In the finale of the seventeenth week of the regular season, the San Francisco 49ers played away against the St. Louis Rams, and after taking a huge "0-28" lead in the first half, the coaching staff led by Jim Hubble made a bold decision to let the starters get enough rest and finish the second half with a bench.

It's not just the quarterback position.

Above the attacking front, with three main players paired with two substitutes, Alex Boone and Chino Hachar were given the chance, the latter of whom has been officially taken over by Adam Schneider as a substitute.

Among the receivers, Kyle Williams, who gradually reduced his chances of receiving the ball, appeared and teamed up with Michael Crabtree as a wide receiver; Vernon Davis joins Justin Peelle in the near end lineup.

Above the running back position, Anthony Dixon was given more opportunities, with Kendall Hunter and another rookie running back, Bruce-Miller, in rotation.

The entire attacking group changed almost half of the starters; Not only that, but the defensive group also changed four starters, but in contrast, the defensive group did not complete the changes in one go, but rotated so that several starters could take turns to get more rest time, as long as it did not affect the pace of the game.

Undoubtedly, the coaching staff's calculations could not have been clearer.

Players need to rest to recharge for the playoffs, and when they have already won the first half, they start to control the game in the second half, but in order to avoid capsizing in the gutter, the rotation of the defensive team is still more cautious. Similar situations are not uncommon in the league.

Despite this, changing nearly half of the main lineup in one go is really too bold and jaw-dropping!

But if you think about it carefully, many of Jim Hubble's decisions this season seem to be full of gamblers' spending madness, and it is precisely this unbelievable decision after another that has led the 49ers step by step to the present and written a brilliant stroke of the league.

So, who's to say that Hubble's decision isn't a gamble that will affect the direction of the playoffs?

It is not yet known how the playoffs will develop; However, the direction of this game has increased dramatically.

Alex Smith led the semi-new offensive team to shine, the whole offensive style was unrecognizable, the varied passing routes and tactical layout instantly became solid and heavy, mainly short passes, raiding the middle pass, and assisted by solid rushing balls, not greedy for big yardage advancement, but in the form of positional warfare, little by little.

Consume game time while controlling the game.

Although the San Francisco 49ers' offense has become slow and sluggish, it has completely lost the agility and wonder of Lu Ke as a quarterback; But three successive first-time strikes, two of which were third-gear transitions, gave a real glimpse into Jim Hubble's coaching ability:

Teach students according to their aptitude and adapt measures to local conditions.

According to different quarterbacks, develop different tactical systems and offensive styles, and create different combinations based on the ability of the quarterbacks, but the ultimate goal is the same: push, push, and push.

This skill alone is enough to prove Hubble's talent and ability!

It was obviously no coincidence or luck that Hubble was able to create a small dynasty of his own at Stanford University; This season's San Francisco 49ers were reborn in his hands, and after giving full play to Lu Ke's tactical ability, the offensive group also burst out with a thousand lights and was unstoppable.

However, in the face of a thick and solid offensive style, the St. Louis Rams defense gradually found its rhythm.

When Lu Ke is standing on the field, the offensive rhythm is constantly changing, and the permutations and combinations of tactics are elusive, which is indeed enough for the defensive group; When Alex is on the court, the offensive rhythm is relatively single, and after the lack of long passes, the rhythm of the defensive group is relatively tighter.

After pushing past halftime, a pass was incomplete, a run hit the wall, a short pass of four yards, and in the blink of an eye, the San Francisco 49ers ushered in the first strikeout of the game.

It wasn't the end of the world, and it wasn't enough to be a turning point in the game, but at least, the St. Louis Rams finally got a little breathing space and the one-sided situation slowed down a little.

Kirk, who was sitting in the studio, faintly noticed something abnormal, but couldn't say why, so he could only shake his head, put his instincts aside for the time being, and returned to work, watching the Rams' attack.

Four minutes and forty-eight seconds later.

"Touchdown! The St. Louis Rams scored a touchdown! It was the Rams' first score in two games against the 49ers this season! This touchdown came from the 39th running back Steven-Jackson's rushing ball, the 19-yard rushing touchdown, it was definitely a wonderful push, not easy, really not easy! ”

After Teddy exclaimed, Kirk finally reacted: an anomaly flashed in his mind just now!

"Momentum!" Kirk blurted out, but after saying it, he himself involuntarily chuckled, "Yes, yes!" I know it's a bit ridiculous, but the truth is ......"

Kirk took a deep breath and said firmly, "When Lu Ke stands on the court, he is the most special existence. For the 49ers, they are willing to believe that they can win the game; As for the opposing players, they can feel a lot of pressure, and they have to be energetic every time they face the 49ers. ”

Kirk could feel Teddy's interested eyes, which not only did not dampen his confidence, but strengthened it, "I know, it's incredible, how can a rookie player have such a deterrent, he's not Peyton Manning or Aaron Rodgers, as long as they're on the court, the outcome is always unknown, they have the possibility to turn the game around." ”

"But that's what I'm trying to say. Because of this, he is an undrafted rookie, he is a Chinese player, and he also has a season record of 12 wins and 3 losses. Kirk gradually retracted his smile and his attention returned, "After the start of the second half, the 49ers offense had their first strikeout, while the Rams offense scored their first touchdown. ”

A simple and clear sentence of evidence, but enough.

Kirk then added, "Of course, it's just an idea. The next games will prove whether I am right or wrong. ”

As it turned out, Kirk was right.

In the third quarter, the Rams' offensive team finally came back to their feet, and after the first runaway touchdown, the first pass touchdown followed, and Sam Bradford managed to find wide receiver Brandon-Lloyd and complete a 22-yard pass.

However, in the face of such a strong chasing score, the 49-man offensive team has never been able to organize an effective advancement.

Alex's advancement is still steady, but there is still a lack of tacit understanding between the offensive groups, as if the machinery lacks lubricating oil and can operate normally, but it is still not smooth enough after all, which also makes the 49ers' offense always fall short at critical moments, and there were two pushes across the half court in the third quarter of the game, and when they were about to get close to the free kick area, they suffered strikeouts.

As Kirk said, all aspects of the St. Louis Rams came alive, and the defensive team repeatedly made contributions to complete the feat of strikeouts; The offensive group was back on track, with four attacks, two strikeouts and two touchdowns; The performance of the special service team was also relatively stable, with the extra points and kick-off shots successfully completing the task.

Of course, no one can directly prove Kirk's words.

But the fact is that after Lu Ke left the court, the momentum of the Rams and the 49ers on the court was quietly changing, and at the end of the third quarter, the score on the court came to "14:28".

The entire Edwards Jones Dome is finally boiling again, the home team has seen a glimmer of hope for a comeback, and the home fans have begun to cheer hard, and the home team finally has some energy and vitality.

All eyes are on the 49ers' coaching staff, will Hubble tweak the roster? Bringing in more starters back on the field? Or even go one step further and let Lu Ke return to the court? Or will it allow the situation to continue to spread?

After the start of the fourth quarter, the answer came out - Jim Hubble still chose to go his own way and stubborn to the end, refusing to compromise easily and refusing to surrender, the main players still rotated and rested, and Alex still led the offensive team.

Alex didn't live up to Hubble's trust, as he managed to push through the half court early in the fourth quarter and slammed into the red zone, and although he couldn't go any further, David Akons turned the offensive effort into a three-pointer.

“14：31”。

The significance is not only to widen the score gap, but more importantly, to re-stabilize the game.

In the remaining games, the confrontation between the 49ers and the Rams gradually began to become intense, and the Rams still did not give up and were still chasing after them, but the 49ers still relied on their deeper overall strength to gain a firm foothold.

Especially in terms of time control in the final stage of the game, Alex made full use of his steady advantage, and after consuming more than five minutes, he successfully entered the free kick area, and once again Arkens scored three points in one fell swoop; At the same time, only two full minutes of game time were left for the opponent, and a score gap of 10 points -

At that time, the score on the court was "24:34".

This also means that the Rams started the unyielding mode in the second half, but after all, they still failed to complete the comeback in one go, and all their efforts turned into a waste of time. For Sam Bradford to be the savior, he would have to score a touchdown within 120 seconds and a free-kick zone to push the ground, which ...... Is it possible?