell, the media also went crazy, and social networks were no exception——
Collective fanaticism.
This season, it goes without saying that the Kansas Chiefs are the defending champions and are currently leading the American League with a record of nine wins and one loss.
Originally, people were worried that losing to the New England Patriots in a fierce battle might awaken the psychological shadow of this young team, but now it seems that it is purely unnecessary and random. The Kansas Chiefs quickly returned to the winning track, showing their growth and transformation, and even... Keep getting better.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Rams are no slouch—
To be precise, it's not just "no inferior", it should be "better".
When the Kansas City Chiefs stopped their five-game winning streak to start the season, the Los Angeles Rams' winning streak still didn't stop.
Six consecutive wins! Seven consecutive wins! Eight consecutive wins!
After narrowly defeating the Green Bay Packers by two points in the eighth week of the regular season, the Los Angeles Rams set a new team record and wrote the best start to the season since 1969. Their unstoppable and sweeping attitude was both offensive and defensive. The performance of top dominance is reminiscent of the New England Patriots in the 2007 season.
That year, the New England Patriots won all 16 games in the regular season, creating the first undefeated season after the Super Bowl era. Unfortunately, they lost to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl finals. After all, they were unable to continue the perfect season to the end. . Right now, the same goes for the Los Angeles Rams.
You have to be offensive and defensive, you have to be defensive and explosive, you have explosive power and stability, there are no shortcomings, there are no loopholes, and you have to show your top level in all aspects.
Isn't this the New England Patriots in 2007?
Coupled with the fact that the team is located in Los Angeles, where stars gather, this has also earned them the nickname "Cosmic Sheep", which complements Real Madrid's "Galaxy Battleship".
However, the difficulty of going undefeated in the season is still too high after all. The Los Angeles Rams still have to pay tuition for their youth and lack of experience——
In the ninth week of the regular season, they lost to their former district rivals the New Orleans Saints by ten points, ending their undefeated streak.
Everything seems familiar.
The Kansas Chiefs lost to the New England Patriots, and the wily Belichick partnered with elite quarterback Brady. The latter maintained a strong season and only followed the Kansas Chiefs in the American League with a record of seven wins and two losses.
The Los Angeles Rams lost to the New Orleans Saints. The wily Sean Payton partnered with elite quarterback Brees. The latter remained active during the season and completed the overtake of the Los Angeles Rams in the National League with a record of eight wins and one loss. The top seed in the National League.
"The front wave VS the back wave", "veteran VS rookie", "tradition VS challenge".
Similar keywords are used throughout, and all aspects create a wonderful picture of all beings in the 2018 season so far, which is full of expectations.
And now!
The two teams of the new generation are about to face off head-to-head. Halfway through the season, the No. 1 seed in the National League will face the No. 1 seed in the American League to stage a Super Bowl.
Wonderful and exciting, no one wants to miss it, and no one should miss it.
Moreover, there is another important point——
The NFL has been trying to open up the global market and has successively launched international games in overseas markets over the past few years.
Since 2007, the London game has opened up, opening a hole in the home stadium of rugby and football, and gradually expanding the influence of American rugby; the Asian market and the South American market have also been Goodell's goals.
According to the plan, China Mainland’s Imperial Capital Tournament was ready. However, due to insufficient market size, venue selection, schedule, brand sponsorship, etc. all encountered setbacks to varying degrees. As a result, Goodell had to temporarily shelve the plan and turn his goal to——
Mexico.
In the past two years, the Mexico City tournament has achieved consecutive successes, adding confidence to the league.
Now, Levi has emerged and rekindled the confidence of the league. Goodell is restarting the process of the Imperial City Tournament and simultaneously launching plans for the Munich Tournament and the Sao Paulo Tournament.
Of course, at the same time, there is still a need to consolidate the status of London and Mexico City.
This year, the game "Los Angeles Rams VS Kansas City Chiefs" was arranged in Mexico City.
When arranging the schedule in the offseason, Goodell did not expect that the two teams would perform so well. He just expected that the "Levi VS Donald" duel would set off a topic in Mexico City and attract a wave of attention; and now, things Having developed to this point, it simply couldn’t be more perfect——
Super Bowl Halfway to Mexico City?
Good, good, very good, the time is right, the place is right, and everything is ready, and the energy to detonate the international market is about to happen!
(End of this chapter)