Dominate the Super Bowl

Chapter 460: 459 Adapt to Venue Chapter 460: 459 Adapt to Venue Despite the Super Bowl still being a few days away, Minneapolis had already become noisy well in advance, in fact, the parties had kicked off ten days earlier even before the Pro Bowl began and had been heating up ever since.

The Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs had also arrived in Minneapolis early, starting to get used to the venue and the overwhelming spotlights as scheduled by the League, soaking in the Super Bowl frenzy in advance.

As the annual premier event for the entire North American continent, the Super Bowl’s viewership and attention were unmatched, with top-tier events like the Oscars, the Olympics, and the World Cup not even coming close—

In North America alone, the viewership numbers for the Super Bowl easily surpassed a hundred million.

You have to realize, the entire population of the United States is only about three hundred million.

Moreover, not just in North America, but as the league has expanded its outreach, football’s influence has steadily grown in South America, Oceania, and Europe, with the Super Bowl being broadcast live in fifty-six countries and regions worldwide, sparking more comprehensive discussions globally.

This meant that the Super Bowl would be under the intense and surging spotlight, with everything magnified to the extreme, as if playing under a microscope, with a completely different atmosphere and environment.

That’s why adapting to the venue before the game was even more crucial.

“No, no no no, impossible, absolutely.”

“You can tell that’s just some outsider’s wild imagination.

Don’t go around saying you’re a football player, you really know nothing about football”

“How can it be impossible?

Patrick makes it look so easy when he throws.”

“Pfft.

What’s a quarterback got to do with this?

Go catch your breath on your own.

Haven’t you heard the statement about quarterbacks and beasts being banned from playing?”

Mahomes: ???

The man in question is right here, do you seriously think it’s okay to spout such nonsense?

However, the others, seeing Mahomes eager and restless, deliberately pretended to ignore him, their chattering discussions completely excluding Mahomes, leaving him wide-eyed, scratching his head on the sidelines.

“Sure, why not.

Don’t listen to those outsiders talking nonsense, each of them making the quarterback’s job sound so mystical and unbelievable, they are the real amateurs; it’s not that exaggerated.”

“Roar, roar roar roar, the star tight end is really something else, worthy of being the man who could rival Zach Ertz, listen to him.

Travis, we’re not talking about catching, but throwing a fifty-yard pass.”

“Exactly, it’s not like soccer where you just kick the ball as hard as you can, for a pass you need to control the parabola and spin of the football, a spiral pass really isn’t something just anyone can make.”

“Travis, catching, you can, but passing, you really can’t.”

At that, everyone around got the hint and began to tease, winking and nudging each other, all ganging up on Kelsey.

Kelsey didn’t mind, he placed his hands on his hips, struck a Superman-like pose, deliberately puffing out his chest, his face wearing a proud and arrogant expression.

“Man, I sure can.”

Ha ha ha, everyone burst into laughter.

Joking aside, Kelsey continued.

“Believe me, it really isn’t that difficult.”

“First, there’s no rush to pass the pressure.”

“Second, there’s no defensive interference.”

“It’s purely your own aiming and passing direction, not to mention fifty yards, even sixty wouldn’t be a problem.

The real difficulty during the game comes from external interference, otherwise ‘Hail Mary’ wouldn’t be so difficult.”

“If you were asked to throw a ‘Hail Mary’ now, probably only Rodgers would dare to catch this hot potato, but just standing here and throwing it, it really couldn’t be simpler.”

This afternoon was the Kansas City Chiefs’ time to adapt to the field.

Adaptation training and basic training had essentially ended, and the indoor stadium was somewhat unfamiliar to the players, as there are very few such venues across the entire league, given that football is still an outdoor sport.

However, several stadiums feature retractable roofs, and this year’s most crucial game of the season was about to take place indoors, which the players took very seriously.

Recalling the bone-chilling cold and fierce winds at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, the indoor stadium, eliminating factors such as temperature, wind direction, and humidity, undoubtedly benefited the passing attack.

So, would this be even more beneficial for the Philadelphia Eagles?

Of course, the Kansas City Chiefs were also good at the passing game, despite having a top-tier ground attack in the league.

However, they must not forget their excellent performance in passing this season; yet Smith’s weakness in long passes ultimately could not be ignored.

In direct contrast, Foles was a young man who dared to risk long passes, leading to a discussion within the Chiefs:

Would the indoor stadium benefit long passes?

And furthermore, would fifty-yard passes become easier?

One by one, not just the offensive group but also the defensive group joined the discussion, and from their looks and expressions, it was evident that there was a slight tension throughout the team—

A mix of emotions—exhilaration and anxiety, anticipation and unease—intertwined, either too excited or too subdued, all somewhat abnormal.

And for that, they couldn’t be blamed.

After all, for most of the players, the Super Bowl was an unprecedented first.

In the entire Kansas City Chiefs team, the only player who had participated in the Super Bowl and played in the game was Revis, who was not a starter for the New England Patriots back then.

One could imagine, such a youthful, inexperienced team stumbling all the way to the Super Bowl, now facing the most important and crucial game of their careers—

The abnormal fuss in front of them didn’t seem so strange after all.

Because of this, Kelsey, as the team captain, stepped forward to try to control the situation and ease the tension.

But Kelsey himself was also doubtful, unable to support everything alone; at this moment, Berry’s absence was more palpable than ever.

Throughout the season, despite Berry’s absence, thanks to Li Wei’s gamble, the whole team harbored a belief, waiting for Berry’s return and expecting to conjure double the energy to fill Berry’s void, hoping to reunite with him on the Super Bowl stage.

However, now everyone knew that this dream was shattered.

The emptiness and loss felt naturally different.

Now, they needed to adapt to the field as well as their mindsets, just like the Philadelphia Eagles, who were missing their starting quarterback, needed to adapt to playing without their defensive group captain.

Houston noticed, but he was powerless to do anything, because he, like everyone else, felt Berry’s absence, standing in the U.S.

Bank Stadium, on the stage they had always dreamed of, always feeling something was missing.

Then, he at once noticed Li Wei sitting next to him, casually eating melon.

“Rookie, what do you think?”@@novelbin@@

Sitting there carefree and happily munching melon, Li Wei was suddenly drawn into being the center of attention and truly felt the warmth of everyone’s gazes on his skin—

The person involved admitted that he was not psychologically prepared.