Dominate the Super Bowl

Chapter 247: 246 Rookie Benchmark

The game ended just like that.

Elliott stood there, devastated and disillusioned, his face a mix of sighs and reluctance—

He had fantasized about arriving in Philadelphia from Cincinnati on a Rainbow Cloud, entering "God Mode" at the crucial moment, turning the tables with a desperate counterattack, and becoming the ultimate hero securing victory for the Philadelphia Eagles. Not only would he deliver a powerful counterstrike against the Cincinnati Bengals, but he would also prove himself.

Indeed, the moment the kick flew out, everything seemed possible, and he truly believed that he could be the hero of the victory.

He had even planned his celebration, high-fiving Wentz, passing on the heavy responsibility to Wanfu Mary, and then embracing the cheers of his new teammates.

However, everything abruptly came to a halt.

Li Wei.

It was Li Wei, who single-handedly extinguished the hopes of a Philadelphia Eagles comeback, strong enough, decisive enough, and most importantly, calm enough.

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Unflustered in the face of danger.

So, is this what superstar charisma is like?

Gently and deeply exhaling, Elliott carefully gathered his chaotic thoughts, looked up, and spotted Li Wei in the crowd, busily surrounded by Kansas City Chiefs players, not just from the offensive group but the defensive group as well.

Can you imagine? A rookie, a newcomer, quietly becoming the core of the team just two weeks into the season.

Perhaps, he should take Li Wei as an example, firmly grasp this opportunity, stabilize his footing in Philadelphia, and embark on a new journey.

After all, like Li Wei, he too was a rookie. If a running back can have their spring, why not a kicker?

His gaze fell back on Li Wei, filled with a bit of longing and admiration. Elliott hesitated slightly, wondering if he asked Li Wei to exchange jerseys, would he refuse?

Finally, after some hesitation, Elliott decided to give it a try. Before he could take a step, he realized someone had beat him to it—

Wentz.

Carson Wentz felt a bit embarrassed.

Originally, Wentz had wanted to exchange jerseys with Smith, quarterback to quarterback, sympathizing with each other, but his gaze inevitably kept returning to Li Wei.

Wentz himself was only a sophomore, still somewhat naive and confused from last year to this year:

The focus on Goff and Wentz, the top two picks, had never cooled down. Those harsh, critical, and sharp eyes seemed to want to dissect them alive, scrutinizing their performances over and over, eagerly expecting them to become the saviors of their teams overnight.

All of this happened for a reason.

In the 2012 season, Indianapolis Colts used their top pick to select Andrew Luck, while the Washington Redskins traded up to draft Robert Griffin III with the second pick. Both players performed phenomenally in their rookie seasons, not only leading their teams to the playoffs but also being selected for the Pro Bowl.

Starting that year, drafting a quarterback in the first round and fully utilizing the rookie four-year low-cost contract to bring better performance to the team became a trend.

In the 2015 season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers used the top pick to select Jameis Winston, and the Tennessee Titans selected Marcus Mariota with the second pick. Both were Heisman Trophy winners from 2013 and 2014, respectively, and bore the brunt of responsibility for their teams in their rookie seasons.

Although Winston and Mariota’s rookie seasons could not compare to Luck and Griffin III, they undeniably had impressive seasons, with Winston even being selected directly for the Pro Bowl.

With that, the entire league was buzzing. Additionally, with the league heavily promoting passing offenses and introducing a series of rules to protect quarterbacks, ensuring quarterbacks could pass more comfortably, teams were more encouraged to pick quarterbacks early, hoping to fully utilize the rookie benefits.

Consequently, during the 2016 and 2017 seasons, the top three draft spots attracted a lot of attention.

The 2017 season was slightly better because it was a big year for defense, and quarterbacks were generally underperforming, so the attention was not so intense. If Kansas City Chiefs hadn’t taken continuous risks, this year’s draft would probably have been uneventful; whereas the 2016 season was lively due to two quarterbacks.

Goff and Wentz.

Almost every team knew that the top pick and the next best were reserved, either for Goff or for Wentz, with the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles respectively trading up at great cost to secure these first two positions, Goff headed to Los Angeles, and Wentz to Philadelphia.

Because of the buildup over the past few years, the entire league held exceedingly high expectations for Goff and Wentz, hoping they would explode onto the scene in their rookie season.

However.

Goff, starting seven games, lost all seven, threw for 1089 yards, accomplished five touchdown passes, and was intercepted seven times.

Wentz, starting all sixteen games, won seven and lost nine, threw for 3782 yards, accomplished sixteen touchdown passes, and was intercepted fourteen times.

Among them, Wentz received full support from Coach Pederson, attempting 607 passes throughout the season, which was the second most for a rookie quarterback in NFL history since Andrew Luck’s 2012 season; this also helped Wentz break a series of rookie passing records.

Even so, it still wasn’t enough, not nearly enough.

Goff was quickly labeled a "bust," and Wentz was severely criticized by the media. Compared to last year’s treatment of Winston and Mariota, it was like heaven and earth.

In fact, this game was no exception—

Even without attending the press conference yet, Wentz knew he was about to become a focal point of media scrutiny again.

Wentz’s intuition was right.

At the post-game press conference, a reporter directly confronted Pederson with the stats: in the entire game, last season’s leading rusher, Blount, had only one carry for zero yards.

Furthermore, throughout the game, the Philadelphia Eagles only attempted ten running plays, advancing seventy-one yards on the ground, fifty-five of which came from quarterback Wentz, meaning the running back group advanced only sixteen yards.

Sixteen yards.

This statistic was indeed bloody.

The media blamed everything on Pederson and Wentz; if Pederson hadn’t insisted on focusing on a passing offense, the Eagles might not have lost.

Wentz wasn’t surprised.

After all, every move he and Goff made could become an original sin, and every word they said was scrutinized under a microscope. Whatever happened, "blame Wentz" and "blame Goff" had become the norm.

Especially since the 2017 season had no rookie quarterbacks to share their pressure, Wentz and Goff still stood in the line of fire.

The pressure was suffocating, even if Wentz managed to switch to "God Mode" in the final moments to add suspense to the game. But it wasn’t enough, still far from enough.

This year, the pressure on Li Wei was even greater by comparison, and to some extent, even more exaggerated than Goff and Wentz combined.

People saw the historical brilliance created by Li Wei, but Wentz saw the pressure Li Wei endured as a running back, those labels, any one of which was tremendously heavy—rookie, Asian, running back, newcomer, and so on, each label was a mountain that could crush a person.

However, how did Li Wei manage it?

Under immense pressure, he didn’t bend, didn’t get scared, didn’t back down, but turned it into motivation, erupting with more powerful, more ferocious, more aggressive energy.

Setting a bar for rookies that was difficult to surpass.

Before he realized it, Wentz found himself standing before Li Wei, seemingly a subconscious act.