The chants of "Bambi! Bambi!" gradually turned into "Ahhhhhhh!" roars, which were more straightforward and intense. The shouts surged through the entire Candlestick Park, once again showcasing the long-lost passion of the home fans.
Less than three minutes into the game, Lu Ke's outstanding performance had set the entire stadium on fire.
"Lu Ke hasn't even broken a sweat, and he's already dominated his opponent with a powerful performance. After a week of rest and adjustment, the San Francisco 49ers seem to be even hungrier for a victory. This game is definitely going to be very difficult for the Cleveland Browns."
Troy Bauer had a keen sense that this game was a little different. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but his sixth sense was sending out signals. His hunch was quickly proven right in the rest of the game.
The Cleveland Browns' offense, which came onto the field for the first time, seemed unable to get into the game against the San Francisco 49ers' defense, which had been improving over the past few games. They struggled, staying on the field for less than three minutes. They managed to get one first down before going three-and-out, ending their first drive cleanly.
Quarterback Colt McCoy, who was on the field, could only sigh.
McCoy was a second-year player who joined the Browns last year as the 85th pick in the third round.
In college, McCoy had a series of excellent achievements. He was selected for the All-America First Team for two consecutive years, in 2008 and 2009, and won a bunch of awards. He was even once considered a strong contender for the Heisman Trophy, although he didn't even make it into the top three in the end.
With such an excellent college performance, McCoy's draft prospects were good. Even if he wasn't a first-round pick, he was expected to be a second-rounder. It was a bit of a surprise when he dropped to the third round in the draft.
Later, reporters confirmed that it was partly because McCoy's hands were too small and were considered not suitable for handling a football. The other reason was that he suffered an injury in his last college game, which scouts generally believed might have a negative impact on his professional career.
Last year, as a rookie in the NFL, McCoy won the starting job during the season. He started four games, then missed three due to an ankle injury, and finally started two more to finish the season.
In his rookie season, McCoy had six touchdowns and nine interceptions. However, his biggest highlights were back-to-back wins against the New Orleans Saints and the New England Patriots, two teams led by elite quarterbacks. This gave McCoy a solid foundation. After this season started, he officially took over the starting quarterback position.
With one being a second-year player and the other a first-year player, the performance of these two quarterbacks was bound to be compared by the media. But now, it seemed that McCoy hadn't been able to keep up with Lu Ke's pace, at least not on the first drive.
McCoy clenched his fists to pump himself up. After all, the game had just started.
He thought back to last year, when he had beaten Drew Brees and Tom Brady in two consecutive weeks, and his confidence returned. He became firm again. However, after seeing Lu Ke's next performance, McCoy's confidence was once again shaken.
"Screen pass! Lu Ke finds Crabtree in the crowd, beautiful! Crabtree uses his personal ability to make the catch before two defenders can stop him, and he successfully advances for eleven yards!"
"Cross run! With a cross run from Logan Newnan and Vernon Davis, Lu Ke connects with Ted Ginn Jr., and Ginn continues to advance, gaining at least seven or eight more yards before being tackled. The San Francisco 49ers' two tight end formation seems to be starting to show its power."
"Run play! Marcus Lynch breaks through two linebackers and runs for six yards. He looks unstoppable right now."
"Another short pass! When the pocket was in trouble, Lu Ke chose a short throw and found Kyle Williams, who had just come in as a substitute. He completed the five-yard pass, beautiful! Lu Ke didn't give the Cleveland Browns' defense much of a chance."
"Wait, wait, that's a rainbow pass. The target is... the thirty-five-yard line, the twenty-five-yard line, the twenty-yard line... My God, Logan Newnan! The San Francisco 49ers' number eighty-eight surprisingly chose a straight run, creating a deep route, fifteen yards, ten yards... Newnan makes the catch!"
"My God, that twenty-yard rainbow pass was beautiful! Newnan made the catch perfectly with no defenders around him. Then he turned and went straight into the end zone, scoring another touchdown! Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable! Lu Ke is on fire, and he's unstoppable! Truly unstoppable!"
"Touchdown! Logan Newnan scores another touchdown. In the first two drives of the game, the San Francisco 49ers have already scored two touchdowns. The momentum of the entire offense is completely unstoppable. Newnan's receiving performance is on fire. But what's even more amazing is Lu Ke's hot throwing hand!"
"In two drives, he has nine completions on ten passing attempts, for one hundred forty-three yards, with no interceptions, no sacks, and two touchdowns. In addition, Marcus Lynch has had four rushing attempts for thirty-three yards in the two drives."
"The San Francisco 49ers' offense has not only achieved a run-pass balance but has also mastered the essence of combining speed and a slow pace. With two consecutive long passes and two consecutive touchdowns, Lu Ke's performance so far has been perfect! Even though we have watched six of Lu Ke's games, it is still hard to believe that this is a rookie player. Yes, this is only his first season! My God!"
"Ah!" Jonathan Baldwin jumped high into the air, clenching his right fist and making a difficult move like the Pegasus Meteor Fist. He was in the air, raising his arm in celebration, roaring with abandon. His widened eyes were filled with disbelief, and he shouted wildly, "Touchdown! Touchdown! Touchdown!"
He repeated the same word over and over again. His scorching brain seemed to have completely lost its ability to think and could only react mechanically. But the continuous roars were echoed by all the fans around him.
"Touchdown! Touchdown! Touchdown!"
Everyone, every person in Candlestick Park, had completely lost themselves. They stood up with passion, joining the shouts and roars. Such a smooth and exciting offense lit up the dazzling red in front of them, as if the whole world had started to tremble.
Jonathan landed, and his feet almost slipped. He fell awkwardly into his chair. Danny Reese, who was standing next to him, quickly reached out to help him, trying to prevent him from getting injured.
But Jonathan didn't care. He widened his eyes, grabbed Danny's hands tightly, and roared with abandon, "Touchdown! Touchdown!" The program in his brain had completely crashed, leaving only this one command. So he just repeated it, repeated it, and repeated it again.
Danny couldn't help but burst into laughter, nodding repeatedly. "Touchdown! Yes, touchdown!" Then, Danny put his arm around Jonathan's shoulder, and the two of them stood side by side, shouting together, "Touchdown!" as if this simple word contained endless energy.
Cheering, everyone stood up and cheered loudly. This was their moment! After a long time, the San Francisco 49ers once again showed the style of a strong team.
It wasn't just Troy, the commentator, or the fans in the stands. Even the San Francisco 49ers players themselves were stunned. Such a hot hand was simply unstoppable and destructive. The Cleveland Browns' defense had no time to breathe in front of Lu Ke's offensive firepower and could only run around in exhaustion.
Even the coaches on the sidelines couldn't help but exchange glances, with similar looks of shock and surprise in their eyes.
As a team that had been very weak for a long time, they were learning to get used to winning and adjusting their mindset. This week, facing the inconsistent Cleveland Browns, they didn't dare to be complacent at all. But they didn't expect the game to start off like this. It was truly surprising.
All eyes were on Kip Cristโthe first reaction to an excellent quarterback performance was, of course, to ask the quarterback coach. But Kip just spread his hands and looked innocent. "I don't know either." Deep down, Kip had a faint guess, "Maybe this is Lu Ke's first game as the offensive captain?"
Young, passionate, and energetic people are always like this. A little encouragement and a little motivation can unleash two hundred percent of their energy. But was the usually calm and experienced Lu Ke an exception? Did he have a sudden burst of energy in this game?
Then, all eyes uncertainly drifted toward Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh, who was the focus of attention, was like a manager who just throws his hands up. He waved his hand cleanly. "How would I know?" Then he used a playbook rolled into a paper tube to hit the palm of his hand. "Defense, defense, everyone, focus on defense!"
After the game started, they were hit with two consecutive touchdowns from the opponent, which was like a wake-up call that hit the Cleveland Browns' heads hard. After seeing stars, they finally started to come to their senses.
McCoy, who was back on the field, forced himself to calm down and focus.
The Browns' offense was clearly better at running the ball than passing. Their three rotational running backs were quite good. So, McCoy effectively used the different rhythms and styles of the running backs, supplemented by short surprise passes, to successfully open up the game. He steadily led the Browns past the midfield and continued to advance.
The entire drive finally showed some promise.
But then...
"Interception!"
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