Super Bowl Domination

Chapter 279 Life hangs on a thread

The air was almost stagnant, and time seemed to have fallen into quicksand and slowed down ten or twenty times. My pounding heart was roaring on my eardrums.

Bart had to use all his strength to control his ecstasy——

Third gear, six yards, seventeen seconds.

Pittsburgh Steelers winning percentage, 99.99%.

The Pittsburgh Steelers knew the Kansas City Chiefs were going to try a Hail Mary, Bart and Pash and the other professionals knew it, Arrowhead Stadium knew it, and almost everyone knew it, and at this point, the tactics were no longer secret.

Naturally, Tomlin's defensive tactics became simple:
Open up space and defend in the backcourt.

The Pittsburgh Steelers left three defensive ends and one linebacker in the front field to maintain pressure, and all other players retreated, scattered in the middle pass, long pass and different positions in the backfield, with all their attention focused on the Hail Mary.

Regardless of whether the Kansas City Chiefs choose to pass the ball shortly or run the ball, the Pittsburgh Steelers allow them to advance a certain distance, close the net in time, and cut off the subsequent advancement. The only thing they need to defend is to aim the cannon ball at the end zone.

Of course, Smith does not have such long pass ability, which also makes the Pittsburgh Steelers' defense more at ease.

It is precisely because of this that Reid took advantage of Tomlin's Hail Mary mentality and let Smith pass the ball to Hunter.

Yes, number two running back Hunter.

Reid used Hunter as a surprise weapon, letting Hunter quickly go out of bounds after catching the ball near the sideline, pausing the playing time, making use of Smith's strengths as much as possible, building up speed and rhythm, and establishing fluency through continuous short passes and quick out-of-bounds stops.

The goal is not a touchdown, but a buzzer-beater from a free kick.

After all, the Kansas City Chiefs were only down by two points, and a free kick was enough.

Strategy, very good; but today Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Hilton did play well, seeing through the Kansas City Chiefs' strategy at the first time, patiently waiting for Hunter to catch the ball, and then completing the tackle beside the sideline -

Not only did he stop Hunter, but he also prevented Hunter from going out of bounds, allowing the game time to continue to pass.

One tackle, one matchup, Hilton's clean and tough tackle throttled Reid's strategy of trying to stop the clock quickly, which also laid the foundation for the Pittsburgh Steelers to continue to move towards victory.

As a last resort, Smith could only quickly line up the lineup and then throw the ball to stop the clock.

The so-called ball-slamming stop clock means that the quarterback smashes the football to the ground in front of him to create a dead ball, thus wasting an offensive opportunity and pausing the game time, thereby buying time for the offensive team to rearrange tactics.

If it were Manning, he might have directly entered the no-huddle offense mode at this time, but there is only one Manning.

So the Kansas Chief slid further toward the edge of the cliff.

Next, things are even simpler for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Just continue to stick to the strategy and prevent Smith from challenging the Hail Mary. That's all.

Bart could hardly contain his joy—

at last!

He was finally able to turn over and sing once. He really didn't expect it to be so difficult. He tossed and turned for six weeks. It was really not easy. He had shed countless tears in the past month and a half. Only he knew the bitterness and torment, but now the haze is finally passing.

Sure enough, the truth lies in the hands of a few people.

Third down, six yards, seventeen seconds left, the Kansas City Chiefs had no choice but to challenge the Hail Mary, but this time, the Pittsburgh Steelers would not make the same mistakes as the previous teams and let Reid escape defeat again.

Everything is as expected——

The Kansas City Chiefs had a very short meeting time and did not waste too much time. They lined up immediately and Smith had already begun observing the formation and preparing for the kickoff.

Wait, who is that?

Bart doubted his eyes. Levi and Hunter were on the field at the same time. A double running back tactic?

Why did Reid choose the double running back tactic at this time? Is it still a trick at this time? Neither running the ball nor short passes are enough to solve the dilemma of the Kansas City Chiefs. What is Reid thinking?
Bart: I don’t understand. I don’t understand.

Not only Bart, Tomlin was also stunned for a moment, completely unable to understand Reed's strategy. Several possibilities flashed through his mind quickly but he immediately denied them all.

"Concentrate! Concentrate!"

Tomlin didn't have time to change his tactics, so he decided to stay the same and just kept shouting to make the defensive players tense. "Attack!"

Smith teed off.

In an instant, the troops on both sides of the Chu River and Han River were mobilized according to the plan.

Bart's heart tightened and he stared at the game on the TV screen.

Fake fax running?

Levi stepped forward and made a handoff with Smith.

Fake run and real pass?

Smith did not pass the football to Levi. Levi passed in front of Smith, pulled it sideways and rushed out at a 45-degree angle diagonally to the right.

However, there is no need for that. No matter whether it is a fake pass or a fake run and a real pass, all these little moves are now redundant and cannot fool the opponent at all.

What on earth is Reed doing?
Fifteen seconds.

At this time, all the other players of the Kansas City Chiefs rushed forward regardless of anything. Two wide receivers, a tight end and a running back, without stopping or hesitating, all rushed forward, and it was obvious that they were ready to challenge the Hail Mary.

Therefore, Smith's action was even more unnecessary. Isn't this just like taking off pants to fart?
At this moment, silently, a figure belatedly crossed the Chu River and Han River and walked straight forward -

Levi, that's Levi!
Bart: Huh.

Suddenly, his breath was cut off. Why did Levi cross the line of scrimmage?

On the court, Levi was observing.

Sure enough, Hayward was confused.

Originally, Hayward was going to tackle Smith. Even though all his teammates were moving back and the Pittsburgh Steelers had no numerical advantage in the front line confrontation, Hayward was not going to let Smith comfortably challenge the Hail Mary.

There are two main focuses when defending a Hail Mary: one is to put pressure on the quarterback, and the other is to target the receiver.

Hayward is responsible for the former. Even if his team is outnumbered, he doesn't care. He will just apply pressure and tear the pocket apart regardless of the consequences.

However, Smith and Levi's dazzling operations disrupted the plan, and Hayward's footsteps obviously paused and he hesitated briefly.

The playing field is changing rapidly.

A moment of hesitation may put you in a passive position.

By the time Hayward realized that Levi had broken through, his steps could no longer keep up; at the same time, he was preparing to start again to continue to capture Smith, but his step forward lacked explosive power and he crashed into the human wall in front of him.

Not only did I not pick up the sesame seeds, but I also lost the watermelon.

Hayward held his breath in his chest, unable to believe that his strong performance throughout the game had led to a mistake at this moment. However, it was too late. He only managed to catch a glimpse of a red afterimage in the corner of his eye.

Damn!

Levi encountered no obstacles at all. For the first time in the entire game, he was able to let go and fully accelerate, rushing out without hesitation.

Also, stay calm, quickly take in the distribution of the players in front of you, and start analyzing with your brain at high speed.

At this time, Watt noticed it for the first time——

Levi, rushing forward without the ball.

But why?

If he doesn't have the ball and doesn't break the screen, the only possibility for Levi to continue rushing forward is:

Pass the ball to the target.

(End of this chapter)