At this mont, Ted Ginn's mind was blank and focused. His speed was at its peak. This was his absolute strength and the reason why the Miami Dolphins had chosen him with the ninth overall pick in the first round of the 2007 draft. Now, at this critical mont, he had to fully use his speed advantage.
He could still see the haunting number twenty-six safety, Louis Delmas, out of the corner of his eye.
This safety was quite famous. In his rookie season in 2009, he beca the first safety in league history to score a touchdown with both an interception return and a fumble return. His ability to seize opportunities and his superior physical talent made Delmas an indispensable strongman in the Detroit Lions' weak defense.
Ginn was fully focused. He quickly glanced at the football flying overhead and then quickly glanced at Delmas, who was right on his tail. In an instant, he sensed an opening in his mind.
This pass was a little farther than he had expected. He originally thought it would be a pass of about eighteen yards, but now it seed that Lu Ke's pass arc had risen slightly. Based on the position of the parabola, it should be a pass of about twenty-five yards, which ant that Lu Ke had taken into account the three-dinsional effects of speed and running.
Lu Ke believed that Ginn could catch the ball with his speed advantage.
Speeding up, and speeding up again, Ginn felt all his muscles start to crack and burst. He could hear the wind whistling in his ears. It seed that the whole world was starting to beco blurry, and only the football was left in his eyes. It was getting closer and closer.
Ginn bit his teeth hard, and the strong belief that he could make the catch exploded to the extre: Lu Ke believed he could complete the pass!
But in his line of sight, he saw the football quickly falling. The distance was still a little too far. He was just one step away, just one step away from making the catch. This was all because of that tiny delay at the start. It was this split second that resulted in him being one step away!
At the critical mont, Ginn stomped his feet hard, exerting a sudden force. His entire body leaped into the air like a fish leaping over a dragon's gate, soaring freely, extending his hands and stretching his body with all his might, staring intently at the football. Then, in the next second, he precariously held the football with his hands before it hit the ground, just like the classic scene in "Mission: Impossible" where Tom Cruise catches the drop of sweat before it triggers the alarm.
Then, Ginn's entire body fell heavily to Mother Earth. The powerful impact caused all his muscles to tremble. He could feel the football in his hands losing control. Without ti to think, he brought his hands together and firmly pinned the football against his helt, pressing it against his cheek, holding it down tightly, using his helt to control the football.
Delmas, who was less than a step behind, also dove forward, crashing into Ginn. He also reached for the football with his hands, trying to disrupt the catch at the last mont. The two of them rolled out heavily, and then other players nearby also rushed up. The scene was a bit chaotic for a mont.
"The Detroit Lions' defense made a beautiful pass rush. The sudden increase in intensity caught the San Francisco 49ers off guard! At a critical mont, Lu Ke calmly completed a rainbow pass! It's brilliant. The control he has in the pocket is truly brilliant! There is no sign of a rookie's nervousness or panic!
Ginn, Ted Ginn, successfully completed the catch in an extre physical situation. He caught it! Ginn actually caught the pass! My God, it's incredible, it's absolutely incredible! Wow!
This is a helt catch, haha, this is definitely a textbook helt catch. Ginn used the narrow space between his hands and helt to firmly control the football. He slamd it against his cheek. I can't be sure if Ginn can see what's in front of him, but what's for sure is that this catch is absolutely beautiful!"
Even watching the replay again, it was still a stunning play.
In an unannounced clash of titans, the San Francisco 49ers completed the pass by the skin of their teeth. Ted Ginn was undoubtedly the biggest hero of this play. Among all the team's wide receivers, no one else could have made this catch, because they didn't have the absolute speed.
Even Lu Ke himself was startled. In order to avoid Delmas, a safety with an incredibly strong interception and return ability, Lu Ke's pass choice was a little bold. However, he didn't consider the confrontation factor enough, and the distance control was a little imprecise. Seeing that Ginn was still one big step away, Lu Ke couldn't help but grimace. His first reaction was "incomplete pass," that he had taken too much of a risk.
Then, Lu Ke saw Ginn's "face smashing into flour" move, burying his entire face in the football as if he were looking for treasure. The clumsy move was a bit funny. You could even feel the powerful vibration and impact that made people grimace.
But then, Lu Ke clenched his fists tightly, cheering for Ginn's brilliant catch.
Not to ntion Teddy and Kirk in the broadcast studio, they were full of exclamations, watching the catch in a desperate situation with disbelief. It showed the limits of human body and skill, and also the wonder and excitent of football. Watching such a top wide receiver's catch was an absolute visual feast.
In 2007, Ted Ginn broke the forty-yard dash record in the rookie training camp and had a receiving feel comparable to white receivers. With super high expectations, he joined the Miami Dolphins as a first-round pick.
But in his rookie season, Ginn mostly played as a special teams returner and had a decent performance. His performance in the next two seasons was unsatisfactory. Although Ginn beca the first player since 1967 to score two return touchdowns in the sa quarter in 2009, it still didn't help him find a position on the team. In 2010, the San Francisco 49ers traded a fifth-round draft pick for Ginn.
Who would have thought that Ted Ginn, who was still mainly a punt and kickoff returner last year, would be reborn in Lu Ke's hands this year, using his speed advantage to the extre and becoming one of the team's most important offensive weapons?
"For the first ti in the ga today, Lu Ke chose to trust his long-passing ability in a crisis. With a twenty-five-yard pass, Ted Ginn made a brilliant, 'catch of the week' catch. He not only made another first down, but the San Francisco 49ers are now at the edge of the end zone, a first-down touchdown!"
A first-down touchdown. To be precise, the San Francisco 49ers' offense was still a full nine yards from the end zone.
So, on the first down, Lu Ke chose to hand the ball to Marcus Lynch, but the Detroit Lions' defensive line had prepared early and built an impenetrable wall. Lynch had no chance and was intercepted at the line of scrimmage in a wall-like defense.
After entering the red zone, the entire offense and defense confrontation beca more intense. The Detroit Lions had obviously arranged a targeted defense for Lynch, who had perford well in the last ga. Lynch was still in good form, but Lu Ke had to make more adjustnts in his tactical choices and the offensive line's formation. Similarly, Lynch also had to be more cautious.
So, on the second down, the line of scrimmage was still unchanged.
Lu Ke set up a multi-route offensive formation. On the right side, there were four receivers: Ted Ginn, Kyle Williams, Logan Newnan, and Marcus Lynch, who was ready to act. On the left side, there was only Michael Crabtree as a single offensive point.
As a result, the entire field formation was severely lopsided. All the players were concentrated on the sa side, so densely packed that there were almost no openings. What's more incredible is that Crabtree on the left side, after the snap, made a short sprint and a cut to the right, pulling the cornerback who was covering him one-on-one into the chaos on the right side.
In an instant, all the players gathered on the right side. The surging crowd was like dumplings being dropped into a pot. All the one-on-one defenses and all the zone defenses were irrelevant. People were shoulder to shoulder, so tightly packed that they couldn't breathe. They could only rely on their intuition to catch the fleeting changes on the field.
This was a chaotic formation.
Lu Ke stood in the shotgun formation, his mind incredibly calm. His vision, like an eagle's eye, scanned the dense crowd in front of him, which was like the Normandy landing. He was looking for a passing opportunity. In the dense defense and the narrow space, all the openings and all the opportunities appeared and disappeared in an instant, not waiting for Lu Ke to finish his passing preparations.
In a breath, one second, two seconds, a leak appeared on the right side of the offensive line. Lu Ke's peripheral vision had already caught a glimpse of a navy blue figure flying toward him.
His eyes quickly followed the white jersey, and his feet quickly retreated, quickly pulling away from the defensive player. But the opponent's speed was far greater than Lu Ke's. Almost without ti to breathe, he was already right in front of him. Lu Ke didn't hesitate too much. He gently waved his forearm, and the football was thrown out in a light arc.
Then, the defensive player pounced on Lu Ke. But seeing that Lu Ke had already completed the pass, the defensive player, in order to control his pass-rushing motion, could only hold Lu Ke tightly. The two of them embraced each other like close buddies, then both watched the football, following its trajectory.
...
At the sa ti, in the dense crowd, everyone was quickly piling up on the right side. The number of people in the entire area seed to be far over the limit. It was so dense that not a single opening could be seen. There was no chance!
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