The Houston Texans and San Francisco 49ers, who have made the playoffs for the second season in a row, are facing a strong rebound from their rivals in the same league this year, and whether they can continue to maintain their high-energy and efficient form and reach the playoffs for the third consecutive year is also the focus of attention across the league, and it is also the goal of both teams.

The road to defending the title will be tough, but the road to the playoffs again will not be easy until the title is defended.

In the preseason, unlike the struggling performance of the San Francisco 49ers, the overall performance of the Houston Texans was relatively stable, successfully achieving a good record of three wins and one loss, the offensive and defensive ends still continued the overall strength framework of the past two seasons, and the bench depth was more complete than the San Francisco 49ers, which also made people look forward to the team's new season.

But after the new season officially kicked off, the Houston Texans struggled exceptionally and more or less unexpectedly. Facing two weaker teams, the San Diego Chargers and the Tennessee Titans, despite two wins, the process was unsatisfactory and exposed a series of problems.

In the opening game, he challenged the San Diego Lightning away, "28:31", and only defeated the opponent by a narrow margin of free kicks; In the second week of the home game against the Tennessee Titans, the two sides played to a "24-24" regular season time, and the winner could only be decided through overtime, and the home team finally defeated the opponent with a stunner touchdown, and the final score was "30-24".

Overall, the Houston Texans remained relatively stable on the offensive end, with the quarterback, who played the best of his career last season and was among the regular season MVP alternates, slumped slightly, but still held his ground. But there has been a noticeable dip in performance on the defensive end, and JJ Watt is still the biggest star on the court, but without the help of opponents, he is also alone.

The season kicks off, every team faces a variety of challenges and problems, the ups and downs of the game are normal, professionals often say that the first month of the new season is undoubtedly the toughest, and now the Houston Texans are also going through this process, there are a lot of problems in all aspects, which also makes the team's form extremely unstable.

Either way, a win is a win, and they started the 2013 season with two straight wins, including a win over their rivals in the division, so could they ask for more?

Immediately after facing the Baltimore Ravens in the third week, the Houston Texans suffered a blow to the head, although the first quarter of the game scored a touchdown, but the subsequent game was completely dumb on both offensive and defensive ends, and lost the game with a "9:30" disparity.

Then in the fourth week against the Seattle Seahawks, the nightmare repeated, the Houston Texans took the lead again and took the lead throughout the game, but witnessed Russell Wilson's magical performance in the final moments, the score tied to "20:20", and the two sides entered overtime, which was also the second time in three weeks that the Texans entered overtime, but this time the goddess of victory was on the opponent's side, "20:23", the Texans lost the game.

Two consecutive defeats!

From two consecutive wins in the opening game to two consecutive defeats after that, the shortcomings and flaws exposed by the Houston Texans in the details of the game are being magnified little by little. In the past two seasons, in the face of tough battles, Texans have always been able to grit their teeth, step up at critical moments, and win games strongly; But now it's starting to get unstable.

That's not good news for Houston Texans.

However, this is still not the end of the world, the season has started with two wins and two losses, and the Houston Texans are still showing their competitive potential, and all the team needs to do now is to stabilize their minds, adjust quickly, and get back on winning track, with plenty of time for them to continue to make the playoffs.

"Houston Texans vs. San Francisco 49ers", this game is played in this context.

On the one hand, after two consecutive defeats, a victory is urgently needed to stabilize the morale of the army and return to the track of impacting the playoffs; On the other hand, after three consecutive defeats, the defense of the title has become precarious, and a victory is urgently needed to stop the loss in time. This game meant far more than a win for both teams, and could even be said to be a key turning point in the first half of the season.

It is against this background that Lu Ke's return from injury is even more commendable, adding more excitement to this important showdown.

The peak showdown of "Lu Ke VS Watt" is also dyed with a layer of tragedy.

Last season's Offensive Player of the Year vs. last season's Defensive Player of the Year was a lot of buzz at any given time, but when combined with the current situation of the two teams and the form of the two players, the situation became delicate, and no one could have predicted the outcome of the game.

There is even a concern in the industry: if Lu Ke's injury is not healed, but is forced to make a comeback for this victory, then what will be the follow-up impact?

In the professional league, anything is possible in order to win. It is the norm to play with injuries, and it is not uncommon to be forced to return early in order to win, and there are even people who hide their injuries and continue to play...... The collision of competitive sports and the supremacy of interests can always refresh people's cognitive bottom line.

The emergence of such worries just proves the industry's concern about the current situation of the San Francisco 49ers - without Lu Ke, they almost lose their competitiveness, and it also proves that the industry's attitude towards Lu Ke has changed - they have begun to really pay attention to Lu Ke's absolute strength, but how much strength can Lu Ke show after returning from injury?

Although Lu Ke has never been a quarterback who relies on his body to play, his brain is his core weapon; However, the current chaos of the San Francisco 49ers' offensive team cannot be ignored, the stumbling in the first week of the regular season is still vivid, and the performance of the next three weeks is even more chaotic, and Lu Ke's situation will become more and more difficult if his teammates cannot provide more help.

Lu Ke is a good player, but rugby is a sport that requires a squad of 53 people to complete.

For this key matchup, who can bottom out, the entire league is also bustling with heated discussions.

ESPN's "Within the Alliance" is undoubtedly the first hit in the spotlight!

"Despite suffering two straight defeats, we have to note that in the last game against Seattle, Houston fought until the end and only lost a free kick. What does this mean? Houston's current form has certainly been up and down, and the difficult situation they face is far greater than the last two years, but they still have the ability to fight hard! Two consecutive defeats are far from as bad as they seem! Their configuration is still reasonable......"

"It's all the same old clichés again! Houston quarterback Matt Sebb's form is slipping, you can't see it; The Houston defense team is so unorganized that JJ Watt is hard to do, and you can't see it! Now this team, the balance between the offensive and defensive ends has been broken......"

"So is San Francisco safe and sound? The pocket protection of the offensive front line has fallen to the bottom of the league, and the performance of the receiving team has plummeted, even if Lu Ke returns, he is not an almighty savior! Not to mention the overall decline in the strength of the defensive group's front! The absence of Alton Smith is a fatal blow! Now the aging of the entire defensive group has exposed the shortcomings......"

"You don't understand what Lu Ke means to the offensive group at all! His judgment, his awareness and his layout, that is the core role that Jim Hubble cannot replace, as long as he is on the court, the offensive team can seize the opportunity, which is the key to changing the whole situation! Judging quarterbacks solely by stats is the stupidest thing to do! ”

"But Lu Ke has just returned from injury now, who can guarantee his passing performance under pressure? A quarterback who relies on his brain to play ball, Lu Ke is not the only one in the league! If nothing else, fellow rookie Brian Gabott in 2011 is the best proof of this, his von Derick test score is second only to Lu Ke, but his performance in the past two seasons has been a real disaster! Why? Because he can't make a pass under pressure! Every time his pocket is broken, he panics, can't make accurate judgments, and even gives up passing, so no matter how smart his mind is, it's useless! The von Derick test is useless! ”

"Lu Ke has proven the authority of the von Derick test! Looking at last season's performance, who can match his on-the-spot adaptability? Even Brady or Big Manning, they don't necessarily have that energy at their peak! ”

"So you mean, Lu Ke is already better than Brady and Big Manning? Absurd! It's ridiculous! When did rugby become a mind sport? How did I not know? ”

Every year, there is a controversy about the von derrick test, especially in the two years when Lu Ke was born, and his absolutely excellent performance proves that the significance of the von derrick test full score is far beyond imagination. Naturally, all 32 teams in the draft are inevitably concerned about test scores. But why is only one Lu Ke standing out so far?

The reason is simple, the game is always in a dynamic confrontation, when the quarterback is under pressure in the pocket, can he judge calmly? When a quarterback has been sacked in a row, do you dare to hold the ball for a long time and watch to complete the pass? When a quarterback gets caught in a cat-and-mouse chase, will he be able to catch the pass and avoid holding the ball too long and getting a sack?

Calmness and composure in the face of chaos is an area that the von Derick test could not explore; At the same time, it is also an important reason why the von Derrick test has never been the core criterion for judging whether a quarterback is good or not.

"Stop! Stop! Why do you start to go off topic while you are discussing? We're not talking about the von Derick test now, but San Francisco and Houston! Back to the point, down to the point! ”

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