The Detroit Lions' special service team did not miss an additional point, and after getting a point, they successfully tied the score, "7:7"; Then, when the special service team kicked off, they kicked the football directly off the baseline, which also means that the San Francisco 49ers will start attacking from 20 yards from their side.

The home fans at Ford Field were already in a frenzy, and the cheers and cheers actually went up to a new level, surging mightily to welcome the offensive team led by Lu Ke back to the scene.

Ten yards in gear.

In the midst of the hustle and bustle, Lu Ke's first pass, the entire short pass area was completely caught in a sea of people, so dense that people's scalps began to tingle, and they spied into a small window in the dense defensive bucket formation, and immediately made a quick shot, finding Kyle Williams who tore a gap.

Williams adjusted his pace slightly and made a smooth catch; Unfortunately, the opposition defenders were very quick to make up the defense, and the two players combined to intercept and block Williams' further progress, and the pass was fixed on the three-yard position.

Two gears of seven yards.

After starting to attack, Lu Ke quickly stepped back, quickly found Michael Crabtree who cut diagonally, and made a short pass of six yards, almost only two foot adjustments to complete the pass, and the speed of the shot was so fast that the defensive front line had no time to react, and quickly and accurately found the passing gap.

Crabtree managed to get into position, but was suddenly caught in the circle of three defenders; In the midst of the strong confrontation, Crabtree took the rugby and completed the catch, but before he could control the rugby, the effective defense of one of the defenders forced the rugby to shoot the rugby ball, destroying the catch, and the rugby flew directly out of bounds.

Three gears, or seven yards. However, the San Francisco 49ers offensive team did not have time to kick off quickly, and the referee blew the whistle for the end of the first quarter, and then the two teams will exchange fields for the second quarter of the game.

Faintly, Lu Ke could detect the quiet change in the atmosphere on the field.

The Detroit Lions' defensive group was significantly more targeted, and judging from the results, Williams was tackled by two players and forced a hard interception, while Crabtree was deeply trapped in the defense of three players, forcing a sabotage to catch the ball; Judging from the scene, the short passing area is almost the hardest hit area, with four linebacks teaming up with two cornerbacks, constantly changing positions and cross-running backs, and the area coverage defense has significantly strengthened the attack.

In fact, compared to the defensive group of the Dallas Cowboys, the defensive intensity of the Detroit Lions is still slightly lacking - of course, of course, Lu Ke has also made rapid growth in the past three weeks, and his defensive reading ability has also improved, and his sense of finding passing gaps has become sharper.

But despite this, the Lions' defensive team upped up the tempo and form, and began to keep up with the San Francisco 49ers offensive team in the matchup. At the beginning of the five-game winning streak in the regular season, although everyone said that the offensive group led the Lions to soar, the tough performance of the defensive group at key moments also contributed to it, which should not be underestimated.

Following the impressive performance of the offensive group, the defensive group is also starting to get into the game, and the Detroit Lions, playing at home, are clearly aiming for a six-game winning streak.

Looking at the entire defensive group of the Detroit Lions, the ability of forwards, linebacks and cornerbacks is relatively inferior, and their defensive confrontation level in the short passing area does have many holes; Defenders are their forte, and Luis Delmas and Chris Harris have both been impressive in the regular season so far.

In the defense of the two offenses just now, the Lions obviously deployed heavy troops in the short pass area, weakening the impact of the raiding quarterback, and also weakening the coverage of the long pass area. So, how should Lu Ke respond? Hit a long ball with a deep reach, tear a path with a running ball, or ......

During the short break in the first and second quarters of the game, Lu Ke calmed down and thought quickly, looking for a solution, and standing on a higher level to grasp the situation. At that moment, Jim Hubble's voice came from the headphones, "Bambi, double near end tactics, double close end tactics." ”

In an instant, Lu Ke's eyes lit up.

In the rugby system, the position of the near end is relatively special, and they often have the strategic significance of enriching the team's offensive tactics, just like the reading options of the running quarterback - they can pass the ball, they can run the ball, they can run the ball themselves, and the same is true for the close end, they can catch the ball, they can pick up the ball for the receiver, they can open the way for the running back, and they can also consolidate the pocket for the quarterback.

Depending on the team's style and tactics, the role and positioning of the close end will also be different.

In some teams, the close end is used as a big wide receiver, and even the running routes and deep strikes are the tactics of the wide receiver; However, in some teams, the close end is used as an additional complement to the offensive forward, taking on more of the task of pick-and-roll.

But in the league as a whole, the wide receivers are still relatively good at speed and route; The near end is known for confrontation and pick-and-roll.

The reason why the Detroit Lions' Calvin Johnson can be the best among the big wide receivers is because he is big, but he is still terrifyingly fast, and his striking ability from a deep route can be called devastating; However, most of the close forwards don't have that kind of pace, and even when they are targeted, they are more confined to short and medium passes.

The proximal front is indeed very powerful, but it is like the bladeless heavy sword in Chinese martial arts, when used properly, it can inflict heavy damage on the enemy; But if you don't use it properly, you can drag yourself down.

As a result, there are very few teams in the league that use a two-point forward strategy, with the few exceptions, and the New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots are the first to be represented by the New Orleans Saints.

The league's current No. 1 near end is the Saints' Jimmy-Graham, and the second near end is the Patriots' Rob Gronkoski.

It is no exaggeration to say that the emergence of these two close forwards has greatly enhanced the tactical status of the near end in various teams; Interestingly, both of these close end forwards entered the league in the 2010 draft, with Graham coming with the 95th pick in the third round and Gronkowski with the 42nd pick in the second round.

After a good performance in the front line of the two players in their rookie season, they both became starters this year and began to shine in the league at the same time, and the two of them were bright for a while.

The use of a two-close end tactic means that the dexterity of speed and the deep blow are lost, and the offensive power of the long and even middle pass areas is greatly weakened; Relatively speaking, more forces are concentrated in the short passing area, and the opposition advantage of the near end is used to complete the task of pushing forward in one-on-one confrontation.

Naturally, the layout of the tactical manual will be very different, both for the attacking group and for the defensive group.

Hubble is a coach with offense and risk-taking in his blood, and he has made adjustments to the Detroit Lions' tactical set-up.

In San Francisco's 49ers' offensive lineup, speed and far-reaching ability have never been strong points — Alex Smith isn't a quarterback with great arm strength, and their long-pass explosiveness hasn't improved until this year.

Now after changing the starting quarterback, Lu Ke's long passing ability activates Ted Jean, and also makes full use of Logan Newman, and even Kyle Williams has become an important receiving point in the middle of the pass, which makes them have the ability to hit from afar, and the whole offensive tactics have suddenly become rich and diverse.

Despite this, against the Lions' two safety guards, the 49ers' level of far-reaching regional confrontation is still outperforming.

In terms of absolute speed, Newman does not have an advantage, whether it is Delmas or Harris, their speed advantage can block Newman's running route and cut off Lu Ke's passing gap in advance; Williams's strength is too average, lacking strengths, and he can't form an effective confrontation in one-on-one situations; This also means that Jean is likely to face a situation of one against two, under great pressure, and the situation is not optimistic-

In the first wave of attack, Jean used unconventional helmet catches twice, but they couldn't pray that they would succeed every time.

Relatively speaking, the short passing area, which is the strength of the 49ers, is also the weakness of the Lions. Attacking the weaknesses of others with your own strengths is the right strategy. As a result, Hubble boldly replaced Williams, who was relatively average, and replaced Vernon Davis, who had an absolute physical advantage, and adopted a two-close end strategy.

In this way, in the short passing area, the 49ers have Vernon, Newman, and Crabtree three absolutely tough receiving and blocking points, even in one-on-one and one-on-two confrontations, they are definitely not weak; In the case that Lu Ke can't find a passing gap, he can use the hidden passing line, three players cover each other, and then rely on the confrontation ability of the near end and the big outside to complete the catch.

At the same time, Jean can also wait for an opportunity to run out of the gap and sneak up on the far-reaching route; In addition, the two close forwards can also be fully involved in the offensive line's pick-and-roll coverage, which makes the running back's running path more prolific.

The San Francisco 49ers' offensive line has become rich again, and Lu Ke's passing pressure has been relatively reduced.

Involuntarily, Lu Ke thought of the update of the game tasks before the start of today's game, one of which is the task of area passing yardage, and the other is the task of short pass ratio control; But now, if you think about it, two missions can actually be seen as one mission: to fully engage in positional warfare in the short pass area.

Maybe it's because the Detroit Lions are better at long-pass defense, or maybe it's because the game process determines that the short-pass area will determine the outcome of the game, but there is no doubt that the double-close end tactics coincide with the requirements of the game task, and in an instant, Lu Ke understood the coach's arrangement and intentions.