Chapter 797: Frontal Breakthrough
Focus. calm. calm.
Mahomes knew that he should fall to the ground at this time. The first attack has been obtained. As a quarterback, there is no need to show off and continue to break through.
But after calm analysis and judgment in Mahomes' mind, he only has one thought at this moment:
What would he do if it were Levi?
Elandon Roberts, a third-year student who has taken turns with Bentley as the starting inside linebacker this season, has had good and bad performances and is unstable; Bentley has been retired for the season due to injury. After that, he established himself in the starting position, but he was still inconsistent.
In front of him, Roberts was completely confused by this scene——
What's going on?
Isn’t it because Levi ran the ball? Why did Mahomes rush out? Is Mahomes preparing to pass the ball, and who is the target of the pass?
Wait, is this a read option offense? The Kansas Chiefs actually chose the read option to attack. What kind of fantasy is this? But that doesn’t seem right either, because Mahomes didn’t make a read-option move.
So, what exactly is this?
Roberts’ mind was filled with questions.
In the flash of lightning, his head was still running, and his body's conditioned reflexes had already reacted. Roberts stepped forward and subconsciously rushed towards the red figure.
That's when Mahomes hit the brakes.
An emergency brake, control the body, stop moving forward.
Roberts:? ? ?
Now, instead, Roberts failed to brake in time and could not control his body. He staggered out and passed Mahomes.
Roberts stared at Mahomes with nostalgia and reluctance, but Mahomes had already waved his sleeves and turned away without taking away a cloud. He turned out from behind Roberts and cut to the New England Patriots. In the central hinterland, without encountering any physical contact, the advancement space has been regained.
Until the New England Patriots' second-line defense followed up in time to complete the encirclement, Mahomes was no longer greedy this time. Before the encirclement closed, he simply slid to the ground and ended the advance.
Twelve yards, easy to get.
"Wow."
Nantz looked at Romo, and Romo looked at Nantz. Both of them couldn't help but sigh. Of all the words, this sentence seemed to be the most appropriate.
"Wow."
"In the first wave of offense in the second half, the Kansas City Chiefs showed tenacity, continuously attacking on the ground, and tearing apart the New England Patriots' ground defense forcefully and decisively."
"Frontal breakthrough!"
"Obviously, the Kansas Chiefs did not choose to cut through the New England Patriots' poor pass defense, but broke through from the ground openly, because Reid also knew that in such bad weather conditions, ground attack is the only way to open up the situation. , they need a head-on breakthrough.”
"But what is surprising is that the Kansas Chiefs used Levi as bait, handed the football to Mahomes, and the team's quarterback completed the run. The New England Patriots defense was completely caught off guard."
"Mahomes easily gained twelve yards."
"This is a gratifying start, and it will be really exciting to see how many adjustments the Kansas Chiefs made during the halftime break."
"This season, the Kansas Chiefs offense ranks first in the league, even better than the Denver Broncos in the 2012 season. This young offense has demonstrated its ability in all aspects of passing and running the ball."
"However, the Denver Broncos in the 2012 season were unable to go further after all, which reminds people of the famous saying 'offense wins and defense wins championships.' Now the Kansas Chiefs are also facing a severe test. The weather and opponent's pressure from both hands caused the offense to stagnate. Dilemma, it’s not that easy.”
"Next, let's see if they still have the potential to continue to explore. It's not easy to be able to play well offensively, but it's even more difficult to be able to break through adversity and continue to compete for the championship."
The answer is yes.
Ten yards on first down, Levi ran the ball and advanced four yards. On second down and six yards, Levi ran the ball and gained three yards.
On third down and three yards, Hill ran the ball and gained thirteen yards.
Wait, what happened in this third wave of attacks?
They are all ground attacks. The Kansas Chiefs are very tough. The core of the entire tactics is still Levi, and everything starts with Levi.
Offensive linemen, wide receivers, and tight ends all create opportunities for Levi's layout, relying on Levi's personal ability to forcefully open up defensive breakthroughs.
Judging from the propulsion data, Levi's propulsion efficiency is far less than his regular season performance; but Levi's tough stance in positional battles forced the New England Patriots' defensive team to strengthen their defense.
Moreover, there is an important point here. Reid did not use Damien, who was good at positional warfare, to open up the situation. Instead, he continued to use Levi as the team's starting running back. In this way, he confused the judgment of the New England Patriots' defensive team. They had to Worry about Levi's ability to penetrate deep areas and Mahomes' possibility of sneak passes——
Judgment becomes complicated.
Reid's purpose is to force the New England Patriots' defense to think. Think for one more second and hesitate for half a second. This may be the Kansas Chiefs' opportunity.
Then, out of the blue, the Kansas City Chiefs changed tempo again.
Mahomes. Hill. Kelsey.
Players in different positions all played as running backs and rushed with the ball.
Originally, during the first wave of offense, Mahomes ran with the ball, and Belichick thought the Kansas Chiefs were going to use the read option to attack——
Reid was able to deceive other coaches, but Belichick always kept an eye on him. He knew Mahomes’ physical fitness and ball-running ability. Although Mahomes’s number of runs with the ball throughout the season was lackluster, Belichick Kya was always alert.
If you are fooled the first time, you must not be fooled the second or third time.
Belichick suddenly became alert and used experienced senior linebacker Hightower to mark Mahomes to prevent the Kansas Chiefs from using the read option to attack.
But Belichick guessed wrong.
Reed did not prepare to activate the read option offense. Instead, he turned the ground attack into a flower, relied on Levi's personal threat to attract attention, and incredibly made the two-running back tactics diverse and changeable.
The New England Patriots' defensive team was unable to defend them. Coupled with their overall vigilance against Levi and Hightower's mistake of marking Mahomes, which resulted in the elimination of a defensive matchup, the entire confrontation was completely overturned.
Kelsey's running of the ball on the ground was still unfamiliar, and he relied solely on strength to break through arbitrarily, with mediocre efficiency; but unexpectedly, Hill took full advantage of his lightness and agility, seizing Levi's gap to attract defensive power, and ran out continuously. Decent propulsion effect.
The New England Patriots are helpless -
This is conspiracy.
The Kansas City Chiefs have made it clear that they will attack on the ground and even make full use of Levi's personal abilities, but they always have a hidden edge that the New England Patriots have to guard against.
Because Belichick knows Reid's ability, passing is the most powerful. Once they relax their vigilance, Mahomes' passing can overturn the situation.
Have to guard against it.
(End of chapter)