The King of Bay Area
Chapter 1072: A Mismatch in Coverage
Chapter 1072: A Mismatch in Coverage
"End zone!"
"Gonzalez!"
"Touchdown!"
"Matt Ryan found Tony Gonzalez with a 13-yard pass. The latter stood at the front of the end zone, facing a combined defense from two safeties. He broke through with a head-on collision, bulldozing his way past the two defenders, and then cut into the end zone to score a touchdown!"
"A clash of the titans! This is a head-on clash with no room for error! Tough! Fierce! Gutsy! This kind of football confrontation is truly amazing to watch!"
"The Atlanta Falcons’ offense is truly a tough one! Facing the San Francisco 49ers’ defense, which was filled with momentum from their own touchdown, every play was a struggle. They faced a third-down conversion four times in a row, but Ryan never gave up and converted on all four, keeping the drive alive. This kind of performance is top-notch at any time, and it’s a heavy blow to the home team’s defense!"
"After Julio Jones, the other two receiving options, Tony Gonzalez and Roddy White, have also opened up. The Atlanta Falcons’ offense has shown a rare toughness. In the face of the home team’s powerful momentum, they came back from the dead and once again pulled away with a touchdown. This is truly spectacular!"
"So far, the Atlanta Falcons’ offense has been perfect! Flawlessly perfect! Julio Jones and Matt Ryan have become the core of the entire offense, leading the team forward. All four drives in the first half have resulted in points. This kind of offense is simply unstoppable. It looks like..."
"...like the regular-season San Francisco 49ers."
"Of course, that’s not a very accurate description, but the momentum and confidence are the same. The Atlanta Falcons’ offense has shown an extraordinary intensity and toughness, and they have firmly seized the initiative on the road. Now, the pressure is back on the San Francisco 49ers."
The score was now 7-24. The gap was back to 17 points.
If it were an average or a weaker team, they would surely be rattled now. They worked so hard to score a touchdown, only to have the opponent immediately pull away with another touchdown. It was as if all their efforts so far were for nothing. Even if it didn’t completely break them, the impact was inevitable.
In the regular season, the team that was in the Falcons’ position, applying continuous pressure, was often the San Francisco 49ers. When the opponent showed signs of a comeback, they would always suppress them with an even tougher and more ferocious attitude. But now, they were the ones being suppressed, which was not something they were used to.
Subtly, people’s eyes shifted toward Lu Ke. But they immediately noticed that Lu Ke was not affected at all. He was fully focused on communicating with offensive coordinator Craig Roman and quarterback coach Kipp Krist. His calm demeanor quickly settled the floating minds of the team.
The so-called "stabilizer of the seas" probably means this.
After the special teams kicked off, the 49ers’ offense came back on the field. The kickoff return by A.J. Jenkins was not very good, forcing the team to start their drive from their own 15-yard line.
For the first defensive read, Lu Ke changed the play.
For the second defensive read, Lu Ke slightly adjusted the play.
For the third defensive read, Lu Ke called the snap.
On the surface, it seemed like Lu Ke was becoming flustered and hesitant, and his play calls were not very decisive. But fans who truly know Lu Ke could tell that his eyes were completely still. All the play changes were within his expectations, and he didn’t even miss a single second on the play clock.
This kind of calmness and composure was definitely no less than Matt Ryan’s.
After two consecutive play changes, the 49ers still lined up in a traditional two-by-two formation, but the details hid something.
On the left were two wide receivers, Ted Ginn Jr. and Randy Moss. On the right were two tight ends, Vernon Davis and Logan Newman.
What was going on? Was the weak side getting weaker and the strong side getting stronger?
Not only that, the positions of the four receivers also seemed strange. The two players on the left were standing relatively in the middle, side by side. The two players on the right were standing very far apart. Vernon was lined up with the offensive line, and Logan was already near the sideline.
If that were all, it would just be a feint. But the offensive line also moved half a step to the left, misaligning with their original matchups. This created an illusion of a multi-receiver formation, where there were three receivers on the left and only Logan on the right.
This was very unusual.
Standing in the shotgun formation, LaMichael James was subbed in and stood parallel to Lu Ke, about three yards away, near the right side. The tactical position was still ambiguous and unidentifiable.
"Set hut!"
Without any fancy snap count, Lu Ke chose a quick snap. The sound of the offensive and defensive lines colliding fiercely was heard. But players who were familiar with a front-line confrontation could tell that the sound of the collision was not loud and was a bit muffled, which meant that the collision wasn’t a solid one.
However, the changes on the field were too fast. The linebackers and cornerbacks had no time to react and had to immediately make a corresponding defensive move; otherwise, it would be too late.
The moment of the snap, the two wide receivers on the left broke through quickly like arrows leaving a bow.
Ginn used his speed to the fullest, avoiding any potential head-on confrontation. He ran in a straight line along the narrow space near the left sideline. He took a deep breath, and his entire body became light, like the "lightness skill" in Chinese martial arts. He continued to break through, and he was impossible to stop.
Moss’s running style was completely different. He would charge, then rip, then brake, and then cut inside. His footwork was like a confusing maze. He ran around in the short passing area, and at the same time, he was unknowingly advancing forward. The defenders didn’t have time to stop him, and he had already entered the medium passing area.
At the same time, the push on the right was not to be outdone.
Logan actively charged toward his covering cornerback, Asante Samuel. The momentum of a tiger coming down from a mountain forced Asante to quickly backpedal and adjust his position, trying to make a tackle. But just as the two of them were about to collide, Logan changed his footwork and cut to his left.
Logan’s speed was very fast. He ran forward in a diagonal line, cutting from the outside to the slot, and then changed his direction again, running along the slot toward the end zone. Because the previous horizontal movement had taken some time, by the time he reached the slot, Ginn and Moss on the other side had already arrived at their positions.
The Atlanta Falcons’ defense only had time for a quick scan of the field and then realized: all the receivers were in position.
...
Let’s go back in time about 1.5 to 1.9 seconds, to the formation when Lu Ke called the snap. Why did Lu Ke make such a tactical adjustment? A look at the Atlanta Falcons’ defensive formation makes it obvious.
The Falcons’ defense changed their formation: four defensive linemen and one outside linebacker were still on the front line, creating a confrontation with the offensive line. Two linebackers and two cornerbacks stood parallel, but their formation was now more compressed, and they were assisted by a safety who was a step behind. This changed the coverage of the short passing area.
We can simply match them up like this:
Cornerback Robert McClain was covering wide receiver Ted Ginn. Safety William Moore, who was a step behind, was covering wide receiver Randy Moss. Outside linebacker Robert James was covering offensive guard Mike Iupati. Inside linebacker Akeem Dent was covering running back LaMichael James. Cornerback Asante Samuel was covering Logan Newman.
In other words, on the front line, the five defensive players made up of four defensive linemen and one outside linebacker were each matched up with an offensive lineman. The five defensive players made up of two linebackers, two cornerbacks, and one safety were each matched up with three receivers and one running back.
The only exception was outside linebacker Robert James. His matchup was Iupati on the inside of the pocket. He could seize the opportunity to make a mismatched tackle, using the confrontation between the defensive and offensive lines to change his tactic and role at any time. He could even switch places with his two teammates, Akeem and Asante, to unleash the function of the latter two defenders.
The five players who were standing in a relatively straight line gave the Falcons’ defense more potential characteristics, increasing the intensity of their defense. Lu Ke would not believe that they didn’t reference the Seattle Seahawks’ defensive tactics.
The last safety, Thomas DeCoud, was a full six to seven yards behind. He was a free safety, always roaming in the secondary to make up for any coverage mistakes.
Lu Ke changed the play twice in a row because he was trying to figure out the roles and tactical changes of the defensive players. Of course, he also knew that the Falcons couldn’t completely expose their defensive playbook, but it at least allowed him to build a model in his mind and then execute his offensive plan.
After the snap, the 49ers’ offense’s running was very targeted.
On the left, Ginn took McClain, and Moss took Moore. The running of the two players was very threatening. Moss’s disruption in the middle also attracted the attention of Robert James and Thomas DeCoud at the same time.
On the right, Logan took Asante. By slowing down his pace and then moving toward the inside slot, he further influenced Thomas DeCoud’s judgment, forcing him to move left and right in the middle to cover.
As a result, there were only two linebackers, Robert James and Akeem Dent, left in the short passing area. The former was hesitating whether he should drop back to help cover Moss, and he eventually did. The latter was staring at LaMichael James and staying in place, but he didn’t notice that the empty space behind him was getting bigger and more chaotic!
This was not the end.
The key to this drive was also the change in the front-line confrontation.
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