Super Bowl Domination

Chapter 1387: Chaos Vortex
Don't forget that Reed, like Belichick, is one of the few head coaches in the league who can fully mobilize the special teams and stimulate their potential. It may seem insignificant, but it is actually an indispensable part of a strong team and a championship team, and it can often determine victory or defeat at critical moments.

The first thing Reed noticed was O'Brien's swaying.

Whether it is choosing a free kick or forcing a fourth-down shot, these are both correct choices. In the first quarter of the game, every choice has its value, so the focus is not on O'Brien's choice, but on O'Brien's brief hesitation.

This shows that O'Brien is shaken. From here on, the game gradually deviates from the scope of pre-match preparation and derives more possibilities.

Although on-the-spot coordination is not Reed's strong point, he still accurately read the psychological fluctuations and immediately deployed his troops to exert further pressure.

boom! Bang bang bang!
The special teams kicked off.

The Kansas City Chiefs made a clear effort, and the forward players in the formation swarmed forward collectively, breaking through the opponent's protective net with unstoppable force and rushing straight towards the kicker.

Houston Texans kicker Ka'imi-Fairbairn was an undrafted rookie in 2016. Although he signed with the Houston Texans, he was always on the sparring team and did not become a starter until 2017.

Over the past three seasons, Fairbairn's success rate for free kicks under 50 yards has been very good, but free kicks over yards have become noticeably unstable, and the success rate for free kicks over yards has dropped to %.

In other words, he is a kicker with a clear ceiling.

The pressure, the impact, and the tightly entangled atmosphere all came crashing down on Fairbairn.

Fairbairn's shot was erratic and the 42-yard free kick went off track, with the entire parabola tilted severely to the left.

In an instant, the whole audience held their breath!

However, I don’t know whether it should be said that it was fortunate or unfortunate that there was no wind in Kansas City today, and the football flew unsteadily and hit the left goal post.

Bang!
With a crisp sound, the goal post shook violently, and the football turned strangely, and finally passed through the goal post and flew into the net.

The sighs of regret from Kansas City Chiefs fans were soon drowned out by the enthusiastic cheers of Houston Texans fans, and the goal referee announced that the free kick was valid.

"10:14".

Fairbairn let out a long breath, and the heart that almost rushed out of his throat returned to his chest. The Houston Texans barely managed to hold on to the game.

O'Brien secretly clenched his fists and secretly rejoiced.

But on the surface, O'Brien remained calm. In the eyes of the defensive players, he looked confident and managed to stabilize the atmosphere.

The Houston Texans regretted not being able to score another touchdown, but the Kansas City Chiefs' strategy of further pressure through the special team did not work. The atmosphere became increasingly tense as the two sides returned to the court. Mahomes felt the pressure further escalate.

The Houston Texans' aggressive defense was on full display.

The most obvious change is that Watt is fully targeting Mahomes for pressure.

O'Brien knows that the league hopes to see a strong showdown between "Watt VS Levi", which is also the biggest highlight of the conference finals. It is even the only reason why social networks are willing to "forgive" this upset after the Houston Texans eliminated the Baltimore Ravens to disrupt the two-strong meeting. It has attracted everyone's attention.

However, O'Brien also knows that whether it is "Cheating Motion" or the modern outside zone offensive system, the core is still the quarterback.

If the Houston Texans defense tries to do anything, it has to put pressure on Mahomes.

What's more, among the two cores of the Kansas City Chiefs' offense, should they focus on Mahomes or Levi? O'Brien would rather choose Mahomes. Therefore, Watt does not need to worry about ground defense for the time being, and can attack Mahomes wholeheartedly, making sure that Mahomes feels the real threat.

Of course, this does not mean that the Houston Texans give up ground defense. Crennel has obviously studied the Baltimore Ravens' regular season defense strategy. Instead of using one player to guard Levi, no one in the entire league has 100% confidence in a one-on-one challenge with Levi; instead, each defensive position uses a combination of two different players to guard Levi.

First, avoid exposing your defensive strategy.

Secondly, it forced Levi to remain tense and unable to enter his comfort zone.

Thirdly, by freeing up manpower to increase full-court pressure defense, it avoids a significant weakening of the passing defense, which could create a loophole for the opponent to break the balance.

The key is that the Houston Texans' defense relies on a group of blue-collar players, and Crennel can play a powerful role in any combination of them.

The confrontation escalates instantly.

The Houston Texans' defense showed a desperate attitude, and in a do-or-die situation, they even burst out with more energy than the Kansas City Chiefs.

Led by Watt, the Houston Texans defense incredibly gained the upper hand.

With two hits on the quarterback and one effective pass interference, JJ Watt immediately proved himself to be the nightmare of all quarterbacks in the league.

Mahomes was caught in the storm and felt an unprecedented crisis in his pocket.

Levi is no exception. On the surface, the Houston Texans' defense's tactics were particularly messy and disorganized, just a random punch; but a closer look reveals that this was done intentionally by Crennel, using the chaos to undermine judgment and prevent Reed from seeing through the tactics.

As a result, Levi also fell into the vortex of chaos.

Reed replaced Levi with Damien, which on the one hand allowed Levi to take a breath, and on the other hand allowed Levi to get rid of the predicament and observe the context and rules as a bystander.

There is no doubt that the Houston Texans are still keeping close to the situation, even further than in the sixth week of the regular season, and the intensity of the confrontation is still increasing.

However, the Kansas City Chiefs' offensive unit has also been tempered, and even if Levi leaves the field temporarily, Mahomes is growing into a team leader.

Mahomes was in third-down trouble three times and resolved the crisis three times.

On the third down, it was a third down with 3 yards. Mahomes and Kelce used a realistic short pass to even fool Watt, forcing Watt to stop briefly and try to block the pass to interfere with the passer's line of sight. As a result, Mahomes retracted his right hand and ran with the ball himself, using a rare read option offense.

This tactic, which has become "outdated" this season, allowed Mahomes to easily advance five yards in a dense crowd and make a sliding tackle to get the first attack.

wonderful!

The Houston Texans' defense maintained a high frequency of intensity, but the Kansas City Chiefs relied on the full concentration of their top players to escape danger time and time again. After a full five minutes of stalemate, the first quarter had already entered the second quarter, and the Kansas City Chiefs struggled to cross the midfield line.

The yellow flag continued to interfere with the game. Both the offensive and defensive teams were in a tense atmosphere, with frequent fouls that disrupted the flow of the game.

You can clearly feel that everyone is panting and sweating, and the steaming scene is like a hot spring.

At this moment, Levi came on the court again, replacing Damien.

(End of this chapter)