The tables turned, defense became offense.
The Oakland Raiders’ defensive group did not falter easily, considering that they were led by the best defensive player of the last season. How could they possibly surrender?
A desperate gamble, three linebackers advanced to raid, utilizing a numerical advantage and brute force to tear through the pocket, completely abandoning the short pass area to maximize impact.
The Raiders broke through the pocket with ease, shattering it completely and exposing all its weaknesses in an instant.
Mark was utterly calm, focusing one hundred percent.
On the surface, it appeared as a six-man rush—three defensive linemen plus three linebackers; in reality, it was a five-man rush, with Mark as the exception.
Not that Mark wasn’t part of the rush, but Del Rio had adjusted the tactical role of the defensive group captain:
The rush was still on, but there was no need to fight for time. He needed to keep a close eye on Smith and Li Wei to avoid any leaks.
Immediately, Mark had stepped up, the entire offensive line of the Kansas Chiefs utterly fractured, within the crowded mass, he kept a tight watch on two streaks of red.
Calculation, a game of chance—
Del Rio chose to raid the quarterback, while Reed had seen through this early and simply opted for a ground run.
Back and forth, the numerical advantage of the Oakland Raiders silently disintegrated, in fact making the pocket overly crowded due to too many players.
But as the saying goes, for every clever move, there is a counter move even more cunning.
Del Rio had anticipated this, keeping an ace up his sleeve—
Indeed, Mark had been leaning on Fisher with his shoulder, who in the midst of the full assault by the defensive group was overwhelmed and unable to cope, thus failing to withstand Mark.
Then Mark deftly shook off Fisher, like a heartbreaker tossing his sleeve without taking a cloud with him, and with a lateral step, he had already pivoted, advancing toward Li Wei.
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Mark, with the posture of an assassin, always hidden in the shadows, patiently sought his moment, struck accurately, and with one step forward, had already grappled Li Wei.
It wasn’t an illusion, Mark had indeed grappled Li Wei.
However, just as joy began to sprout, a brutal force hit him right in the chest, not only resisting Mark’s grappling force, but also overwhelmingly continuing—
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
Li Wei kept pushing off the ground, continuously lifting his legs, ever since he realized he was ambushed, he had started adjusting his advance.
Not preparing to speed up or change direction, but to shift his center of gravity, using the action of repeatedly lifting his legs high to disrupt Mark’s grappling stability.
"Ugh," Mark clenched his teeth.
"Ah," Li Wei exerted full force.
For a brief moment, the two formed a standoff in an acute angle, completely locked.
Li Wei was advancing against Mark, his strength becoming denser and more dominant, causing Mark, who had lain in wait in the shadows and consequently had not been able to exert his full strength, to unbelievably fall into a passive position.
Mark was steadily losing ground.
As he was about to grapple Smith but realized the football wasn’t in Smith’s hands, he immediately sounded the alarm, a glance revealing the entangled standoff between Li Wei and Mark.
His feet had just begun to move when a roar exploded above his eardrums.
Li Wei hit Mark head-on, his staggering steps incredibly crossing over Mark, his knee buckled, and his left hand swiftly touched the ground to control his body, quickly standing up again.
Just as Li Wei was about to completely break free, Bowman took a flying leap over Mark in the same manner.
Mark: "What the hell—this isn’t a hurdle race!"
Bowman lunged forward, grabbed Li Wei’s calf, and began tripping and slapping forcefully.
Li Wei, with no eyes on his back, was startled, just as he had barely managed to regain his balance, only to stumble forward once more.
Push off the ground, adjust, continue advancing.
"Li Wei still hasn’t given up—Li Wei is still trying to push forward!"
"My God, Cornerback Kerry is closing in to make the play."
"Oh, Li Wei loses his balance and falls, but—he gains eight yards! Li Wei pushes forward a whole eight yards!"
"Faced with Mark’s tackle, Bowman’s interference, and Kerry’s defensive play, Li Wei still managed to advance eight yards, rendering the Oakland Raiders’ six-man blitz tactic completely ineffective."
"Li Wei has made his statement—he came here to play!"
"Despite facing a six-game losing streak, despite facing the Oakland Raiders again, the spirit Li Wei showed at the beginning of the game is a sight to behold—no, no, no, not just to play—he came here to fight."
Bowman and Mark both stood up, one behind the other, both looking toward Li Wei, only to find that Li Wei was not celebrating, but instead was staring at them intently—
That was a murderous look.
The scent of blood instantly permeated throughout the stadium.
The confrontation noticeably heated up.
On one hand, Mark and Bowman, both energized, brought out their best form and engaged in a relentless face-to-face confrontation with Li Wei, with each side having its moments.
On the other hand, the Kansas Chiefs Offense solidly and steadily pushed forward, blending passes and runs, fully firing up, displaying a different explosive force than the first wave, with the offensive coordinator’s on-site adjustments showcasing the capabilities of trench warfare.
Despite the Oakland Raiders’ Defensive group giving their all, they still could not execute an effective defense; the intense tangle and collision lasting for five minutes and thirty-three seconds continued all the way to the fringe of the Red Zone.
Finally, Mark managed by his game’s first quarterback sack to push Kansas City into a Third Gear five-yard dilemma, with more than half of the first quarter gone. The Oakland Raiders finally began to show some momentum, and a subtle shift occurred in the defensive players’ eyes—
Momentum was building up.
Of course, even if Kansas City went out on Third Gear here, the Special Duty Group could still try a field goal, but with the Red Zone just within reach, it was inevitably disappointing. More importantly, it allowed the Oakland Raiders to regain momentum, which could entangle the subsequent duel even more.
Involuntarily, Hill glanced at Li Wei.
Just in time to be caught by Li Wei, "The Defensive group guys are probably sharpening their knives already."
A small joke, Hill turned his head to look at the Kansas City Chiefs’ side where the Defensive group players, each showing a "it all comes down to us after all" expression, reignited Hill’s fighting spirit once again.
Not just Hill—the other players in the Offensive group as well.
Smith swallowed all the words that had reached his lips, finished setting the tactics, and the Offensive group swiftly lined up.
In front of the Red Zone, Third Gear five yards.
Smith announced the snap, immediately drawing the attention of the Oakland Raiders’ Defensive group—
This was a Pistol Formation.
From Smith’s position, it was clear—this was a running play.
Smith stood close to the Center, their position too close to the Defensive line brought immense pressure and also too many interferences with the passing vision; quarterbacks often need to retreat continuously to open up space, but such retreating steps take time and could lead to a lack of passing space in the short passing zones.
Naturally, running was a very likely event.
Smith took the football from the Center and, facing the End Zone, took two steps back and a turn, already passing towards the front left diagonal.
Wait, was this actually a quick short pass play?
Vision, following the trajectory of Smith’s pass, could immediately see Kelsey and Hill running two different routes.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye.