Chapter 1400: Chapter 1399: No Mercy
“13:28”.
The first half of the American League Championship comes to an end, and the Kansas City Chiefs return to the locker room with a two-possession advantage, just one step away from advancing to the Super Bowl for the third consecutive year.
The bustling discussion is explosive.
Do the Houston Texans still have a chance to make a comeback? How should O’Brien adjust during halftime? How much psychological impact did the two turnovers at the end of the first half have on Watson? Can this talented quarterback rebound strongly in the second half and launch a counterattack?
The entire league is watching, including teams that were stopped in the division games, teams that didn’t make it to the playoffs—without exception.
Now, things have gone far beyond the value of just one game.
In just three seasons, the growth of the Kansas City Chiefs has been striking, and the transformation in the team’s temperament has become a league-wide miracle.
It’s still fresh in our minds that three years ago, the Kansas City Chiefs were consecutively knocked out in their first playoff game, no matter how outstanding their regular season performance was, they always stumbled in the playoffs; but now, the Kansas City Chiefs are evolving into a playoff beast, unstoppable, completely changing the team’s game temperament.
In fact, “Playoff Chieftain” has already become a new term, with an intimidating force coming straight at you.
So, can other teams learn from this?
This season, following two consecutive championships, the Kansas City Chiefs have adjusted and upgraded, charting a new path of development under the hard salary cap, completely reversing the predicament previous Super Bowl-winning teams faced during the offseason. What enlightenment can this bring to other teams?
For the league, they care about winning and losing, but it’s not just about that.
At Reeves Field, not only is the visitors’ locker room watching the American League Championship live broadcast, but the home team’s locker room is also doing the same.
Even though the “San Francisco 49ers VS Green Bay Packers” National Conference Championship is imminent, surprisingly, both teams are focused on the American League Championship.
Or to be more precise, all eyes are on the Kansas City Chiefs.
Garoppolo is no exception.
As a quarterback, Garoppolo can fully empathize with Watson’s situation—
When the momentum is on your side, everything goes smoothly, and you’re in great form, you enter a state where you aim for touchdowns, pushing with full force, ready to lead your team to catch up, feeling invincible, and on the verge of becoming the hero who turns the tide toward victory.
However, it comes crashing down with turnovers in a disastrous manner.
And not just once, but twice in a row.
That kind of blow, language cannot capture it, losing the ability to think, with no sadness, no pain, no struggle, just bewilderment.
A blank whiteness, like paste.
Precisely because of this, the halftime respite is especially precious.
Calm down, stand firm, organize thoughts, awaken fighting spirit anew.
Thinking seriously about it, the situation looks bad, but aside from the two turnovers, the situation is not nearly as awful as it appears on the surface.
Firstly, the score difference is only fifteen points.
Secondly, Watson, in the last two offensive drives, pushed past midfield into field goal range and even near the Red Zone, proving his capabilities.
So, anything is possible in the second half.
The key is still in the hands of the Houston Texans themselves; do they still believe they can win?
Faith is all it is, but whether it exists or not is a different matter. As long as they still believe the Houston Texans can beat the Kansas City Chiefs, then the game is far from over.
On the surface, and in his heart, Garoppolo hopes the Kansas City Chiefs win because then he can defeat Li Wei fairly and silence all the gossiping whispers.
However, deep in the recesses of his heart, Garoppolo hopes the Kansas City Chiefs lose.
It’s not because he fears facing Li Wei, but because he’s fed up with the media hype, knowing that if the Kansas City Chiefs make it to the Super Bowl for the third consecutive year, the media will go on endlessly, hyping again—
It’s annoying.
Imagine, if both Brady and Li Wei are out, and only Garoppolo advances to the Super Bowl, he can then pretend to lament to the media, “I truly hoped to meet them in the Super Bowl…”
Just imagining it makes Garoppolo’s heart race wildly.
But, reality is often disappointing despite ideal dreams.
The second half begins.
Houston Texans lead the offense, with Watson leading the offensive group onto the field.
Logically speaking, after halftime, the coaching staff should have sorted out their thoughts, restructured, and with pre-game tactical meetings inevitably having some plans and forecasts for both halves, even if not newly transformed and immediately effective, they should have adjusted and established a foothold from the start, laying the foundation for the second half.
However, the Houston Texans’ offense becomes even more chaotic.
More precisely, the key lies with Watson.
Tactically, O’Brien adjusted the strategy to focus on short passes, combining short passes and ground play to control the tempo, fully exploiting Watson’s dual-threat capabilities, trying to find the Houston Texans’ own offensive rhythm as a foothold for a second-half comeback.
The strategic concept is correct, but Watson’s passing choices are debatable.
It’s hard to tell whether it’s aggressive or conservative, willful or confident, or having ideas or none at all—it’s truly baffling.
Intermittent, now there, now not.
Initially caught in a Third Gear predicament, Watson surprisingly connects with running back Hyde for a three-yard short pass to secure a first down, but with a turn, once again faces a Third Gear predicament. This time, Watson couldn’t escape trouble, ending this drive with a bizarrely outrageous pass—
The football thrown into no man’s land.
No offensive players, no defensive players, not even a shadow.
Yet Watson straightforwardly threw it out there, watching helplessly as the football fell into empty space, the pass incomplete.
Tactically, this is clearly a miscommunication between the quarterback and the wide receiver; the receiver didn’t run the route, leading to a direct breakdown; but the quarterback should’ve adapted, read defense, and found a new passing target, yet Watson bluntly threw it into an empty space.
This… is inexplicable.
You can’t say the Kansas City Chiefs Defense reaped unearned rewards; they still relied on zonal defense and pressuring the front to create difficulties, laying an intricate Heavenly Net; but the Houston Texans completely squandered the opportunity themselves, seemingly eagerly surrendering at the sight of opponent’s charge.
Even the Houston Texans themselves don’t understand what’s happening, with bewilderment written in their eyes.
Strike Out!
In the start of the second half, the Houston Texans’ offensive group strikes out quickly, easily yielding the advantage, sparking exclamations across social networks.
Garoppolo couldn’t help but clench his fists, realizing the sweat covering his palms for the first time, his heart beating wildly almost to the point of bursting.
Next, the Kansas Chiefs Offense is set to take the field.
On the sidelines, that figure appeared, wearing the number twenty-three jersey, and in an instant, all bustling glances converged on it.