Super Bowl Domination

Chapter 871 Extraordinary Talent
Stalemate, stalemate, confrontation——

"Levi vs. Donald 1.0" ended with a free kick from the Kansas City Chiefs.

Although Levi broke out in full force and broke the balance with his unparalleled performance, Donald also followed up in time and dragged the game on relentlessly.

At least, it prevented Levi from being so far away and scoring a touchdown in one go.

Levi looked at Donald.

Donald also looked at Levi.

Levi applauded Donald, and Donald's performance just now deserved respect.

Then, Levi withdrew his gaze and prepared for his next appearance.

Donald also retracted his gaze and high-fived Goff and Gurley respectively, trying to pass his energy to the offensive team and help the offensive team cheer up.

Previously, although both teams did not score, at least the Kansas City Chiefs were able to get the first attack and complete the advancement; while the Los Angeles Rams' offensive group was completely disrupted, and Goff and Gurley both performed abnormally.

Although they both scored zero points, the Los Angeles Rams' offense was in a worse situation.

Now, Levi has taken the lead, and the Los Angeles Rams must keep up, otherwise...

Otherwise, they have no choice but to cheer up to survive.

After motivating the offensive team, Donald looked back at Levi again:
Levi today is a little different.

Donald's judgment was correct, Levi came prepared.

After the confrontation in the eleventh week of the regular season, Levi has been looking forward to meeting Donald again.

To be precise, Levi wanted to play against Watt and Donald, two of the league's top defensive players in the past five years, so with the help of Clark, Levi studied them carefully -

This is Li Wei's own research topic, which he completed in his spare time.

Watt, defensive end.

Donald, defensive tackle.

In terms of tactical position, the two players are different. The defensive tackle focuses on inside pressure and middle defense, while the defensive end focuses on outside pressure and wing defense. Naturally, their technical characteristics and tactical styles are also different.

But the Houston Texans are in a "4-3" formation and the Los Angeles Rams are in a "3-4" formation, so in terms of lineup, the two players are the same, standing on the outside of the defensive line, taking on both pass rushing and ground defense duties.

So, two players with similar abilities but with their own styles.

The similarities are that both have incredible explosiveness and agility, often penetrating the offensive front line in a devastating way; at the same time, both have top hand and footwork skills in the league, which is often overlooked when people focus on their physical talents.

The difference is that Watt is taller and stronger. At 6.4 feet (196 cm) and 288 pounds (132 kg), he is even bigger than Donald. He is undoubtedly a beast standing on the court, so Watt often relies on his size advantage to easily gain the upper hand; while Donald does not have an absolute size advantage when standing in front of the offensive line. He relies more on speed, agility, and of course, strength.

In addition, Watt is more versatile. He can dominate as a defensive end, defensive tackle, cornerback, and tight end. Donald is more professional and has honed his skills at the defensive tackle position. His technical advantage is undoubtedly an important weapon.

Of course, the above differences are only relative, a comparison between strong players. Top players are often well-rounded and have no obvious weaknesses. Watt, three-time Defensive Player of the Year.

Donald, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year.

There is no doubt about their strength; however, precisely because of their strength, the confrontation between top players often depends more on the grasp of details.

Compared with Watt, Donald habitually lowers his center of gravity, relies on speed and agility to show his flexibility, and moves very quickly.

Overall, Watt is more comprehensive, while Donald is more focused.

To some extent, it can even be said that Donald has one trick to conquer the world. So why was Donald still able to win the Defensive Player of the Year award for two consecutive seasons?

The reason is that this “unique trick” is extremely powerful and tough.

From a technical and tactical perspective, the defensive tackle is an inside defender, while the defensive end is an outside defender. Generally speaking, inside defenders weigh thirty to forty pounds more than outside defenders. They are heavier and tend to be slower, which is an innate disadvantage.

Although the inside defender is closer to the quarterback than the outside defender, the outside defender can get a better pass rush angle through his positioning, while the inside defender needs two or three efficient lateral slides to get into the pocket.

In comparison, even if the inside defender blocks the outside of the offensive guard through his position, the offensive guard and center only need a slide or step to block the route of the inside defense group and make the opponent entangled in the bull rush.

In addition, when facing outside defenders, the offensive team often uses tight ends or running backs to symbolically double-team, but the inside pass rusher often needs to face a double-team of two or even three people.

To sum up, it is extremely difficult for inside defenders to get good sack data.

The last time the league had an inside defender make the top three in the season sack stats was in 2000. For a full years, no inside defender has been able to break the shackles. In other words, since the st century, the league has not had a defensive tackle with top pass rushing ability.

Over the years, some top defensive tackles have tended to focus on ground defense or have been balanced pass-run defenders, but their pass rushing abilities have never been comparable to those of defensive ends.

Until Donald came along.

This season, Donald leads the quarterback sack list with 20.5 sacks, while Watt, who ranks second, has only 16. This not only makes Donald the twelfth player in history to have sacks in a single season, but also the first inside defender in history, making history.

Everything depends on "one unique trick". If one unique trick can reach such a height, then One Punch Man can also stand at the top of the pyramid.

Donald's physique and talent determine his uniqueness. He is short in height, and many cornerbacks are taller than him, but this means that he has a low center of gravity. He will not lose his center of gravity when confronting the offensive line. Instead, he actively lowers his center of gravity, forcing the offensive line to retreat again and again.

At the same time, Donald is light in weight and was positioned as a "small defensive tackle" during the draft, which in turn ensures his agility. The combination of speed and explosiveness gives him an unparalleled "first step".

That is the first reaction after the kick-off.

Donald relied on his center of gravity, speed and strength to take the first step and form a bull rush. This seemingly simple first step is precisely the cornerstone of Donald's current achievements.

One-step bull rush, dislocation forming a shoulder duel, change of position to impact, and completion of the breakthrough; in addition, the strength of both arms, technical movements, grappling movements and other technical aspects provide support. There are very few offensive linemen in the entire league who can withstand Donald's one-step bull rush.

The absolutely strong performance allowed Donald to gain the upper hand when facing Levi and Mahomes in the eleventh week of the regular season, and he went completely crazy.

(End of this chapter)