Dominate the Super Bowl-Chapter 570

Chapter 570: 569 New grudges and old hatreds Chapter 570: 569 New grudges and old hatreds The 2018 regular season schedule was announced well in advance.

As per tradition, the season opener took place with the defending champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers at home, instantly sparking countless discussions.

Last season’s regular-season clash in Week 6 between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers was undoubtedly one of the most thrilling and best games of the season.

The animosity from that game carried through to the playoffs, causing off-the-field controversies, pushing the tensions between the two teams to new heights both on and off the field.

It’s no wonder the moment the League announced the opening game matchup, social networks exploded with noise and memes flew everywhere.

However!

The League had not anticipated that Bell’s contract dispute would escalate to such an extent and even spiral out of control, eventually reaching a point where it could not be contained.

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In an instant, running backs were swept up into the storm.

The Kansas City Chiefs’ running backs Li Wei and Hunter were at the forefront.

New grudges and old hatreds piled up, making for an explosive situation.

Without a word, the tension for the opening match had already climbed to a whole new level—

Goodell, high, indeed very high!

People thought that last year’s opening matchup of “Goat vs.

Rookie” was exaggerated and thrilling enough, yet this year managed to up the ante.

This time, it wasn’t just a showdown between two players or one-on-one matchups, but a powerful collision of attitudes, concepts, and values.

The affirmative side believes in discarding running backs when done, easily substituting them, no one is irreplaceable; represented by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The opposing side contends that running backs hold special value, and that top players are ultimately unique; represented by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Currently, this is also one of the fiercest topics of debate in the entire League, or to put it more simply and more directly:

In an excellent ground game, is it the team strategy that deserves more credit, or the top running backs?

The latter recognizes the clear distinction between excellent running backs and average running backs; the former does not agree.

Even though the affirmative side has the upper hand in the debate and the advantage continues to grow, there are still supporters on the opposing side.

Now, the League has ignited a comprehensive discussion with just one game.

The heat soared to the skies.

Goodell: No, no, no, this time, I really am innocent.

I’m not, I didn’t know, I didn’t do it.

Goodell had not foreseen that Bell and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ negotiations would collapse, and they’d part ways so decisively, with Bell taking a firm stance; nor could he have foreseen Li Wei and Hunter supporting Bell in different ways, with Li Wei dragging the Steelers into it as well.

And then…

It all happened.

Goodell was also left stunned.

This time, he was truly wronged; but that’s the way it is with the boy who cried wolf, after crying “wolf” over and over, people no longer believed his words.

Unexpectedly, a rumor rapidly spread:

Perhaps Goodell was preparing to vindicate running backs.

After all, Li Wei was a running back.

Emerging out of nowhere last season, Li Wei became undeniably a new highlight of the League, he powerfully drove the football market, and while the Asian market layout and penetration might still need time, the reaction in the Asian market in North America was immediate, further expanding their lead in their stronghold.

Compared to breaking new ground in other markets, it’s especially delightful for the League to have opened up the situation in the domestic market, which had already entered a bottleneck.

The League expands its influence, advertisers increase their investments, teams receive more dividends, team owners’ pockets bulge, the salary cap continues to rise, and players can fight for higher contracts.

It’s a win-win situation for everybody, and everybody is happy.

In such a situation, promoting the status of the running back in the League seems to be not a bad thing.

However, it could affect the promotion of the passing game and possibly affect viewership ratings.

So, the League still needs to test the waters—

Li Wei is a pilot project, “Kansas City Chiefs vs Pittsburgh Steelers” is a trial run.

If the Kansas City Chiefs win and the viewership ratings are also impressive, this could give the League more confidence in promoting the status of the running back.

This rumor spread through social media like wildfire, growing more intense as it spread, and suddenly running backs became a hot topic of discussion.

Goodell: ?

Rarely at a loss for words, Goodell did not speak up to clarify.

Donald Yee was not surprised by this, as everything was under his control.

He knew Goodell wouldn’t deny it, even though the running back, safety, and lineman positions were indeed becoming more marginalized, and football shows were all discussing this; but Goodell’s official stance was to not respond, neither to acknowledge nor to deny, as he definitely did not want to become the public enemy of the players.

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So, Goodell would go with the flow, watching the direction and changes in public opinion, and then observing the general public’s attitude towards the running back.

Maybe, this indeed could become the turning point in reversing the running backs’ predicament.

Donald’s judgment was correct.

Then.

The atmosphere heated up bit by bit.

In the midst of all the buzzing and uproar, the entire League’s attention converged on Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

Whether by accident, coincidence, or destiny, the Kansas City Chiefs were involved in the season opener for the second consecutive year.

A whole year ago, the unheralded Kansas City Chiefs defeated defending champions New England Patriots in the opener, thus starting a miraculous season.

A year later, the Kansas City Chiefs’ situation was entirely different, as they were about to welcome a challenging problem at their home ground.

During this offseason, both the Kansas City Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers went through varying degrees of bumps and turbulence, with changes in team rosters to different extents.

For the Pittsburgh Steelers, although Bell’s negotiation breakdown was announced at the last moment, leaving the team caught off guard, Tomlin had been prepared in advance, making adjustments from the preseason.

This head coach gave the team’s management a reassurance with his excellent performance, proving that even without their ace running back, the Pittsburgh Steelers were still a force to be reckoned with.

In the preseason, they had three wins and one loss, sweeping the Philadelphia Eagles, narrowly losing to the Green Bay Packers, and easily defeating the Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers.

The performance was convincing.

After a brief panic, the Pittsburgh Steelers arrived in Kansas City full of confidence, ready for the grand opening of the new season.

In fact, due to Bell’s unexpected move, under Tomlin’s instigation, the locker room was not discouraged but united and spirited, aiming squarely at the Kansas City Chiefs, ready to vent all the frustration and anger on this opponent.

For the Kansas City Chiefs, it wasn’t easy either, with a brand new quarterback, a new tactical system, and this quarterback was still a sophomore lacking experience.

In the preseason, the team had been integrating, with stumbling performances.

They defeated the Atlanta Falcons and Green Bay Packers, two strong teams, but when facing the Houston Texans and Chicago Bears, two weaker teams, they lost, playing very inconsistently, oscillating greatly, and still not finding their center of gravity.

When the season opener came around, the pressure fell entirely on the shoulders of “rookie number two” Mahomes; at the same time, Levi also had to face his own new challenge.

The young and inexperienced defending champions stumbled into the clash with a determined and united opponent.

Perhaps the best news was that it all happened at Arrowhead Stadium.