Dominate the Super Bowl

Chapter 599: 598 outstanding performance Chapter 599: 598 outstanding performance At that moment, Bell once again felt his blood boiling and burning, and ultimately he couldn’t hold back—

For the first time, he yelled out loud, for a team that was not the Pittsburgh Steelers, sending a roar from deep within his soul, ready to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers.

As he shouted, he could no longer control himself, and he howled up at the sky, releasing all his emotions.

Ahhh!

With all his might, he poured out his soul, as if he could transmit it through the TV screen to Li Wei, joining the ranks at Arrowhead Stadium, igniting that sea of fire.

However, Li Wei stood in the end zone, not celebrating, but just breathing heavily, his gaze burning as he stared at TJ, who hadn’t given up until the last moment, conveying a message with his eyes:

This is not the end.

No matter what the Pittsburgh Steelers did, the Kansas City Chiefs wouldn’t be satisfied with the situation at hand, they would continue to fight on and struggle on.

Li Wei refused to be complacent about scoring a single touchdown and refused to let his guard down just because they had taken a lead; the battle was just reaching its climax now.

TJ was also gasping for breath, they were just ordinary people, and the exhaustion after intense confrontation was severe; but now, looking into Li Wei’s eyes, TJ also smiled, boldly meeting that burning gaze—

Accepting the challenge.

“30:35”.

The Kansas City Chiefs finally took back the lead, leading for the first time since the second quarter of the game.

Since the Pittsburgh Steelers scored a safety, it seemed to have enraged the team at hand, unlike last year’s wildcard game against the Tennessee Titans where they had gotten disorganized, the Chiefs had united and burst forth with energy, elevating their performance and rhythm from defense to offense.

This team was indeed different now.

Tomlin could at least be sure of one thing: they were completely different from the Kansas City Chiefs they faced in Week 6 of last year’s regular season.

The situation had been overturned in an instant; before they knew it, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ momentum faced a comprehensive blockade.

Vaguely, Tomlin felt uneasy, and it was growing stronger—

Was this the calm before the storm?

But clearly, that was absurd, because the scene before him, with swords drawn and teeth clenched, had nothing to do with “calm”; the storm had already arrived.

Nevertheless, that sense of unease continued to linger, surrounded by danger yet still sensing the potentially imminent disaster.

From the previous offense to this defense, the Pittsburgh Steelers had stepped up their intensity, rhythm, and status but still faced an overwhelming wave from the Kansas City Chiefs, leading to a fragmented performance by the visiting team.

This was not a good sign.

So, what should they do now?

Tomlin took a deep breath, cleared his mind of distractions, and quickly regained his composure—

After all, with his wealth of battle experience, he quickly grasped the essential focus.

He temporarily put aside that feeling of unease, concentrating on the present moment.

If it were like the Super Bowl earlier in the year, where both teams were scoring against each other until the last moments of the fourth quarter to decide the winner, Tomlin had no problem; he believed the Pittsburgh Steelers could keep up in the game.

So, the most important thing right now was to stand firm, refusing to let the gap widen.

A mere five-point gap, within a single ball possession, victory or defeat was still possible.

Tomlin’s dark cheeks showed no variation of emotions, but his face, stern, captured the morale, helping the Pittsburgh Steelers regain their focus.

Then.

Roethlisberger led the Offensive group onto the field again—

So, would Tomlin start using Brown?

No one knew what was happening inside the Pittsburgh Steelers’ locker room, just as no one knew the real situation behind the deadlock in negotiations with Bell.

But now, faced with a crisis, how could the Pittsburgh Steelers break through if they didn’t use Brown?

Tomlin had an answer:

Antonio Brown, finally targeted again as a pass receiver.

Like Bell, Brown’s tactical status was ultimately irreplaceable unless Tomlin was prepared to completely sever ties with Brown and never use him again.

Clearly, Tomlin had no such intentions, so Roethlisberger’s artillery once again aimed at Brown.

Unexpectedly, Brown encountered some trouble.

Initially, the Kansas City Chiefs Defense didn’t realize Tomlin’s tactical adjustment and continued to assign only Cornerback Fowler to man-to-man cover this lethal weapon.

Fowler performed exceptionally well—

Sticking closely to Brown throughout, although Brown’s individual ability was absolutely top-tier in the League; Fowler fully utilized a slight physical advantage to keep up the pace, tirelessly clung to Brown like glue, giving him almost no space for comfortable adjustments.

In this wave of offense, Roethlisberger targeted Brown three times, with Fowler causing one incomplete pass, while Brown fully demonstrated his individual abilities by catching the ball twice, showing clear superiority in one-on-one matchups.

But!

Even though Brown completed two receptions, Fowler quickly caught up, never allowing Brown to easily break free, and bought time for the Kansas City Chiefs Defense, with the rest of the defense following up very quickly.

They quickly formed a numerical advantage, swiftly cutting off Brown’s ability to advance further.

In the 2017 season, Brown was hailed as the most dominant Wide Receiver in the league, not because his reception yards were tremendously impressive, but because of his ability to continuously advance post-reception, leading the league—

What does that mean?

It means that the average yards a Wide Receiver can gain after catching the quarterback’s pass, Brown led the League and was far ahead of others.

Even if the quarterback threw a short pass of three to five yards, Brown could turn it into a first down, or even continue to vertically attack, causing damage in the defensive backfield.

Without the quarterback’s help, without the teammates’ assistance, he displayed personal breakthrough abilities that differentiated ordinary Wide Receivers from the elite.

This ability was the most terrifying.

Otherwise, a Wide Receiver is just a reception point, and the real advancing value lies with the quarterback; the Wide Receiver’s personal ability is not enough to change the game.

Now, the Kansas City Chiefs Defense was smothering Brown’s ability with a smart and tough stance, turning Brown from a game-changing ace Wide Receiver into an ordinary one.

The tactic was very effective.

Thanks to Fowler’s miraculous performance, Brown was never able to catch the ball comfortably, and even after catching it, he couldn’t quickly break free to continue advancing, with the Kansas City Chiefs Defense following up very alertly, squashing Brown’s chances of retaliating and struggling.

Initially, Kansas Defensive Coordinator Sutton, seeing Brown become the target again, was worried and thought they must at least double-cover Brown for it to work, as the defensive tactic that had been effective since the second half needed readjustment; however, after Fowler’s extraordinary performance, he was reassured, and after consulting with Reed, they immediately redeployed their troops—

Blitzing.@@novelbin@@

Fowler was exceptional, but the Chiefs couldn’t let Fowler bear too much alone, right?