Chapter 1465: Chapter 1464: Niners Special
Quickly, Shanahan realized his misjudgment. They had all underestimated the Kansas City Chiefs Defense, which, despite its instability, was definitely not to be taken lightly.
Unity and mutual assistance——
What the San Francisco 49ers excelled at was now seen in the Kansas City Chiefs. Clearly, the Chiefs weren’t just relying on their stars.
The defensive front was applying full pressure, continuously exerting it on Garoppolo, causing a storm in the San Francisco 49ers’ pocket.
Although Shanahan adjusted strategies in time, using the Running Back Committee to bombard in turns; the overwhelming pressure still threw the San Francisco 49ers’ offense into a hard battle again. Successive thrilling successes on third downs barely pushed them to their own forty-five-yard line, near midfield, but the advantage remained with the Kansas City Chiefs:
Game time!
The two-minute warning had passed, leaving little time until halftime, meaning San Francisco 49ers’ chances to overtake were diminishing, and the Kansas City Chiefs would gain valuable breathing space.
Clearly, this was not what Shanahan wanted to see.
The San Francisco 49ers needed to capitalize on their momentum to reverse the situation and enter the locker room with a psychological lead at halftime. This was an important step in the game strategy.
Thus, Shanahan made his move!
On first down and ten yards, the San Francisco 49ers covered the run with a pass but not a simple fake, rather cunningly covering the run with the run itself.
First running back Mostert feigned a run after taking the football from Garoppolo, but preemptively handed the football to second running back Yushchek.
Typically, as a fullback, Yushchek often plays the role of breaking the line, but now he returned to his main job, running with the ball like a tank.
Trick play! “Niner Special”!
The inspiration clearly came from the Kansas City Chiefs’ trick plays, but Shanahan still made adjustments based on his own characteristics, evolving his own tricks.
The dizzying switch was overwhelming. With blockers Mostert and Kittel, Yushchek’s bulldozer-like push not only ensured success but also inflicted damage in short-pass areas——
Shanahan’s conception was ingenious.
However, the core of Shanahan’s tactics was to be ingeniously simple, excelling in being straightforward and efficient; whether passing or running, decisiveness was his strong suit; too many twists and variations instead hampered the San Francisco 49ers’ rhythm and characteristics, dragging down their pace.
Originally, most of the San Francisco 49ers’ offense could move within 2.5 seconds, both air and ground, compressing the defensive group’s reaction time; but now, three seconds had passed while the football was still behind the scrimmage line, giving the Kansas City Chiefs Defense space to breathe in this strong battle.
The ground breakthrough posed no problem; yet, on the side, Kansas City Chiefs lineman Higgins noticed the gap, exposing Yushchek’s real holding tactic. Higgins accurately cut through the crowd’s gap, finding the space behind Kittel, advancing a step and tackling Yushchek in one fell swoop.
Yushchek was completely unaware of the crisis from the blindside, not even having time to lower his center of gravity and assume a defensive stance, being knocked over stiffly.
Behind-the-line stop!
Hah, an exclamation rippled.
The San Francisco 49ers’ trick play had not deceived the Kansas City Chiefs but instead tripped themselves!
“Oh, God! God bless!”
“The San Francisco 49ers offense became unusually complex, yet couldn’t succeed, the Kansas City Chiefs Defense, highly focused, saw through the ruse!”
“At the crucial moment, the Kansas City Chiefs Defense stepped up again. Despite a lack of solo combat ability, their team collaboration energy is absolutely top-notch.”
“Playing a key role this time was lineman Higgins, agile and resolute, a clean tackle, beautiful!”
“The Niner Special was a good idea, but couldn’t explode like the ‘Philly Special’, the situation has become delicate.”
At the sidelines, Li Wei was first to clench his fist and cheer, while the entire Kansas Chiefs Offense and Special Duty Group stood watching at the edge of the field.
The tension of the atmosphere climbed further!
However, there was no time for breath. Shanahan could not afford the luxury of lamenting; he had to swallow the bitterness of seeing his trick play overturned and quickly regroup to arrange the second gear strategy.
“Calm down!”
Shanahan attempted to control the situation. The negative impact of the trick play failing was more direct for the players, so he promptly took control to bring Garoppolo’s confusion and frustration back, refocusing on the next down.
On second down and twelve yards, Shanahan chose his signature modern outside zone attack system, with Garoppolo and another running back, Coleman, running out of the pocket in tandem.
Consciously pausing for a moment, Garoppolo tried to sway the Kansas City Chiefs’ judgment but didn’t expect this wave of offensive defense would showcase the unwavering determination and perseverance of the Kansas City Chiefs Defense, with defensive end Frank Clark stepping up without hesitation, rushing forward quickly.
In haste, Garoppolo handed the football to Coleman. For the second time, the San Francisco 49ers chose ground offense.
Up to now tonight, the San Francisco 49ers had leaned towards passing but chose to run the ball at the crucial moment. This tactical reversal and overturning aimed to disrupt the Kansas City Chiefs’ plan, with Shanahan hiding minor tricks for the second time, remaining undeterred by the failure of the “Niner Special.”
But this time, Clark had his sights set on Coleman right from the start, not sparing Garoppolo a glance.
Push off, step forward, hit.
Boom!
Strength versus strength clashed head-on, stirring up a torrent of airwaves.
Clark and Coleman tangled together. Although Coleman clenched his teeth tightly, stubbornly pushing two steps and then three forward against Clark, he ultimately couldn’t break through, collapsing.
Two yards.
Coleman advanced only two yards.
Third down and ten yards!
The situation altered suddenly!
Who could have anticipated that the San Francisco 49ers’ most reliable ground offense would clash with the Kansas City Chiefs’ weakest ground defense, becoming the pivotal key at a crucial moment, the Kansas City Chiefs withstanding back-to-back assaults from the San Francisco 49ers’ Running Back Committee, stood firm!
“Wow!”
“The Kansas City Chiefs prove themselves again, it wasn’t incidental that Derrick Henry was made to look so dismal in the division games! The San Francisco 49ers’ ground offense hit a wall!”
“Back-to-back defenses, back-to-back collisions, the Kansas City Chiefs Defense demonstrating unmatched toughness, the Running Back Committee facing their season’s greatest crisis.”
A loud gasp echoed!
The entire Hard Rock Stadium stood up; no one could sit quietly in their seats. Thalia clasped her hands in silent prayer, intently watching the field.
The entire first half was full of ups and downs, twists and turns, ever-exciting and relentless, to a hair-raising degree.
The closer to the end of the half, the more dazzling it became!
However, there was no breathing room because game time was still ticking away——
Twenty-three seconds.
Twenty-two seconds.
Twenty-one seconds.
The first half had entered its countdown stage!
Tick-tock, tick-tock, each second, even each millisecond’s movement was so clear, so loud, resounding continuously over Hard Rock Stadium.