Super Bowl Domination

Chapter 203 Full of Expectations
Beep, beep beep beep!
At the end of the game, the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the visiting San Francisco 27ers 17:49 at home and won their first preseason game.

In the preseason, the focus was on honing tactics and screening lineups, and winning or losing was not the point. In the entire game, Levi only played one quarter, but he still relied on that long-distance rush to brush up his stats, advancing 101 yards and a touchdown, initially demonstrating his ability to compete in professional competitions.

Not only Levi, Mahomes only played half the game, and other backup quarterbacks came on the field in the second half. Currently, the Kansas City Chiefs have a total of five quarterbacks and eight running backs. After the preseason, they must lay off and adjust. Even the substitutes need to be strictly tested.

Last season, after Jamaal Charles was injured, the Kansas City Chiefs' lack of running back bench depth was exposed, becoming a soft spot that was severely stabbed by opponents. Reid does not want to repeat the same mistake this year.

After the game, the local media in Missouri was jubilant.

Levi Mahomes. The two high-draft rookies that the Kansas City Chiefs spent a huge price to trade up not only represent this year's immediate combat power, but also represent the team's future and carry countless expectations.

Now, both rookies have put in impressive performances and proved their worth. The media and fans are just as excited and can't wait to applaud them.

at the same time!

Stimulated by Levi's outstanding performance, another rookie running back, Hunter, was not to be outdone in showing his ambition and handed in an answer sheet that was in no way inferior to Levi's, effectively countering those doubts about the selection of two running backs. He not only demonstrated the Kansas City Chiefs' ground strength, but also showed the depth of the bench and rich tactics, which was welcomed with applause.

Expectations are rising steadily.

However, other media and fans of other teams were much calmer.

"One game doesn't prove anything."

"Before you make such a fuss, why don't you take a look at the performances of Fournette and McCaffrey?"

"Calm down, calm down. We just beat the San Francisco 49ers who are not good at defense. There is no need to rush and celebrate."

"Indeed, Levi's performance was impressive, but was it really that outstanding? On the level of a top scholar?"

"Let the bullets fly for a while, there's no need to praise them too much."

In the hustle and bustle, a group of rational people tried to calm the alliance down.

In their view, it is obvious that the league's top management represented by Roger Goodell is trying to promote the Chinese and even Asian markets, and has been fanning the flames behind the scenes. Maybe Levi's six points were blown up to twelve points, like the savior of football, as if the NFL is a group of country bumpkins who have never seen a real top superstar. This is really ugly.

So, one by one, they began to pour cold water to cool down and pull the reins.

Soon, their "reason" was proved to be correct.

In the second preseason game, the Kansas City Chiefs traveled to face the Cincinnati Bengals, and the offensive team that performed well in the previous game was completely silent.

Including Levi.

Like the previous game, Levi only played one quarter, this time partnering with the main quarterback Alex Smith.

On the one hand, Smith was also looking for his touch and form; on the other hand, Reid also concentrated on testing the short pass coordination, which caused the Kansas City Chiefs' offense to revolve around the short pass area. Neither passing nor running could open up the situation, and the scene was a bit dull.

The Cincinnati Bengals' targeted zone defense performed very well. They had the intensity and tactics they needed, effectively clamping down on the Kansas City Chiefs' advance, and the entire offense and defense confrontation fell into a meat grinder positional warfare confrontation.

Levi, mediocre performance.

This was the first time that Levi felt the true intensity of NFL-level confrontation. From individual ability to teamwork, it was a comprehensive upgrade on the basis of Louisiana State University. Levi's speed was continuously clamped and he crashed into the wall many times. The whole game was very dull.

"12:30".

The Kansas City Chiefs suffered a crushing defeat on the road. The cheers of the previous game were all quieted down, the shortcomings and weaknesses of the Kansas City Chiefs were fully exposed, and major media celebrated Christmas in advance.

"I've already said that..."

This sentence is the core idea of ​​the theme. One or two experts jumped out to say that they had expected this scene a long time ago. The professional league is not that simple. From intensity to tactics, it is different from the college arena. Rookies like Levi and Mahomes still have a long way to go.

"I'm really not targeting Levi, all the rookie players are garbage."

"You're clearly a rookie but you insist on bragging about being a superstar. You'll get slapped in the face when you turn around, right?"

"It's hard to bear to see them rushing to create a star after just one game. Will they punch Brady and step on Manning next?"

"If it were that easy to become a superstar, there would be one superstar per capita in the league by now. The Kansas City media should wake up and stop daydreaming."

"As the first Asian first-round pick in history, Levi still has a long way to go in his career."

This is just the preseason, and the news is already off the charts—

Winning is news.

Losing is also news.

In this hustle and bustle, people choose to forget one thing:
Whether it was the first game or the second game, Levi only played for one quarter. The role he played in the victory was not that big, and similarly, his share of the responsibility for the loss was not that big either.

Moreover, Levi is a running back, a running back who is disliked and ignored. All along, the responsibility for victory has always fallen on the shoulders of the quarterback. Since when did the running back stand at the center of the storm?
But it doesn’t matter, none of this matters.

The only important thing is that Levi is a topic. Any topic involving Levi can easily trigger traffic, and everyone wants to get a piece of the pie.

In the hustle and bustle, the focus of the entire league revolves around Levi, and it spreads from top to bottom, from team executives to ordinary fans. Even passers-by who don’t care about football can see Levi on their social network timeline.

Strong breakthrough!

Regardless of whether you like him or not, praise him or curse him, the topic is always about Levi. In just two weeks, professional programs from "Inside the League" to "Countdown to the NFL" have focused on Levi in ​​more than one or two episodes, and the fierce and controversial collisions cannot be stopped.

This is heat.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell saw this scene, but smiled without saying anything, his eyes full of satisfaction and approval——

Let the haters continue to hate, because that's how traffic comes.

Just with Levi, the discussion of the NFL 2017 preseason is already as heated as last season's playoffs, fully igniting the enthusiasm of fans.

Very good, very good, things are developing in the expected track, or even far beyond expectations.

The frenzy spread all over.

Everything was so crazy and so lively that the players were no exception. Everyone was talking about Levi, including the league's No. 1 player.

Tom Brady never thought that he would encounter such a day in his career. The first question in the post-game press conference had nothing to do with him.

"Tom, what do you think of Levi's performance?"

BRADY: Huh???
(End of this chapter)