Chapter 1386: Chapter 1385: Caught Red-Handed
In last season, the read option offense of the running quarterbacks remained the league’s mainstream; when the New England Patriots faced the Kansas City Chiefs, Belichick was constantly on guard against Mahomes’ read option offense.
But since the Los Angeles Rams advanced to the Super Bowl, this season the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers have risen one after the other, and the read option offense has undergone new developments. The modern outside zone offensive scheme is becoming the new trend in the league.
Naturally, when running quarterbacks choose the read option offense, they can use the template of the modern outside zone offensive scheme as a cover.
Simply put, pocket quarterbacks in the modern outside zone offensive scheme often use ground offense to cover the passing offense. Essentially, it is still passing; running quarterbacks, however, are different. They can use the running back as bait, control the football themselves, and evolve more variations.
This is also Mahomes’ specialty.
Of course, there’s also Lamar Jackson, Russell Wilson, and so on. DeShaun Watson naturally does not want to fall behind.
So, Chris Jones has been waiting, waiting for Watson to show his moment, not only because Watson is eager to perform and prove himself, but also because the Kansas City Chiefs’ continuous interference and pressure guide Watson to try to confront with his body.
In other words, running the ball.
If Watson is not deceived and continues to choose to pass, then what?
It doesn’t matter, Jones will continue to put pressure and continue to interfere with the passing vision.
So, the point is no hesitation, no overthinking, decisive execution is a must.
As soon as the ball is snapped, Jones noticed Watson and Hyde’s movement, immediately following, shaking off the offensive line, rushing toward Watson without hesitation.
Hyde stepped forward at the first moment to block Sorensen’s hit, but Jones’ footsteps cutting in from the side showed no hesitation, his gaze firmly locked on Watson.
Watson followed behind Hyde, ready to shift to hold the ball and break through—
Running play. It has to be a running play.
Up until now in today’s game, Watson had never run with the ball, completely relying on passing to open up the game; but now, a third-and-six situation, the Kansas City Chiefs were a hundred percent sure they would continue to choose to pass, just the right opportunity to choose a running play.
Before the snap, Watson had already made up his mind.
Keeping his footsteps aligned, Watson didn’t forget to look up for a moment, the tight end nearby was closely guarded, but not far away, a figure was waving strongly trying to catch his attention, indicating an open spot there—
Hopkins?
Watson was stunned, how could it possibly be Hopkins? Hopkins was not marked as a key defensive target and got a clear opening?
So should he choose to pass, Hopkins had already run out eight yards, as long as the pass connection succeeded, the first down would be a piece of cake.
This brief hesitation, a millisecond, maybe even shorter than a millisecond, wasn’t even aware of his hesitation, yet it played a key role on the fast-paced game field. Watson’s blindside on his left caught a flash of red flame, charging unstoppably, indiscriminately rushing over.
Upon a closer look, behind the red flame was a white storm. The Houston Texans’ offensive line was unswervingly risking holding penalties, clinging onto Jones’ jersey, not caring about the yellow flag, trying to stop Jones; but Jones’ advancing momentum was too decisive, too strong, still dragging the white storm and rushing toward him.
Watson was startled, instinctively, his footsteps moved, trying to shake off.
However, Jones was totally locked in, seizing Watson’s fleeting hesitation, utterly ignoring the tail behind him, and poised with a leap.
Jones, leaping into the air, instantly grabbing hold of Watson’s waist.
Got him!
Watson tried to shake him off, stepping continuously, escaping amidst Jones’ unstable grip and poor center of gravity.
Collision! Stalemate! Struggle!
Watson and Jones were desperately clenching their teeth grappling with each other, and just at this moment, Sorensen had already shaken off Hyde, claws open wide rushing toward Watson.
Watson had no time to react, his vision went dark for a second, and the next moment the entire world tilted ninety degrees and collapsed with a bang.
"Sack!"
"God, this... should this count as a sack?"
"Even though Watson was planning to run the ball himself, he was indeed tackled behind the line of scrimmage, this is a sack."
"The layers of relentless pressure from the Kansas City Chiefs finally evolved into a deadly blow, decisively ending the Houston Texans’ offense."
"Strikeout!"
Watson was dizzy and disoriented, he could hardly believe it, the moment that should have been his to shine ended in humiliation.
What the hell!
Watson scrambled up in a rush, not even steadying his feet, unleashing a downpour toward Hyde—
It’s all Hyde’s fault. If Hyde had blocked Sorensen, if Hyde’s ground offense had been more convincing, it wouldn’t have ended like this.
Dammit. Dammit dammit dammit. Dammit!
Hyde was directly dumbfounded, not even coming to his senses, engulfed headlong into the storm, his eyes vacant.
"Watson." O’Brien tried to control the situation, "DeShaun! Calm down, calm down!"
This is just the beginning, there’s no need to be so anxious.
But Watson thought otherwise, he didn’t even dare to look at Li Wei, because he knew Li Wei wouldn’t miss the opportunity, one hundred percent, Li Wei would seize it tightly, continuously, unrelentingly, and aggressively continue to apply pressure, until they were crushed.
Then, Li Wei would be the one laughing last again.
Just the thought alone nearly crushed Watson, he couldn’t lose, especially couldn’t lose to Li Wei again after beating Jackson.
Watson turned to O’Brien, "What should we do, what should we do? Coach, tell me, what should we do?"
Could it be... risk the fourth down?
Fourth-and-seven.
A thought flashed through O’Brien’s mind, but only for a moment, he felt it was too risky.
If they failed, there wouldn’t even be a chance for a field goal.
It’s only the first quarter, they still have opportunities, there’s no need to act in haste, they should calm down and strategize, especially since the Kansas City Chiefs defense is slowly tightening the noose around their necks, they need to let the Kansas City Chiefs’ momentum cool down.
Next, rely on the Houston Texans defense to stop Mahomes and Li Wei.
Yes, exactly that.
In a brief moment, O’Brien made a decision, calling Watson down, "Calm down, the game has just started, we’re still holding tight to the situation, right?"
Watson, "But..." But Li Wei won’t let the opportunity slip.
O’Brien, "No buts. Remember, we can beat any opponent, any, we still believe."
O’Brien patted Watson’s shoulder, pushing him to the side to sit down and regain his composure, directing the special duty group to take the field.
Reed immediately noticed the opponent’s chaos, the special duty group moved quickly to try to disrupt the field goal—
Opportunity.
Even though it wasn’t offense or defense, the special duty group could still play a key role, Reed noticed the fluctuation between O’Brien and Watson, quickly organizing to exert further pressure on the Houston Texans through the special duty group.
Reed, striking again.