Super Bowl Domination

Chapter 1384 Quicksand Resistance
What is the key to dealing with the Houston Texans offense?
pressure.

Of course, this sentence is too general, because the key word facing all quarterbacks in the league is pressure. In the new era where passing is king, the defense must make the quarterback feel the pressure. How to exert pressure, how to raid, and how to limit the quarterback have become the biggest issues for the offense.

The most direct and obvious point is that as the value of quarterbacks has risen, the value of defensive linemen and cornerbacks has also been rising.

But facing Watson, this sentence is more targeted.

Because Watson often makes mistakes under pressure, it has nothing to do with physical fitness or talent, but rather on-the-spot reaction, reading the defense, understanding the situation, and choosing tactics in a crisis. Everything is done in a flash and is more of a subconscious instinct.

However, this instinct, this killer quality, this champion temperament, this potential for greatness, is the key to making a unique superstar.

For now, Watson has not shown this "quality". If the defense puts enough pressure on Watson, his brain will betray him first.

So, how to keep Watson under pressure for a long time is a science.

Chris Jones took a deep breath: He had an idea.

The Houston Texans offense and the Kansas City Chiefs defense came on the field again. This was still the first half of the first quarter. The stalemate and tension between the two sides had not eased. Both sides were in a state of all-out fighting. Either the east wind would prevail over the west wind or the west wind would prevail over the east wind.

In the last wave of offensive and defensive confrontation, the Kansas City Chiefs' offense relied on rhythm and variety to break the balance, quickly completing touchdowns with an overwhelming attitude, pushing the pressure exponentially onto the Houston Texans. The Arrowhead Stadium team had a tacit cooperation, and overwhelming shouts poured down on the opponent.

But O'Brien came prepared.

He knew that the Kansas City Chiefs had such capabilities. Just look at the second quarter of the last divisional game. The Tennessee Titans were directly stunned. The Kansas City Chiefs' instantaneous explosive power is undoubtedly the best in the entire league, so this wave of impact is not enough to completely disrupt their pace.

Everything goes according to plan.

O'Brien and his coaching staff once again demonstrated their thorough and detailed pre-game preparation, and the Houston Texans' offense led by Watson continued to advance steadily.

However, no matter how they pushed forward, both O'Brien and Watson felt very intuitively that they faced more and more resistance each time they pushed forward. It was not just that the first attack was becoming more and more difficult, but that each tactical layout and execution faced many obstacles, which made the situation complicated.

Yes, resistance, not obstacles.

The Kansas City Chiefs defense didn't rush into anything, interrupting Watson and the Houston Texans in one go. Instead, they calmed down, slowed down, and slowly established a process where resistance accumulated and climbed, slowly, slowly, trapping the Houston Texans offense in quicksand.

So, how exactly did the Kansas City Chiefs do it?
Reid borrowed the defensive strategy from the Tennessee Titans in the previous game and made adjustments based on the characteristics of the Kansas City Chiefs.

In the frontcourt, maintain pressure and make sure the defensive line continues to hit the offensive line, confusing the offensive line's footsteps and creating chaos, but the focus is not on the surprise attack. Putting pressure on Watson in a way that hits the bull from a distance is part of the purpose but not all. Disrupting the passing field of view is the key.

Simply put, defensive forwards and linebackers often defend in the style of basketball interior defense, standing upright with their hands raised, swaying like windshield wipers, disrupting Watson's defensive reading vision.

Originally, Watson's passing vision was not outstanding, especially in secondary defensive reading. He often had blind spots in interpreting the formation layout on the spot under pressure or chaos. Now, the defensive front line further increased the difficulty for Watson to read the defense.

In the backcourt, we defend in a positional manner and closely throughout the game.

The Kansas City Chiefs' secondary defense is not the best in the league, and their individual combat capabilities are not outstanding, so they do not expect to be able to complete the defense cleanly every time, and they may even be at a disadvantage in one-on-one situations; but it does not matter, the key is to increase the difficulty of catching the ball, which also means increasing the difficulty of Watson's pass.

Through such pressure, Watson is always in a tightrope-walking state. Of course, the strategy of the Kansas City Chiefs' defense is not perfect.

First of all, Watson can still complete the pass, even if it is a knife-edge dance. His own passing ability, the ability of Hopkins and other receiving points, and the standing of the two tight ends ensure that the Houston Texans can still complete the pass.

Secondly, the Houston Texans faced tremendous pressure on the passing end, but relatively speaking, the pressure on the running end was significantly reduced, which gave their running backs space, and coupled with Watson's own ability to run with the ball, they were still able to complete the advancement.

But the key point of quicksand is not to swallow you up instantly, but to destroy your ability to move silently.

The Kansas City Chiefs' targeted defense forced Watson to face interference on every attack, whether passing or running the ball. Thousands of mosquitoes kept flying around his ears, and the buzzing sound was really irritating and unbearable.

It is precisely because of this that the Houston Texans' offense continues to advance, but the difficulty of advancement is gradually increasing, and the time to test Watson's patience and calmness has come.

Chris Jones knew that they were on the right track and were suffocating Watson little by little, but Watson hadn't noticed yet.

Given Watson's personality, he would definitely tend to break through head-on and show toughness, trying to break the situation in this way; but in this way, he would fall into a trap.

"attack!"

On second down and six yards, Jones caught Watson's command to kick off and stepped on the ground without hesitation, completing his defensive action for the 101st time.

This time, it's a little different.

Jones faked a shot and did not collide head-on with the offensive line. Instead, he took a step outside, lightly bypassed the front line and cut directly into the pocket.

Raid!

The key lies in suddenness. The Houston Texans never expected that the opponent, who had been in a stalemate in this wave of offense and defense, would suddenly exert force and Jones would enter the pocket.

Not only Jones, but also defensive end Frank Clark on the other side entered the pocket, and the offensive lineman's confrontation target became the linebacker.

This was a premeditated raid!
Watson didn't see Clark on his blind side for the time being, but he saw Jones on his right side at a glance. The accumulated pressure instantly grabbed his heart during the sudden attack at this moment.

But Watson remained calm, and hurriedly scanned the court while taking consecutive steps back.

Push off the ground, turn your body, swing your arms, and push.

At the critical moment, Watson gritted his teeth, pushed the football out with the whip-like movement of his forearm, and it flew quickly.

however!
Unexpectedly, a pair of hands appeared on the path of the football's rising parabola.

That was Chris Jones!

(End of this chapter)