Super Bowl Domination

Chapter 1233: Fierce Tiger
"Monday Night Game sucks."

"Sure enough, even the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs haven't been able to escape the Monday Night Football curse."

"Curse, this is a curse! Absolutely!"

"This game...can it get any more boring?"

"Please, please get the Monday Night Football game off the league schedule, okay?"

"That's it? Haha."

Imagine it’s Monday, a working day, after a whole day of terrible work life and facing four more working days of torture, you finally escape from the workplace and rush home, bring out popcorn and beer, ready to enjoy the peak battle of "rookies vs. goats" to relieve the pressure.

The result... a defensive battle.

A hit into a wall. An interception. A turnover. An incomplete pass. A strikeout. A punt.

These are the protagonists.

The entire game was stumbling and intermittent, and there was not even a single smooth and continuous offense to be seen.

Moreover, when the camera swept around, one could always see the cold and bloodless faces of the fans in the stadium, as if they were watching a group of lifeless vampires playing a hell game.

For a moment, I didn’t know whether I should blame the Monday Night Game curse or admire Gillette Stadium in December for being the legendary devil’s home field.

The viewing experience was really... terrible.

Standing in front of nature, human beings' insignificance and fragility are clearly revealed, and the severe cold and strong winds steal all the attention.

In such adverse weather conditions, the defense was able to flex its muscles.

New England Patriots cornerback Gilmore seized the opportunity.

The cornerback was selected by the Buffalo Bills with the tenth pick in the first round of the 2012 draft. During his rookie contract, although Gilmore grew, the pace was too slow and he failed to meet expectations. In the 2017 season, he moved to the New England Patriots, another team in the AFC East.

If there is one thing the Buffalo Bills and the New England Patriots have in common?

Brutal cold weather definitely tops the list, and Gilmour acclimatized quickly and seamlessly as he moved from one bitterly cold place to another.

Gilmore has performed well in the past two seasons. He was selected to the All-American Second Team last season and was selected to the Pro Bowl for the second time in his career. He was highly anticipated. But no one expected that Gilmore would complete his transformation this season and become the absolute core of the New England Patriots' defensive team at the leadership level.

Gilmore is currently leading the race for Defensive Player of the Year.

While Watt's Houston Texans and Donald's Los Angeles Rams maintained their excellent competitiveness, Gilmore not only suppressed the two pass rushers; he also withstood the impact of a number of powerful competitors, becoming the league's most shining defensive star this season with his unparalleled performance.

A simple statistic will tell you that in the first twelve weeks of the game, the quarterback's pass success rate towards Gilmore was only 38.9%, not even %; and Gilmore also completed six interceptions, leading the league's interception list. What's more outstanding is that he also scored two touchdowns after the interception.

Absolute domination!

Putting aside the statistics, just look at today's game and you will know that Gilmore was guarding Kelce more than once.

Originally, the tight end had an advantage against the cornerback, but the six-foot (183 cm), 190-pound (86 kg) Gilmore relied on the cornerback's footwork skills to hold his position against Kelce, who was taller and stronger than him, leaving Kelce helpless in the confrontation.

Since the start of the game, Mahomes has only completed one of his five passes toward Kelce, which has been very rare in the past two seasons.

It was rare to see Kelce frustrated, almost invisible. Logically speaking, in such bad weather, small fast horses like Hill and Hardman are often useless, and more reliance is still needed on short passes; but now Kelce is blocked, which is also an important reason why the Kansas City Chiefs' passing offense can't work.

Gilmour is terrifying enough, and what’s even more exaggerated is that this is not all of his performance.

This season, Gilmore has been in great form, with his predictions and intuition being very accurate. He can often make accurate predictions from the quarterback's clues, and quickly start defending based on his intuition with a very high success rate.

In addition to Kelce, Gilmore also disrupted a pass from Watkins, effectively assisted in short pass defense many times, and even intercepted Levi once.

Figures are everywhere.

What's more, the New England Patriots' defense has more than just Gilmore. There are at least three players who are at the Pro Bowl level and are in good shape.

Coupled with the Foxburg in December, it is no surprise that the Kansas City Chiefs offense has been unable to open the situation.

However, the New England Patriots' offense also faces severe tests.

Don't forget that the Kansas City Chiefs' defense has also made great progress this season, especially on the defensive front. With the maturity of Chris Jones and the addition of defensive lineman Clark, the efficiency of rushing pressure has been significantly improved.

Brady...has the will but not the ability.

There is no doubt about their fighting spirit and passion, but it is also an objective fact that their form has always been lagging behind. Their terrible passing feel makes it impossible to feel the home-field advantage at all, and the New England Patriots' offense is also lost in the wind.

So, the game went like this -

Punt. Punt. Punt. Punt.

The audience began to yawn one by one, their attention had long been distracted. If they had not held on to the last bit of confidence in Bliichek and Reed, they would have changed the channel by now. It was really too boring!
However, head coaches Belichick and Reid remained focused because they knew that such a difficult and close game was the real test and the key to determining the subsequent direction of the season.

The New England Patriots have been stumbling since their loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

The fluctuations that the Kansas City Chiefs experienced when facing the Oakland Raiders last week were a signal that the fatigue of the long season and the blindness of the continuous winning streak are launching a double attack from the physical and mental levels, and fluctuations are inevitable.

This is a crisis, but also a turning point.

If a team can overcome difficulties, it will be able to complete its transformation and prepare for the playoffs; if it is tripped by difficulties, the difficulty of standing up again and continuing to keep up with the pace of competition in the league will increase tenfold or a hundredfold.

But, I encountered such an opponent.

No wonder "Inside the Alliance" believed that the game was evenly matched. Obviously, they all sensed the subtle changes in the overall situation, with crises and tests appearing at the same time.

In the face of adversity, the Kansas City Chiefs once again demonstrated their tenacity. This was the biggest transformation in three seasons, and it was still Levi who stepped forward.

In the difficult situation, Levi relied on his brilliant performance to complete two big-yardage advances, helping the Kansas Chiefs win precious opportunities.

Then, the special forces team will have a firm grasp on it.

"6:3".

At the end of the first half, the Kansas City Chiefs entered the locker room with a slight lead from a free kick. Although the advantage was insignificant and the situation could be reversed at any time, there were still bursts of admiration in the live broadcast room.

"Even though it was so difficult, the Kansas City Chiefs still ended the first half with a lead. I can't believe it!"

(End of this chapter)