Super Bowl Domination

Chapter 570 New and old grudges
In the 2018 season, the regular season schedule was announced early.

The season opener still followed convention, with the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs playing at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers, which instantly sparked countless discussions.

The clash between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 6 of the regular season last season was undoubtedly one of the most exciting and best-watched games of the season.

The grudges from this game continued all the way into the playoffs, causing off-court turmoil and pushing the tension between the two teams on and off the court to a new level.

As you can imagine, when the league announced the opening game matchups, social networks were in an uproar, with all kinds of memes flying around.

however!
The league also did not expect that Bale's contract renewal issue would escalate and even get out of control, eventually becoming an unmanageable situation.

In an instant, all the running backs were caught in the storm.

Kansas City Chiefs' two running backs, Levi and Hunter, were the first to be hit.

Now, all the new and old grudges are superimposed on each other, and the atmosphere is full of tension.

No words are needed, the tension of the opening match has been pushed to a new height——

Goodell, tall, really tall!
People thought that last year's "Goat vs. Rookie" opening match was exaggerated and exciting enough, but they didn't expect it to be renovated this year.

This time, it is no longer a simple battle between two players or a group of opponents, but a powerful collision of attitudes, concepts and values.

Pro: Running backs can be used and discarded at any time. No one is irreplaceable. Representative: Pittsburgh Steelers.

On the other hand, running backs have special value and top players are unique after all. Representative, Kansas City Chiefs.

At present, this is also one of the hotly debated topics in the entire league, or to put it in a more popular and simple way:

In an excellent ground offense, does the team's tactics contribute more or does the top running back contribute more?

The latter recognizes the distinct difference between excellent running backs and ordinary running backs; the former disagrees.

Although the affirmative side has the upper hand in the debate and its advantage is gradually expanding, there is still no shortage of supporters of the negative side.

Now, the league has sparked another full discussion with a game.

The popularity is soaring into the sky.

Goodell: No, no, no, no, this time, I'm really innocent. I'm not, I don't know, I didn't.

Goodell did not expect that the negotiations between Bell and the Pittsburgh Steelers would collapse and go their separate ways, with Bell expressing his position in the most resolute manner; he also did not expect that Levi and Hunter would support Bell in different ways, and that Levi would even involve the Pittsburgh Steelers.

then……

That's how it is.

Goodell was also stunned.

This time, he was really wronged; but that's what the shepherd boy is like. After shouting "wolf", people no longer believed him.

However, unexpectedly, a rumor spread quickly:
Maybe, Goodell is ready to vindicate the running back.

After all, Levi is a running back.

Levi's sudden emergence last season has undoubtedly become a new attraction of the league, strongly promoting the football market. The layout and penetration of the Asian market may take some time, but the response of the Asian market in North America has been immediate, further expanding the leading advantage in its own base.

Compared with the development of other markets, the alliance was particularly happy to be able to open up the market in their home country where market development had reached a bottleneck.

The league has expanded its influence, advertisers have increased their investments, teams have increased their dividends, team owners have become fatter, team hard salary caps have continued to rise, and players have been able to fight for higher contracts.

Hello, I am good, everyone is happy. In this case, promoting the status of running backs in the league does not seem to be a bad thing.

However, this could affect the passing offense's push, which could affect ratings.

Therefore, the alliance still needs to test it out -

Levi is a pilot, and "Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers" is a test.

If the Kansas City Chiefs win and the ratings perform well, it will give the league more confidence and boost the status of running backs.

This rumor spread across social networks at lightning speed and became more and more intense, with the running back becoming the focus of heated discussion.

Goodell: ?

It was rare for Goodell to be unable to defend himself, but he ultimately did not speak out to clarify.

Donald Yu was not surprised by this, as everything was under his control.

He knew that Goodell would not deny it, even if the situation of running backs, safeties and linebackers was indeed becoming increasingly marginalized and all of them were discussed in football programs; but Goodell's official position would not respond, neither admit nor deny, and he absolutely did not want to become the public enemy of the players.

Therefore, Goodell will go with the flow and see the direction and changes of public opinion, and then see the attitude of the general public towards running backs.

Who knows, maybe, this can indeed be the turning point in turning around the running back woes?
Donald's judgment was correct.

then.

The atmosphere heated up little by little, and in the midst of the bustling noise, the attention of the entire league was focused on Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

Whether it was an accident, a coincidence, or fate, the Kansas City Chiefs participated in the season opener for the second consecutive year.

Exactly one year ago, the inconspicuous Kansas City Chiefs defeated the defending champion New England Patriots in the opening game, thus kicking off their miracle season.

Exactly one year later, the Kansas City Chiefs are in a completely different position and are about to face a tricky challenge at home.

This offseason, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers have experienced varying degrees of ups and downs, and their team lineups have undergone varying degrees of changes.

For the Pittsburgh Steelers, although Bell did not announce his absence from the regular season until the negotiations broke down at the last minute, catching the team off guard; Tomlin had already prepared in advance and began to make adjustments from the preseason.

The head coach gave the team's uniform staff reassurance with his excellent performance. Even without an ace running back, the Pittsburgh Steelers are still a strong team.

In the preseason, the team had three wins and one loss, sweeping the Philadelphia Eagles, narrowly losing to the Green Bay Packers, and easily defeating the Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers.

The performance is convincing.

After a little panic, the Pittsburgh Steelers arrived in Kansas City full of confidence, ready for the opening of the new season.

In fact, because of Bell's sudden move, under Tomlin's instigation, the locker room was not only not frustrated, but also full of fighting spirit and united to target the Kansas City Chiefs, ready to vent all the grievances and anger on this opponent.

It is not easy for the Kansas City Chiefs either, with a new quarterback and a new tactical system, and the quarterback is a sophomore who lacks experience.

In the preseason, the team has been working together and playing with some bumps in the road. They defeated two strong teams, the Atlanta Falcons and the Green Bay Packers, but lost to two weak teams, the Houston Texans and the Chicago Bears. Their performance was very unstable, with great ups and downs, and they still couldn't find their focus.

When the season kicked off, all the pressure fell on the shoulders of "rookie No. 2" Mahomes; at the same time, Levi also had to face new challenges of his own. The still young and green defending champion stumbled into the face of a united opponent.

Perhaps the best news is that it all happened at Arrowhead Stadium.

(End of this chapter)