Chapter 816: Beast Charge

Just how staggering were the Super Bowl ratings?

As halftime began, NBC released the first-half viewership numbers online: roughly 111.3 million viewers across America had tuned in to the live broadcast.

This alone demonstrated the Super Bowl's value—and exactly why its halftime commercial spots commanded the astronomical price of $300,000 a second!

That figure made it easy to calculate the advertising investment for a Hollywood movie during the Super Bowl. In most cases, a movie commercial ran for thirty seconds. Ever since Duke bought a spot for The Rock—marking the start of Hollywood's partnership with the event—thirty seconds had become the industry standard.

This year's ad rate was $300,000 a second, making a thirty-second spot a cool $9 million!

Only big-budget blockbusters could afford such massive advertising fees. Without exception, every film featured during the halftime break was a mainstream tentpole.

Ever since Marvel's superheroes first appeared on social media, Rune Weber had been closely following news about The Avengers. The moment halftime began, he planted himself in front of his TV to wait for the movie's commercial.

He wasn't disappointed. The moment the movie ad segment began, The Avengers was the very first to appear.

Though the promo was short, it was packed with footage.

More action, bigger set pieces. Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the Hulk made their combined debut...

A mere commercial was enough to keep Rune Weber's eyes glued to the screen.

A slew of unprecedented, explosive action scenes—paired with rapid-fire cuts and stirring, tragic music—created a doomsday atmosphere of global catastrophe. At the very end, the trailer revealed the shot that truly made his blood boil: amidst the smoke-filled streets of New York, surrounded by enemies on all sides, the six superheroes stood together. Wielding their signature weapons, they readied themselves to hold off the attacks of their powerful foes as one.

This was the strongest alliance in history!

This was the most powerful team on Earth!

After watching that trailer, Rune Weber felt that even Madonna's halftime show paled in comparison.

Madonna was the guest performer for this year's Super Bowl halftime show. Taking the stage dressed as Cleopatra, she pushed the stadium's atmosphere to its absolute peak.

The Super Bowl was a very bizarre sporting event, one where the halftime show's ratings were far higher than the game itself.

After halftime, the game resumed. The Los Angeles Raiders, who had been completely dominant in the first quarter, had lost their lead in the second. As the second half began, they still seemed completely out of form, pinned down by the New York Giants without room to breathe.

At 11 minutes and 20 seconds into the third quarter, Eli Manning launched a twenty-yard pass, and the Giants' tight end caught it for a touchdown. Following a successful extra point from the kicker, the Giants pushed the score to 17 to 9.

The situation had turned exceptionally grim for the Los Angeles Raiders. Duke and Leonardo both frowned deeply; if the team didn't turn things around, they were undoubtedly going to lose the Super Bowl.

After the Raiders' offense came up empty and had to settle for a fourth-down punt, the team's defense stepped up. During the Giants' drive, they sacked Eli Manning, blowing up the Giants' third down and forcing a punt. Meanwhile, the Raiders' special teams—who had been sleepwalking through the entire game—suddenly found their rhythm. Fielding the punt, the returner shook off the defense and launched a massive run, only getting knocked out of bounds at midfield.

This allowed the Raiders' offense to start their drive from the 50-yard line. However, Tom Brady still struggled to find his first-quarter form. Although the team pushed to the Giants' 20-yard line, he was sacked on third down. The Raiders had to abandon the touchdown and settle for a fourth-down field goal from the 30-yard mark, narrowing the gap to 12 to 17.

Tom Brady's terrible form was like a contagious disease; it not only infected the Raiders' offense but also spread to the Giants' star quarterback, Eli Manning.

Eli Manning—whose performance today couldn't exactly be called stellar either—was sacked by the Raiders' defensive line on the subsequent drive, forcing another fourth-down punt. The Raiders once again gained possession.

Seeming to realize his poor form, Tom Brady completely shifted the team's pass-heavy offensive strategy, switching to a ground game led by the running back. Tempered by years of professional training, Marshawn Lynch unleashed a terrifying level of play, repeatedly rushing for first downs behind the offensive line.

But as they pushed to the Giants' 30-yard line, the Giants tightened their ground defense, forcing Tom Brady to change tactics. Two consecutive passing incompletions followed, and the Raiders had to abandon their touchdown hopes once again to settle for a field goal. As the third quarter came to a close, they closed the score to 15 to 17.

"With just one field goal, we can take the lead!"

Hearing Scarlett's words, Duke nodded, but he replied with a hint of worry, "The team isn't in good form today."

"We should say both teams' defensive units are performing too well," Leonardo corrected.

Compared to the offenses, the defensive units felt more like today's protagonists, repeatedly putting on a show with interceptions and sacks.

In the fourth quarter, both defenses continued to excel. Right up until the final two minutes of the game, the score remained 15 to 17. If it ended like this, the New York Giants would take home the Super Bowl.

This was the Super Bowl, after all. Seeing the gridlock on the field, even the usually calm Duke grew anxious. Ignoring the cameras that occasionally swept their way, he frequently shouted at the field alongside Scarlett and Leonardo.

Winning the Vince Lombardi Trophy back-to-back wasn't easy; no team had accomplished it in recent years.

With the offense struggling, someone had to step up. Just like soccer, American football was a sport that heavily emphasized teamwork, but it was never short on moments where individual heroism changed the course of a game.

With 1 minute and 55 seconds left on the clock, the Raiders burned their final timeout, then launched a drive from their own twenty-yard line. Tom Brady showed slight improvement from his earlier struggles, picking up eight yards on the first two downs via passing. If the team wanted to secure a first down and keep driving, they had to gain two more yards.

Less than a minute remained. If the Raiders' offense executed well, that time was more than enough to march down the field for a touchdown.

For the impending third down, handing off to the running back to punch in the two yards was undoubtedly the safest play, and Tom Brady made exactly that choice.

After the snap, Tom Brady quickly dropped back and made a handoff motion. It wasn't a fake; the ball landed squarely in the hands of running back Marshawn Lynch.

Marshawn Lynch feinted a run to the left, but the Raiders' offensive linemen concentrated their blocking on the right side of the opponent's defense. Just as several Giants players moved in to intercept him, Marshawn Lynch suddenly changed direction, surging straight toward the gap wedged open by the offensive line.

Like a black beast, Marshawn Lynch wasn't particularly fast, but he was brimming with power. He squeezed through the narrow gap, easily completing the two-yard push, yet he didn't stop. It seemed as though no force could halt his charge.

A Giants defender wrapped around his waist, only for Marshawn Lynch to shake him off. Another defender dove and grabbed his ankle; Marshawn Lynch stumbled but didn't go down. Tearing his leg free from the opponent's grasp, he kept plowing forward.

As two more Giants players joined the effort to corral Marshawn Lynch, the Raiders' offensive line leveraged their numbers to break through the Giants' defensive pocket, rushing to Marshawn Lynch's side.

Positioning themselves in front, behind, and to both sides of Marshawn Lynch, they formed a shielding barrier around him.

"Stop him! Stop him!"

In the stadium, the Giants fans seemed to foresee what was coming. Unable to stay in their seats, they all stood up and screamed, urging the Giants to bring down the black monster.

"Go! Go! Go!"

The equally staggering number of Raiders fans were also on their feet, letting out waves of increasingly deafening cheers.

Duke and Leonardo had also stood up, their eyes locked tightly on the ball-carrying running back charging down the field.

Another Giants player rushed over but was blocked by a Raiders tackle. A cornerback lunged forward, both hands grasping Marshawn Lynch's waist, but before he could even exert force, the already-accelerating beast threw him behind with unstoppable momentum.

The Giants cornerback could only lie on the turf, watching helplessly as Marshawn Lynch sprinted toward their end zone, despair filling his eyes.

On the sidelines, the New York Giants' offense, special teams, and coaches all shared that same look of despair.

Right next door on the Los Angeles Raiders' bench, everyone had leapt to their feet, throwing their hands high into the air.

Across the stadium, all the Raiders fans raised their hands as well!

Up in the luxury box, Duke, Scarlett, and Leonardo raised their hands too!

Marshawn Lynch had shaken off all defenders. Ten yards, five yards, three yards, one yard...

The Raiders players on the field also threw their arms up as Marshawn Lynch stormed into the end zone. A 67-yard rushing touchdown! The Los Angeles Raiders had reclaimed the lead, 21 to 17!

This meant that on the New York Giants' ensuing drive, they absolutely had to score a touchdown. A three-point field goal wouldn't be nearly enough to alter the outcome of the game.

However, only 9 seconds remained in the game, and the Raiders still had their extra-point attempt.

The Raiders didn't choose to kick. After the snap, Tom Brady quickly backpedaled to bleed as much clock as possible. Just as the New York Giants players closed in, he took a knee to end the play.

He left the New York Giants with a mere 3 seconds—obviously not enough time to do anything at all.

The clock swiftly hit zero. The Raiders defeated the Giants 21 to 19, and Duke's team had won back-to-back Super Bowls!