Chapter 160 158: Total Lockdown
The thunderous cheers and shouts swarmed in from all directions. The tidal wave of noise was so overwhelming that his skin could feel the searing pressure. His blood began to boil, his adrenaline suddenly exploded, and his fingertips, slick with a thin sheen of sweat, seemed to tighten.
It was only in his second game that Lu Ke truly felt the power of playing at Candlestick Park. Countless spotlights and camera flashes swarmed him. His every move on this stage was under the watchful eyes of the masses, as if he were standing on top of the world! Lu Ke could clearly feel every cell in his body roaring, yearning for the game, yearning for a contest, yearning for a challenge!
He loved moments like this.
The more exhilarating it was, the calmer he became; the more thrilling, the more composed. He could even perceive the trail of the breeze as it swept over the grass. Everything in his sight became incredibly clear.
Although this was only the second game of his professional career, Lu Ke was like a seasoned hunter, meticulously observing the defense, calmly making his reads, recalling Jim Hubble's game plan, and then, decisively launching the attack.
The Dallas Cowboys opted for a standard, traditional defensive formation, while Lu Ke chose the more flexible Pistol Formation. After the snap, he scanned, then scanned again. Unable to find any opening to pass, Lu Ke could only hand the ball off to Marcus Lynch.
Following his excellent performance in the season opener, Jim Hubble had decided that Marcus Lynch and Anthony Dixon would rotate, sharing the role of starting running back. Their playing time would be determined by their on-field performance.
With the football tucked under his arm, Marcus began a power run, but the Dallas Cowboys' Defense Line left him little room. Their stout run defense only gave up three yards before bringing Marcus down hard, stopping the play.
Second and seven.
Lu Ke stayed in the Pistol Formation. After dropping back, he began looking for a receiver, only to find his vision filled with players in the Cowboys' white and navy blue. There were no open passing lanes. Logan, in particular, was not only locked in tight man-to-man coverage, but also had two other players nearby in zone help.
With no other option, Lu Ke handed the ball off to Marcus again, forced to rely on the run. Unfortunately, Marcus only managed to gain two yards before he was met by two defenders and wrestled to the ground.
Third and five.
Lu Ke lined them up in the Shotgun Formation. He sent out three Wide Receivers and a Tight End, and even had Marcus run out for a pass, signaling an all-out aerial assault.
After the snap, his field of vision was once again a sea of Cowboys players, so dense it created the illusion that they were covering the entire field. In a split second, Lu Ke chose his target—Logan Newman.
Double-covered by two players, Logan had almost no window to make a catch. Even as Logan gave his all trying to secure the ball, Cowboys safety Abram Alan executed a perfect defensive play. At the very last moment, he dove in front, swatted the ball away, and forced an incompletion.
Three-and-out!
The San Francisco 49ers' first offensive drive lasted ninety-six seconds and ended in a three-and-out. Having advanced only five yards, they were forced to punt. It was a shockingly disappointing performance.
It wasn't that a three-and-out was so terrible. Over the course of a game, even for the top elite quarterbacks, three-and-outs are inevitable. Every play is a battle of wits between the offense and the defense; not every drive can be expected to go smoothly and unopposed.
The disappointment stemmed mainly from Lu Ke's stunning performance the week before. With Romo playing so well, everyone was hoping Lu Ke would deliver a powerful response and make the game truly exciting. But the result was a three-and-out, which really took the air out of the stadium.
However, this was only the first drive of the game. Everyone settled in patiently to see what would happen. Even someone like Charles Davis wasn't going to overreact and kick them while they were down because of a single three-and-out. The outcome of today's game was still far from decided.
But for Lu Ke, for the quarterback, the three-and-out was less important than the reason behind it. 'Why? What exactly went wrong?' During that last drive, Lu Ke had sensed danger.
In football, the offense is comprised of three parts: an Offense Line of five players, the offensive weapons consisting of four receivers and one running back, and one quarterback.
Correspondingly, the Defense Team is made up of two parts: the defensive front and the secondary.
The terms "front" and "secondary" are relative to the positioning of the offense. The defensive front is closer to the Offense Line, covering the front part of the field, while the secondary is closer to the End Zone, covering the back part of the field.
The secondary is relatively straightforward. It consists of a total of four players—two safeties and two cornerbacks. They are responsible for pass defense, covering the middle and deep parts of the field. Their defensive assignments are always the same: the Wide Receivers and the Tight End.
Cornerbacks are positioned relatively closer to the Offense Line, playing tight coverage to jam the receivers at the line. Safeties are positioned further back. If a cornerback gets beaten or a receiver breaks through, the safeties are there to provide support and disrupt the play.
Based on their responsibilities, safeties can be further divided into free safeties and Strong Safeties.
As their names suggest, the free safety covers a large area, free to roam the backfield and provide help defense. The Strong Safety, meanwhile, is primarily responsible for the Tight End. They line up on the "strong side" of the formation—the side with the Tight End—and their task is usually to cover him one-on-one.
Abram Alan is a Strong Safety.
Broadly speaking, the secondary is responsible for covering the backfield and defending the pass.
The defensive front is relatively more complex, with numerous and varied tactical combinations. It consists of seven players, who can be divided into two groups: the Defense Line and the linebackers. The Defense Line is positioned closer to the Offense Line, practically face-to-face, while the linebackers are arranged behind them, about a step or two back.
The two most common defensive alignments in the Alliance are the "4-3 formation"—four players on the Defense Line and three linebackers—and the "3-4 formation"—three players on the Defense Line and four linebackers. Of course, these are just two basic formations; built upon them, defensive tactics are endlessly varied and complex.
The Defense Line corresponds to the Offense Line. The player in the middle is the Peak, and on either side are the Defensive Tackles and Defensive Ends. Their task is to rush the passer: to tear through the Offense Line and attack the quarterback—tackling, hitting, and sacking him to stop the play at its source.
Linebackers are categorized by their position into middle linebackers and outside linebackers. This is the most important position on the entire Defense Team, the counterpart to the quarterback. As the one who relays the defensive calls, the Defense Team's captain is typically a linebacker.
A linebacker's job is to stop the run and attack. First, they must defend against the running back, stopping any rushing attempts. Second, they must defend against short passes, providing coverage on short routes during a passing play. Finally, they must also blitz. When they see an opportunity, they get around the Offense Line and attempt to sack the quarterback.
Thus, the "4-3 formation" is a defensive alignment that strengthens the pass rush, committing more players to sacking the quarterback. The "3-4 formation," conversely, is an alignment that prioritizes pass defense, providing blanket coverage against short, intermediate, and deep passes.
In essence, the defensive front is the attacking part of the defense, responsible for defending against short passes, stopping the run, and rushing the quarterback.
In today's game, the Dallas Cowboys lined up in a particular defensive formation, a "3-4-2-2": three players on the Defense Line, four linebackers, two cornerbacks, and two safeties.
The defensive formation itself was quite common; more than half the teams in the Alliance used a similar alignment. But the Dallas Cowboys had tailored it into their own specific defensive game plan—
The three players on the Defense Line were responsible for stopping the running back, the four linebackers were responsible for covering short passes, the two cornerbacks handled intermediate routes, and the two safeties covered deep passes.
In other words, the Cowboys had abandoned the pass rush, not even feigning an attempt. In its place, the Cowboys committed a full eight players to pass defense! It was complete blanket coverage, sealing off the entire secondary and making it impenetrable.
The San Francisco 49ers only had four receivers, and even adding the running back, that was still only five targets. Eight defenders versus five targets—the Cowboys' defense held a massive advantage. Even if they played man-to-man, five-on-five, the Cowboys still had three extra players to cover zones, roaming freely and waiting for a chance to provide help.
Clearly, the Dallas Cowboys had meticulously and repeatedly analyzed the game film from the San Francisco 49ers' season opener, designing their defensive game plan around Lu Ke's strengths and weaknesses:
Abandon the pass rush; focus on pass defense.
Lu Ke was a quarterback with average physical gifts, but his passing accuracy was outstanding, even to the point where it could determine the outcome of a game.
The Cowboys could have chosen to blitz—a frontal assault with a powerful rush to destroy Lu Ke's passing rhythm and confidence. But, they would need to break through the San Francisco 49ers' Offense Line, which had performed well above standard in the season opener.
The Cowboys' other option was to focus on pass defense, completely shutting down Lu Ke's deadliest weapon. Even if he completed a pass, the yardage gained wouldn't be catastrophic. It was like striking a snake seven inches below the head—they had found and squeezed Lu Ke's vital spot.
During the first drive, Lu Ke's passing targets were completely smothered, and Marcus's running game failed to make a dent. And so… three-and-out.
In modern football, this is a passing era, but a balanced run-pass offense remains a tactic that every team emphasizes. The reason is just that: when one aspect of the offense is shut down, the other must open things up and create opportunities. They work in tandem. But if the run game is contained, forcing a team to pass continuously, the only ending is—a disastrous defeat.
Of course, this was a problem every quarterback inevitably faces, and likewise, a problem every quarterback must solve. One three-and-out must not be allowed to become a string of them.
In Lu Ke's brief professional career, he was facing his first real challenge.