Dominate the Super Bowl

Chapter 617: Cut off in the middle Chapter 617: Cut off in the middle The air was burning.

Literally speaking, whether it was the offensive group or the defensive group, everyone faced the extreme limits of physical endurance.

Steaming with sweat as if they had just emerged from a sauna room, the deadlock kept everyone tense, and no one could afford to relax.

They had to grit their teeth and hold on until the end.

Not just the players, even the live audience at Gillette Stadium was flushed and sweating profusely.

Hiss.

Hiss, hiss, hiss.

Again the hisses, again the attacks.

When the Kansas City Chiefs’ offense took the field once more, Gillette Stadium erupted with an overwhelming noise assault resembling the eruption of a volcano—sending magma, rocks, and dust spinning through the air, invisibly hammering down on the visiting team’s players.

The situation was not only deadlocked but also stagnant.

From the offensive battle in the first three quarters to the defensive showdown in the fourth, both teams gave 120% of their energy, pushing each other to the limit.

There was an almost palpable sense of reaching the ceiling of physical strength, with legs and arms as if filled with lead.

Even with deep breaths, oxygen seemed elusive, and the boiling blood nearly drowned the mind completely.

It wasn’t just the body that was exhausted; the mind too had slowed to a crawl.

No one was an exception.

And precisely because of this, Mahomes was slightly distracted and couldn’t help but look towards the stands.

The curses of the away-game crowd began to enter his ears.

It was a small detail that showed Mahomes still lacked game experience.

“Sherlock.”

Li Wei grabbed Mahomes’ attention back.

“Now is the time.”

“This moment, what we’ve been training and preparing for the entire off-season, is now.

We can do it.

Trust me, we definitely can.”

Mahomes took a deep breath, nodded vigorously, and, with leaden steps, positioned himself behind the offensive line—

They were tired, and so were their opponents.

No one was an exception.

What came next was to see who could endure a little longer, fight a little more.

It was this slight difference that would decide the outcome.

Mahomes looked to Li Wei, whose face was drenched and flushed with fatigue, yet his eyes remained bright.

He couldn’t help but clench his fist, psyching himself up.

After entering the fourth quarter, both offense and defense were weary.

The pace had slowed, the intensity had lessened, and mistakes from both sides began to proliferate, with penalty flags flying more than ever.

It was less a defensive battle than an all-out melee.

Such chaos was unfamiliar to Mahomes.

All order was disrupted; both body and mind couldn’t keep up, and he needed to reorganize the game.

At this moment, Li Wei’s role once again stood out.

“Attack!”

The ball was snapped, and without hesitation, Mahomes pivoted and handed the football off to Li Wei.

But Mahomes did not, as usual, step back to avoid a collision.

Instead, he followed Li Wei’s movements, keeping an eye on the dynamics of the defensive group.

He needed to maintain the coolness required for a secondary defense read, as this was the best opportunity to find a gap for passing.

His mind needed to start working again.

Li Wei, being at the core of the ground attack, often managed to stabilize the situation amidst the chaos, with his main focus being to advance while controlling mistakes.

However, if every ground advance did not achieve good results, the pressure on the subsequent second and third-down passes would increase significantly.

Therefore, Li Wei was also under immense pressure.

Li Wei maintained his focus—

Not an easy feat.

But compared to the other players on the offense, Li Wei, who had been average throughout the day, had consumed relatively less energy and now was in the best condition on the team in terms of stamina.

He swept his gaze around, alert to all possibilities.

The defining feature of the New England Patriots’ ground defense today was that it was unpredictable and multifaceted.

Each attempt to rush at Li Wei, to collide with him and to apply pressure was done by different players, from the defensive line to the linebackers, all the way to the cornerbacks and safeties.

Moreover, whether Li Wei had the ball or not, this ghostly interference and collision were always there; it felt like someone had kicked off one boot upstairs, but the other boot just wouldn’t hit the ground, leaving you in anxious suspense, your resolve slowly eroding away until a slight lapse would occur and you’d be caught.

Fortunately, by entering the fourth quarter, the defensive group of the New England Patriots also faced a physical crisis; their intensity decreased, and the pressure on Li Wei lessened.

Perhaps, this was Li Wei’s chance.

With the ball.

He started.

Immediately, Li Wei could feel the onslaught of pressure coming from the New England Patriots’ defense, the moves by the players in the short pass zone were clearly more timely.

Clearly, the Kansas City Chiefs’ decision to run the ball was no secret.

As soon as Li Wei started moving, he could feel the front line players entangling and pouncing, and although the offensive line momentarily held their positions, the defensive lineman in the blue jerseys still waved their arms ferociously, signalling the path was blocked.

His eyes quickly scanned the field.

Linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley had already stepped up quickly; this year’s fifth-round pick at one hundred forty-third overall had a standard performance in earlier games, but today against Li Wei, he had a mini-breakthrough, showing outstanding speed, strength, and reactive ability.

Without doubt, facing a new generation leader, each young player, from a rookie to a third-year, yearned to defeat Li Wei and prove their own capabilities.

Bentley was performing remarkably.

And now was the same; Bentley advanced swiftly, closing in at the blink of an eye.

But Li Wei stayed composed, lowered his center of gravity, waited for just a moment, then used a feint left and right, a fake move that fooled Bentley, and immediately after, he stepped to the side—

Bentley to his left, Li Wei pretending to back off, then also to his left.

A perfect mismatch.

The next second, Li Wei brushed past Bentley’s position, made a dash, and tried to break past him.

Normally, this was the kind of breakthrough that Li Wei excelled at; but today, his rhythm was constantly disrupted, never reaching its peak, affecting the fluidity of his starts and moves, and failing to shake Bentley off in time as Bentley managed to force a turnaround and attempt to stick with him.

Li Wei held his breath, his legs raising high to disrupt balance, breaking free from Bentley’s grasp, and pressing on.

However.

No sooner had he stepped out than the rush came—

That was the very reason Li Wei had not been able to get into the rhythm of the run today; the New England Patriots always kept a hidden piece tightly trained on him, inexplicably popping out from corners to disrupt his stride at the first opportunity.

And now was no different.

This time, it was Jason McCourty, who had just joined the New England Patriots this season.

With an advancing step like an arrow, his movements light and swift, he aimed to hit hard without attempting to grasp; he forced his weight into the collision, aiming to disrupt Li Wei’s center of gravity—

Collision, collision, collision.

This was Belichick’s tactic, a brutally destructive charge that hadn’t been polite to Li Wei from the very first second of the game.

If Li Wei got hurt?

Well, then that would be perfect.