Dominate the Super Bowl

Does Bart hate Li Wei?

Not exactly.

They had no grievances, and Bart wouldn't go out of his way to make troubles with a rookie, but there were two points.

First, he definitely misjudged the situation. His previous views were all sincere, but not only was he slapped in the face, it was done in such an overwhelming manner, whether in terms of game stats or defeating the defending champions, such a strong performance really made Bart's crash quite tragic.

Second, he didn't like the League's attitude, having taken a stand from the start, ready to promote Li Wei wholeheartedly under Goodell's ambition to expand the global market, regardless of how Li Wei performed—which clearly wasn't fair to the other rookies.

In Bart's view, he wasn't attacking Li Wei, but defending the other rookies.

Right now, such a scenario was unfolding.

Watching everyone praising Li Wei, acting like lapdogs, one after the other, Bart suddenly swelled with indignation. He stiffened his neck and straightened his back, glaring at Lawson and didn't hesitate to fire back.

"Heh."

"Doesn't this scene seem familiar?"

"First week of the preseason, number twenty-three put on a slightly above-average performance, raising everyone's expectations. But just like that, in the second week of the preseason, he showed a total decline and afterward didn't even appear on the field again."

"Yes, we know number twenty-three indeed has the ability; but does he have endurance?"

"Robert Griffin III nearly shone throughout his entire rookie season, everyone said he was the next superstar, ready to take on Manning and kick Brady. But what happened in the end?"

"Now he's just a castoff wandering between different teams, struggling to survive, with the Washington Redskins even ready to admit their draft mistake to get rid of him."

Griffin: I haven't offended you!

"What I mean is, we should take a longer view, that's all. I have no prejudice, absolutely none, just being objective."

"From the start of the preseason, the discussions around number twenty-three have been focused on whether he can adapt to the intensity of the contest and for a prolonged duration."

"Not to mention the playoffs, the NFL regular season is longer than the entire NCAA season. Outstanding performance in one game isn't enough to prove anything."

"Sometime impressive, sometimes not; highs followed by lows; such a player doesn't serve much of a purpose in the Professional League, and no team likes that."

"So."

"Maybe I'm the only one keeping my sanity here, but I truly believe we should wait and see how the next game goes, and the rest of the schedule."

"I'll hold off on talking about the upcoming game against the Pittsburgh Steelers for now. Next week's game against the Philadelphia Eagles will be a significant test for number twenty-three."

"Hey, no prejudice, absolutely none."

Utter nonsense—

The more he stressed his lack of prejudice, the more likely his vision was clouded by it.

However, at least on one point Bart was correct, and no one was prepared to argue.

The Philadelphia Eagles were indeed a test.

First, one victory really isn't enough to prove anything.

Second, this would be Li Wei's second consecutive game, and everyone was looking forward to seeing if he could maintain a strong and consistent performance amidst the dense schedule and relentless intensity of the competition.

Third, the Philadelphia Eagles were somewhat troublesome in their own right.

Last season, the Eagles had a terribly disappointing season with seven wins and nine losses, missing post-season back-to-back for the first time since 1998 and 1999, after a gap of sixteen years.

But even in their plight, the Eagles still saw a glimmer of hope.

Last year's second overall pick quarterback Carson Wentz underwent a season of trial and matured pleasingly, finally adjusting to the intensity of the league in his sophomore year; and the coach newly appointed last year, Doug Pederson, also got the chance to further integrate the team.

At this year's draft, Pederson picked a defensive end and two cornerbacks in the first three rounds, firmly showing his tactical intent to transform the defensive group.

Last season, the Philadelphia Eagles' offense and defense were both middling to below average in the league; but at the start of the new season, Pederson's team showed a completely new look.

In week one, facing the Washington Redskins, the Eagles' defensive group displayed top-tier form, crushing the Redskin's ground game to a mere 41 yards for the entire game.

Yes, you read that correctly, all three of the Redskins' running backs combined for a total of just 41 yards for the game, so much so that their quarterback Kirk Cousins hobbled on one leg, stumbling throughout the offense.

"30:17".

The Philadelphia Eagles easily defeated their opponents.

In fact, the Eagles' defensive group only allowed one touchdown pass and one field goal, conceding ten points; the other touchdown was scored by the Redskins' defensive group intercepting a return attack.

With the first week of the regular season over, the Eagles' defensive group powerfully took the top spot in the league, currently ranked third in pass defense and first in rush defense.

Of course, a week's data is of limited reference value, but Pederson's defensive group finally showed its power.
Your journey continues with empire

In an interview, Pederson didn't hide his love and admiration for the Seattle Seahawks' once league-sweeping "Bombing Corps," always hoping to replicate the defensive intensity of the Bombing Corps, and now the Eagles seem finally to allow him to fight according to his own ideas.

Because of this, the Philadelphia Eagles can indeed be said to be Li Wei's litmus test.

In fact, it's the same for both teams.

For the Eagles, the Kansas City Chiefs are the litmus test, to see if their defensive strength is real or just a paper tiger; for the Chiefs, the Eagles are also the litmus test, to see if Smith and Li Wei can replicate the phenomenal performance of the first week.

The game, true to expectations—

"3:6".

At halftime, the home-playing Chiefs went to the locker room with a slender advantage of one field goal.

From the score alone, one could tell that almost the entire first half was dominated by punts, with the defensive groups taking center stage, and neither team managing to reach the end zone.

Regarding this, Bart expressed immense delight: Hooray!

But on the surface, Bart still needed to maintain composure, presenting a posture of a professional's inscrutable calm, as if seeing through worldly affairs, standing upright, continually stroking his neatly trimmed beard, exerting all his strength to keep the corners of his mouth from turning up, to avoid looking gleeful.

Temperament, the temperament of a professional!

ESPN's "Inside the League" team was using halftime to review, analyze, and preview, appearing somewhat confused.

In the pre-game predictions, a whopping seven professionals believed the Chiefs would win, with the Eagles receiving only three votes as the minority.

However, even the Eagle's supporters hadn't predicted that the game would turn into a battle of defenses; isn't this kind of game opening all wrong?

Perhaps Bart was the only exception; he already had his script ready.

"Ahem."

"We should take note of one stat, Smith, eighteen passes, thirteen completions in the first half, a pass completion rate of 72.2%, still a very impressive figure."

"Facing the Eagles defensive group's high-positioned strategy that limits mid to long passes, Smith completely leveraged his short pass precision advantage, continuing his brilliant performance from the last game."

"So, why hasn't the Chiefs' offense managed to break through?"

Bart paused, sweeping his gaze across the room, deliberately holding back, but there was no need for him to speak—the answer was already known in the studio—

The scapegoat had been predetermined, hadn't it?

Sure enough, Bart showed a smile, "Ground attack."