Chapter 1387: Chapter 1386: Maelstrom of Chaos
Don’t forget, like Belichick, Reed is one of the few head coaches in the league who fully mobilizes the Special Duty Group and taps into its potential. While it may seem trivial, it is, in fact, an indispensable part of a strong team and a championship team, often capable of deciding the outcome at critical moments.
Immediately, Reed noticed O’Brien’s hesitation—
Choosing a field goal or daring the Fourth Down are both correct options. In the first quarter of the game, each choice has its value. Therefore, the focus is not on O’Brien’s choice but on his momentary hesitation.
This indicates O’Brien wavered, and from here, the game gradually drifted out of the pre-game preparations, breeding more possibilities.
Although on-the-spot scheduling is not Reed’s forte, he accurately read the psychological fluctuations and immediately deployed his forces to exert further pressure.
Bam! Bam bam bam!
The Special Duty Group kicked off.
The Kansas City Chiefs clearly exerted force, with the lined players collectively surging forward, breaking through the opponent’s protective net like a hot knife through butter and charging straight at the kicker.
The Houston Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn, an undrafted rookie from 2016, although signed with the Houston Texans, had been in the practice squad until becoming the starting kicker in 2017.
Over the three seasons, Fairbairn had an excellent field goal percentage below forty yards, but his performance above forty yards was noticeably unstable, with success above fifty yards dropping to 50%.
In other words, he is a kicker with an obvious upper limit.
Pressure, impact, and the tightly entangled atmosphere all came crashing down at Fairbairn.
Fairbairn wavered, and a forty-two-yard field goal deviated, with the whole flight trajectory severely veering to the left.
In an instant, the whole venue held its breath!
However, whether fortunately or unfortunately, today there was no wind in Kansas City, and the football floated, striking the left post.
Clang!
With a crisp sound, the post shook violently, the football bizarrely swerved, and finally passed through the goalpost into the net.
The Kansas City Chiefs fans’ sighs were quickly drowned out by the wild cheers of the Houston Texans fans, as the goal umpire declared the field goal effective.
“10:14”.
Fairbairn exhaled deeply, his heart, which nearly leapt out of his throat, returned to his chest, as the Houston Texans barely stayed in the game.
O’Brien slyly clenched his fist, secretly relieved.
But outwardly, O’Brien remained calm, in the eyes of the defensive group players, appearing confident and composed, stabilizing the atmosphere.
The Houston Texans regretted not being able to score another touchdown, but the Kansas City Chiefs’ strategy to exert further pressure through the Special Duty Group also failed, as the tension increased evermore, and as the teams re-entered the field, Mahomes felt the escalation of pressure—
The Houston Texans defensive group showcased an aggressive stance.
The most obvious change was that Watt was fully targeting Mahomes, exerting pressure.
O’Brien knew that the league hoped to see a “Watt vs. Li Wei” duel, which was the highlight of the conference finals, and even after the Houston Texans eliminated the Baltimore Ravens, disrupting the anticipated matchup, it was the only reason social media was willing to “forgive” this upset, attracting all eyes.
However, O’Brien also knew, whether it’s “Cheating Motion” or the modern outside zone offense, the core lies with the quarterback.
If the Houston Texans’ defensive group wanted to achieve something, they must make Mahomes feel the pressure.
Moreover, between the dual core of the Kansas Chiefs Offense, focusing on Mahomes rather than Li Wei was O’Brien’s choice.
So, Watt did not need to consider ground defense momentarily, and he focused entirely on attacking Mahomes, striving to make Mahomes feel the real threat.
Of course, this did not mean the Houston Texans gave up ground defense, as Crennel had obviously researched the Baltimore Ravens’ regular-season defensive strategy, not to have one player matchup against Li Wei, as no one in the league currently had the confidence to single-handedly match up against Li Wei without falling behind; instead, every defense would have two different players rotating to shadow Li Wei.
First, to avoid exposing their defensive strategy.
Second, to force Li Wei to stay on edge, preventing him from finding a comfort zone.
Third, to free up manpower to increase full-field pressure defense while avoiding obvious weaknesses in the pass defense becoming a loophole for the opponent to break the balance.
The key was that the Houston Texans’ defensive group was composed of a group of blue-collar players, whom Crennel could freely rearrange to unleash power—
Combat, instantly upgraded.
The Houston Texans’ defensive group showed a do-or-die attitude, unleashing more intense energy than the Kansas City Chiefs under a desperate situation.
Led by Watt, the Houston Texans’ defensive group astonishingly dominated.
Two hits on the quarterback, one effective pass interference, JJ-Watt stood out like a sword, once again proving himself a nightmare for all quarterbacks in the league.
Mahomes got caught up in the tempest, feeling an unprecedented crisis in the pocket.
Li Wei was no exception. On the surface, the Houston Texans defensive group’s tactics seemed particularly chaotic, without any order, just a mess of punches; but upon closer inspection, it was Crennel’s deliberate move, disrupting judgment with chaos, to prevent Reed from seeing through their tactics.
So, Li Wei also got caught in the chaotic vortex.
Reed substituted Damien for Li Wei, allowing Li Wei to catch his breath on one hand, and enabling him to observe the rhythm and pattern as an outsider to escape that predicament on the other.
Without a doubt, the Houston Texans still tightly held onto the battle, even going further than the sixth week of the regular season, as the intensity of confrontation continued rising.
However, the Kansas City Chiefs Offense had been tempered through countless battles, and even with Li Wei temporarily off the field, Mahomes was growing into the team leader.
Three times Mahomes faced the Third Gear dilemma, and three times he resolved the crisis.
The third time, it was Third Gear, three yards. The short pass connection with Kelsey and Mahomes was so deceptive that it even fooled Watt, causing Watt to hesitate, attempting to block the pass and interfere with the passing vision. However, Mahomes pulled back his right hand, carrying the ball himself and employing the Read Option Offense rarely seen—
In this season’s “outdated” tactics, yet it allowed Mahomes to easily advance five yards through the dense crowd, with a sliding tackle to secure a first down.
Brilliant!
The Houston Texans defensive group’s intensity remained at a high frequency, but the Kansas City Chiefs managed to overcome dangers time and again, relying on their top players’ full concentration. After five whole minutes of deadlock, the first-quarter game had already entered the second quarter, and the Kansas City Chiefs painstakingly crossed the midfield line.
Yellow Flag, continuing to interfere with the game, whether on the offensive group or defensive group, the atmosphere grew more intense with frequent violations, disrupting the flow of the game.
The scene was visibly an array of panting, sweat-soaked players, with steam rising like a hot spring.
At this moment, Li Wei returned to the field, replacing Damien.