Chapter 1430: Chapter 1429: Different Tunes in Harmony
“This time, I agree with Blair.”
When Lawson spoke, the entire studio’s attention was focused on him. Where was the promised confrontation? Where was the supposed intensity? Something was off.
Crosby intentionally spread his hands, “Oh. Josh, this makes it uninteresting, this isn’t why we invited you to sit here.”
Bart looked around with a calm expression, half-smiling, “Guys, there’s no need to gang up on Josh, right? If I said that, you could be surprised; but if it’s Josh, isn’t that perfectly normal?”
“Josh Lawson, the representative of truth, objectivity, and calmness, doesn’t mind agreeing with others as long as they’re right, no matter who they are.”
“Right, Josh?”
The gaze finally fell on Lawson, with Bart’s expression clearly saying: How about it, wasn’t my analysis just spot on?
Lawson nodded slightly, “So, you also agree I’m the most objective and fair?”
Bart: … his smile slowly froze.
Hahaha, the studio erupted in laughter.
Lawson showed a hint of a smile but didn’t pause and brought the topic back.
“What I mean is, in this game, the ground game will undoubtedly play a crucial role.”
“Looking at the data, the Kansas City Chiefs are the league’s best-balanced team in terms of running and passing. When we see Li Wei achieving a two-thousand-yard rushing season, we often think it’s because Li Wei gets a lot of carries and drives the ground attack fiercely, but that’s not the case.”
“The Kansas City Chiefs’ rushing attempts aren’t particularly outstanding; they rely entirely on the offensive line’s dismantling cooperation, along with the wide receivers and tight ends creating opportunities, and finally depend on Li Wei’s individual ability to break through, coupled with Mahomes exploiting openings to sneak for big gains.”
“This is the real threat of the Kansas City Chiefs’ ground game: covert, steady, sharp, and deadly, making it unpredictable.”
“That’s why Li Wei’s average yards per run set a record, even though Lamar Jackson created a new peak, it’s still hard to reach.”
“Of course, we can’t overlook the San Francisco 49ers.”
“The San Francisco 49ers’ ground defense is only mid-tier in the league, conceding many big-play yards; but in critical games against strong opponents, they rarely make mistakes, focusing on tight positioning and tough confrontations in the ‘4-3′ formation, holding their own in ground defense.”
“In some ways, the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers’ ground defenses are similar, with many small faults but showing strong performance in critical moments.”
“So I agree with Blair’s earlier words; this is a probability issue.”
“The San Francisco 49ers rely on a rotation of three players forming a ‘Running Back Committee’ to launch attacks, while the Kansas City Chiefs seemingly rely entirely on Li Wei charging in, but in reality, Mahomes’ role is far beyond imagination, so no team in the league has been able to limit Li Wei’s runs to this day.”
The statement stopped there.
Crosby had to connect by asking, “What do you mean?”
Lawson, “Clearly, the ground game is a focus of the Super Bowl; it’s also what distinguishes the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers from other league teams. In the game, Red Zone performance and live execution will determine victory, but I personally believe Li Wei has never been a disappointment.”
After speaking, Lawson looked brightly at Bart.
Bart: …
Li Wei, it’s all about Li Wei, over and over again. Throughout the years, they’ve had enough blows involving Li Wei, even the “Li Wei Hater” often finds it hard to argue.
In other words, “San Francisco 49ers’ ground offense VS Kansas City Chiefs’ ground defense”, “Kansas City Chiefs’ ground offense VS San Francisco 49ers’ ground defense,” these two matchups have an uncanny resemblance, despite the many differences in players and tactics, their core is molded from the same template.
The ultimate test still depends on live execution.
In this aspect, Li Wei has never lost.
It is precisely because of this that Lawson seemed to agree with Bart’s viewpoint but reached a completely different conclusion.
At the moment, in Lawson’s frank and straightforward gaze, Bart felt choked—
He really wanted Li Wei to leave, but the undisputed consecutive regular-season MVP showcasing overwhelming dominance made him swallow back his words.
Bart said, “Indeed, it’s a probability issue, relying entirely on live execution; I believe both teams will prepare well, but also precisely because of this, passing attacks and defenses might play crucial roles.”
He didn’t want to talk about Li Wei, so he talked about something else.
Crosby’s expression was very strange, scrutinizing Bart, “You mean, the San Francisco 49ers might rely on passing to compete for the Super Bowl championship?”
Bart had a face full of helplessness, “I know, I know, Jimmy Garoppolo is the focal point, don’t forget, I also questioned his position in the conference finals. As a quarterback, he should take on more responsibility; but we aren’t amateurs, we all know the game isn’t that simple.”
“We should look at the San Francisco 49ers’ performance throughout the season; do they really not have passing capability?”
“The answer is obviously no.”
“First, let’s face a reality that the San Francisco 49ers have a poor offensive line.”
“Yes, poor.”
“It’s an offensive line that’s good at run blocking but not good at pass protection; their pass protection rate and sack rate are all in the bottom half of the league. This is probably why Shanahan opted for a ground game focus in the playoffs, to protect Garoppolo, play to their strengths, and conserve energy for the Super Bowl.”
“In contrast, this season, the Kansas City Chiefs’ defensive group has made considerable progress, particularly noticeable on the defensive front line, where the defensive line and linemen’s outstanding performance deserves affirmation. They only used a blitz rate of 29.2%, the league average, to create a tenth-ranked pressure rate of 36.5% in the league.”
“Highly effective.”
“Yet entering the playoffs, their blitz rate and pressure effect noticeably declined. From various signs, Chris Jones and Frank Clark should both be dealing with minor injuries, plus the test of a long season, their mental and physical stamina inevitably wavered. This is one of the important reasons they struggled against the Tennessee Titans in the division game.”
“Shanahan will certainly notice this.”
“I have a bold prediction, in the Super Bowl, the San Francisco 49ers will revert to a passing offense, activate Garoppolo, and simultaneously create more opportunities for the Running Back Committee.”
Applause, a group of people in the studio snapped their fingers to show agreement, avoiding interrupting Bart’s extensive analysis.
Among the professionals, some criticized Garoppolo’s invisibility in two playoff games; others saw Shanahan’s long-term comprehensive strategy.
After all, Shanahan has proven his coaching talent with a continuous stream of ideas.
“Shanahan’s rich playbook allows Garoppolo to complete a large number of quick passes and short passes. Garoppolo’s average release time during the regular season was 2.59 seconds, the fifth fastest in the league, with 58.2% of his throws coming out within 2.5 seconds, putting Garoppolo’s pressure rate eighth lowest in the league.”
“Look, the San Francisco 49ers’ offensive line isn’t good at pass protection, but Shanahan deftly found a way to play to their strengths.”
“That’s the brilliance of Shanahan.”