Chapter 382 Source of Power
They are afraid.

Levi said.

Hearing Levi’s words, Smith looked up at Gillette Stadium again. The louder the shouts and the more ferocious the faces, the more guilty and frightened they seemed. That was why they had no choice but to launch the attack in this way.

Inexplicably, Smith calmed down: the enemy’s fear is the source of strength.

He is not going to leave any regrets, even if this is his last game representing the Kansas City Chiefs, he is ready to fight as if this is the last appearance of his career.

Keep your head up and your chest out.

Smith is still the same Smith, but his eyes are completely different.

There was no time to continue the conversation.

Line up, stand in formation, and prepare to attack.

In front of me, the view is wide.

Everything was as expected. Just like the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 6 of the regular season, the New England Patriots stretched out their defensive formation, with the cornerbacks moving to the side, the linebackers and safeties moving slightly back, leaving only the four defensive linemen at the front closely following the Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive line.

The focus of defense is on the sidelines.

But considering that the Kansas City Chiefs once unexpectedly overturned the situation with a middle-of-the-road attack, the New England Patriots still have to be cautious this time.

Smith took a deep breath, a hint of determination in his voice.

“attack!”

Tick, tick… one minute and fifty-five seconds, one minute and fifty-four seconds, time starts moving again.

As expected, the Kansas City Chiefs did not make any risky attempts, and mainly relied on short passes on both sides of the sidelines.

In the last game against the Tennessee Titans, the Kansas City Chiefs launched a wave of attacks, using Levi and Hunter as wide receivers, partnering with three wide receivers and a tight end, in different arrangements and combinations, covering and blocking each other, and exerting their power in the short pass offense aimed at the sidelines.

Obviously, Belichick watched the game tape and made corresponding arrangements, relying on the movement of linebackers to enhance the strength of the zone defense.

However, the Kansas Chiefs were also well prepared.

On the right side, two wide receivers, a tight end, and Levi are also standing here.

On the left, Hill is alone.

The strong side and the weak side are obvious. Faced with such a two-level formation, the New England Patriots have to pay attention, even though they know that the so-called strong side looks like a trap and they must be on guard.

This is Yang Conspiracy.

Moreover, after the kick-off, the running route on the strong side was absolutely dazzling. Three players crossed and covered each other, sprinting in different directions and routes. It was impossible to judge the identity of the pass target, and the defending champion defense had to be vigilant.

Linebacker Van Noy kept a close eye on Levi.

however.

In the blink of an eye, the person could no longer be found among the interweaving figures.

Where is Levi?
Wait, why did Levi disappear?
In the ever-changing arena, even a blink of an eye may lead to different results; Van Noy could not see Levi at all in his field of vision, and the feeling of uneasiness instantly gripped his heart, and he quickly scanned the entire court.

found it!
Weak side.

Um, weak side?

Levi’s figure unexpectedly appeared on the weak side, and he rushed out lightly along Hill’s running route.

There was no one marking him at all.

The dazzling smoke bomb of the Kansas City Chiefs finally caught the attention of the New England Patriots and revealed its edge silently.

In front, Hill ran a blooming, drooping, out-curved shot towards the sideline.

Later, Levi followed Hill’s footsteps and ran a similar parabola, but the arc was larger. Hill’s goal was ten yards away.

Levi’s target was five yards away.

Van Noy immediately took action and tried to stop Levi, but someone got there first –

Cornerback Butler.

Van Noy relaxed a little, but then his heart skipped a beat. Here was a problem:
If Butler is guarding Levi, then who is guarding Hill three steps away?

Obviously, the Kansas City Chiefs used this tactic to put Butler in a dilemma. Van Noy failed to keep a close eye on Levi’s footsteps, resulting in mistakes. This was the source of all the mistakes.

Smith, pass the ball——

Hill.

Ten-yard pass

Hill caught the ball accurately and turned around to see the Zhong family coming to defend. He was not greedy and took a step forward, stepping out of bounds on his own initiative to stop time.

The entire Gillette Stadium was filled with wailing again.

Van Noy stared at Levi breathlessly, watching Levi nonchalantly high-five Hill in celebration, and he couldn’t control himself no matter how hard he tried:
Grass.

Here, the Kansas City Chiefs showed their belief in winning and played a trick on the first down and ten yards. Although Levi did not catch the ball, he played a key role.

On the other side, the New England Patriots responded immediately and Belichick deployed his troops.

On the first down, with ten yards to play, a clean pass rush forced Levi to stay in the pocket to break the screen. The airtight zone defense plus the man-to-man defense made it impossible for Smith to find a target to pass the ball to. In the end, in order to avoid a sack, he passed the ball hastily and pushed it out to the sideline.

On second down and ten yards away, Smith made a quick short pass to Kelce, and Levi helped to break the screen, but the defense reacted in time, relying on the human wave tactics to cut off the running route, and stopped Kelce within the sideline without him going out of bounds, forcing Reed to use a timeout.

Three gears and four codes.

At the critical moment, the New England Patriots defense showed its strength.

Although the Kansas City Chiefs cleverly used the double running back tactics, with Smith passing the ball to Hunter and completing a third-down, fourth-yarder; the New England Patriots immediately adopted the attrition tactics again to control the situation.

The so-called attrition tactics means that the New England Patriots gave up close defense and close pressing. They allowed Smith to pass the ball shortly and also allowed the passing target to catch the ball successfully. The key point is that after catching the ball, they intercepted the receiving player as soon as possible.

First, it prevents them from continuing to advance large numbers.

Secondly, to prevent them from going out of bounds and stopping the clock.

This kind of defensive tactics is useless at other times of the game; but near the end of the game, it can effectively control the situation, allowing defensive players to gain more operating space and reduce mistakes.

Belichick is indeed an experienced person.

In a blink of an eye, Reed used another timeout and stopped in front of the midfield line.

The Kansas City Chiefs were at the 46-yard line at halftime, facing a third-and-4 situation, and worse still—

Game time: forty-three seconds.

Belichick is chipping away at the Kansas City Chiefs’ chances.

The situation is becoming increasingly difficult.

Moreover, it can be imagined with the knee that although it is still near the half court, in order to increase the difficulty of Smith’s Hail Mary, the New England Patriots will definitely stop the Kansas City Chiefs with the intensity of the red zone defense, and the intensity of the confrontation between the two sides continues to heat up.

So, take the plunge and try a Hail Mary now?
If it was Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers could have tried a Hail Mary; but obviously, not Smith.

Moreover, even Rogers would not rashly try the Hail Mary unless he was really at the end of his rope. He would push forward as much as possible. The closer to the end zone, the higher the success rate of the Hail Mary.

Forty-three seconds, the Kansas City Chiefs must find a way to keep moving forward.

(End of this chapter)