Chapter 994: Deafening

Standing at the exit of the players’ tunnel, and looking up, an endless sea of dark blue surged like a vast and profound ocean. The crowd was so immense that you couldn’t see the end of it, and even the blue sky blended into it. Every corner of your vision was filled with a rich, pure, and deep blue.

For a moment, it felt like being Robinson Crusoe in the embrace of a vast ocean. No matter how he searched, he couldn’t see the horizon, and he slowly began to despair.

There’s always a higher mountain. CenturyLink Field’s grandeur and magnificence were truly astonishing!

When the Seattle Seahawks players entered, the cheers of the entire stadium erupted, surging continuously like a storm inside the stadium, creating a truly earth-shattering effect. Even standing still, Lu Ke could feel a subtle vibration coming from his feet—he was sure it wasn’t an illusion.

When the San Francisco 49ers players entered, the boos from the entire stadium immediately became a single, continuous roar. They crashed down like a raging wave, one after another, as if Princess Iron Fan was constantly fanning them with her banana fan. It felt like the air resistance and pressure were building up with every step they took forward. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Before the game even began, CenturyLink Field gave the visiting San Francisco 49ers a brutal blow with its iconic display of support, powerfully declaring that this was the home of the Seattle Seahawks!

And this was just the beginning.

During the pre-game coin toss, the Seattle Seahawks’ on-field captain, center Max Unger, guessed correctly again—the same thing happened last time at Candlestick Park. That time, they chose to play defense first. This time, Unger chose to play offense first.

This subtle change in choice showed the huge change in the team’s confidence.

Russell Wilson led the offense onto the field with a dazzling entrance to the cheers of the entire stadium!

The players on this Seattle Seahawks offense were still the same players, but compared to the fifth week of the regular season, their state had changed completely.

At least three offensive linemen had Pro Bowl-level ability, including center Unger. The performances of receivers Doug Baldwin and Golden Tate had clearly improved.

Most importantly, two Pro Bowl-level players had emerged in the running back lineup: the "Beast Mode" Marshawn Lynch, and the veteran Leon Washington, who was excellent at finding open spots. With the clever cover of the offensive line and tactical plays, the two players’ alternating runs became the team’s sharpest weapon.

The Seattle Seahawks were still a team that focused more on running than passing. The rhythm changes of Marshawn and Leon, along with Russell’s read-option offense, made their ground game very powerful. They were currently ranked second in the league, only behind the Washington Redskins, led by Robert Griffin III.

The latter was also a scrambling quarterback. From Cam Newton to this year’s Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson, the offensive diversity of the entire league was becoming younger and more powerful.

On a side note, all three of these scrambling quarterbacks were black players, and their physical advantages were their biggest guarantee. Colin Kaepernick on the San Francisco 49ers was also black.

Based on the strength of their ground game, Russell’s defensive reads and passing offense were always able to achieve better results. What’s more, his passing accuracy was better than Cam’s, which made the Seahawks’ offense more three-dimensional. On the other hand, if their ground game was stopped, the Seahawks would face a serious problem.

So far, the Seattle Seahawks had lost four games: the season opener to the Arizona Cardinals, the fourth week to the St. Louis Rams, the seventh week to the San Francisco 49ers, and the twelfth week to the Miami Dolphins.

What was the common thread here? Three of those games were divisional rivalries. When the ground defense became tougher because of a divisional rivalry, the Seahawks often became lost. The Dolphins’ defense was currently ranked seventh in the league, with their ground defense ranked fourth.

Of course, all four of these games were away games, which was also a reason that couldn’t be ignored.

In today’s game, the San Francisco 49ers, whose ground defense had been ranked first in the league for two consecutive seasons, had dropped to third place due to their shaky performance in the past two weeks. But their strength was still absolutely top-notch. This matchup would also determine the outcome of the game.

You could see this in the first offensive drive.

"Marshawn Lynch! My goodness, Beast Mode! Marshawn Lynch has entered Beast Mode again!"

In a steady offensive drive, Russell repeatedly used the read-option offense to confuse the 49ers’ linebackers, distracting one of their defensive players, and always creating a defensive mismatch.

You couldn’t blame the 49ers’ defense, because the Seattle Seahawks’ ground game was indeed very diverse.

Because of Kaepernick, the 49ers’ defense was no stranger to the read-option offense during practice. Simply put, the quarterback would target one of the opponent’s players, intentionally leave that player open, and then use seven players, including the offensive line, the running back, and himself, to go one-on-one against seven of the opponent’s defensive players—whether it’s a "4-3" or a "3-4" defense, there were seven players in the first line of the defense, which meant that the offense could always get a one-on-one matchup.

The player who was left open would go up against the quarterback. The quarterback just had to pay attention to that player’s movements and choose his offensive play based on their actions: pass, handoff, or run with the ball himself.

Because the Seattle Seahawks’ ground game included Marshawn Lynch, Leon Washington, and Russell Wilson, all three players had the ability to run with the ball. This made the 49ers’ defense even more exhausted and prone to defensive mismatches.

The risk of the read-option offense was very high. Once the defense figured out the quarterback’s intention and made a move or a mismatch in advance, they could tackle the quarterback or the running back immediately. If the quarterback ran with the ball himself, facing a vicious tackle from a defensive player was like a lamb walking into a tiger’s den. The frequency of injuries was much higher than usual.

But at the same time, the return was also very high. Whether it was last season’s Cam, or this season’s Griffin and Russell, as long as they could stay calm, they could indeed gain a slight advantage with the read-option offense. In a game, that slight advantage was enough.

After a series of read-option plays, Russell chose to hand the ball to Marshawn.

"Marshawn Lynch breaks through Aldon Smith’s tackle! Smith had his position perfectly, but Lynch’s powerful run broke through Smith’s tackle with brute force! The size and strength are not on the same level!"

"Lynch breaks through Smith! Then he faces a combined defense from Dashon Goldson and Carlos Rogers! And also a timely backup from Patrick Willis! The San Francisco 49ers’ ground defense is highly focused, and they got into position very quickly! The entire running route has been blocked!"

"Marshawn Lynch! My goodness!"

"Lynch forcefully breaks through Rogers’ block! Rogers goes flying! This is a bullfight! The long-lost Beast Mode is back! Rogers’ mistake in position causes Goldson to fail to close the gap in time! Lynch accelerates! Lynch accelerates again! Goldson is still trying to run back, and Willis hasn’t given up, but... it’s too late!"

"Touchdown!"

"Marshawn Lynch scores an 18-yard rushing touchdown!"

Although it was mainly a ground game, the Seattle Seahawks’ first offensive drive was very solid and very fast. In less than four minutes, Marshawn scored the first touchdown of the game with his unstoppable and powerful run.

The entire offensive drive was well-paced and smooth. In the final run, Marshawn’s Beast Mode broke through the encirclement of four defensive players. Without any mistakes from the opponents, he tore open a path with his own ability and scored a touchdown like a bolt of lightning!

CenturyLink Field instantly erupted!

"Ahhh!"

"Ahhh!"

"Ahhh!"

The deafening roars were like the howls of Vikings, pouring down from all directions. Every single person in the stadium was jumping, roaring, and yelling. The incredible sound waves and air currents made it feel as if the air was twisting in that deep blue sea of noise.

Lu Ke stood on the sidelines, carefully observing the Seahawks’ offensive formation. The sudden sound waves gave him goosebumps. Then Lu Ke saw the tactics board in Kipp Crist’s hand shaking slightly. He couldn’t help but give Kipp a big smile, as if he was mocking Kipp for not having "seen the world."

But Kipp shook his head in a daze and mouthed, "I’m not shaking."

Lu Ke didn’t believe him.

Kipp simply handed the tactics board to Lu Ke. When Lu Ke held it, he could immediately feel the subtle trembling numbness passing through the board to his fingertips. After he calmed down, he could also feel the slight vibration coming up through his toes. Was this a man-made earthquake?

Lu Ke looked up and looked at Kipp in disbelief, and he saw Kipp innocently spreading his hands.

No matter what, it was now certain that CenturyLink Field had truly given the visiting team a brutal warning, powerfully declaring: They were going to win this game today!

So, would the San Francisco 49ers agree to that?

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