After all the games of Week 15 of the regular season ended, Charles Davis undoubtedly became the center of attention on the latest episode of ESPN's "Inside the League."

Charles's face was ashen, as if he had rushed onto the set after putting on a layer of white wall paint for makeup. Even a vampire who had just crawled out of his coffin would have looked better. The studio lights shone on his face, and it was a terrible sight. As a netizen on Twitter said, "The colors don't even match."

In the spotlight, Charles frankly admitted his defeat. After the San Francisco 49ers consecutively defeated the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers, Lu Ke had successfully proven that he was a qualified quarterback and had a place in the fierce world of professional football. The regular season was nearing its end, and this was the first time that Charles had directly and clearly affirmed Lu Ke's status and role. His lifeless face was like a defeated rooster, lowering his arrogant head. From audience feedback to commentators and official positions, the Chinese quarterback had truly established himself in the league.

Just based on this, "Inside the League" successfully carved out a place for itself in this wave and became a TV show that witnessed history. The biggest winner wasn't Lu Ke but ESPN. Don't forget, the huge popularity of Monday Night Football also benefited ESPN. No wonder the production team and the TV station's executives didn't hesitate to abandon Charles and choose Lu Ke. It was a simple choice.

Subsequently, Charles's microphone was completely muted. The production team also placed a small sign with a red "X" in front of his seat, indicating that Charles would not have the opportunity to speak in this episode. Ironically, Charles's seat was in the very center, to the right of the host, Edward Bowen. In this episode, besides his opening statement, Charles had no voice throughout the entire show and was reduced to a spectator.

Later, gossip revealed that after the show, Charles went to the hospital for a check-up because he hadn't rested well the night before and had caught the flu. He had to rest at home for two days. But what was strange was that Charles didn't go back to his own house but went to his friend's house in Pasadena, near Los Angeles. He completely disappeared from the media for two days.

The outcome seemed to be a lot of hype with little to show for it. The punishment for Charles lacked a bit of excitement and a punch, far less interesting than the "crossing the Pacific" bet from before. Many viewers watched for a while, mocked Charles's embarrassment of trying to speak but being unable to, and then gradually lost interest. On Twitter, netizens expressed their opinions, saying:

"The Skywalker is still too kind. Such a minor punishment won't hurt him at all."

"If Darth Vader had won, the Skywalker would have been forced to end his career and give up his starting position. But now, the Skywalker only punishes him by not letting him speak on one show. That's not fair!"

"Am I the only one who thinks Charles got off too easy? I strongly suggest that in the next bet, the Skywalker should be ruthless and teach this useless guy a lesson."

These memes all came from "Star Wars." Luke Skywalker was a Jedi knight, the chosen one who saved the world. Luke's father was Anakin Skywalker, who was also a Jedi knight but turned to the dark side to save his wife, becoming the Sith Lord, Darth Vader. Later, as fate would have it, Luke and Anakin stood against each other in a duel.

After defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers, the "The Skywalker is Mighty" hashtag on Twitter was trending, and almost everyone knew that Lu Ke's nickname was Skywalker, not "Bambi." After all, among young people, the influence of "Star Wars" was unparalleled. Naturally, Lu Ke's enemy was called "Darth Vader."

"Wait, something's not right. Darth Vader is Skywalker's father. What are Charles and Lu Ke going to do now?" After the first person started complaining, everyone followed, laughing and expanding on the topic. In an instant, the discussion about Charles disappeared from the internet. As everyone said, the punishment this time was all for show, but the effect was mediocre. They didn't even have the energy to complain.

For public figures, the most terrible thing is not criticism and insults but indifference and neglect. Just like the treatment Charles was getting now. One moment, he was still annoyed by the persistent and bothersome paparazzi. The next, he had disappeared from the conversation. After enduring a great humiliation in his career, he vanished like a bubble. People just casually forgot about him.

Charles's punishment was already not that great, and now people had a more worthy topic to discuss: "Lu Ke-Skywalker." According to official NFL statistics, this Monday Night Football game completely broke the season's records for viewership and discussion!

On a TV broadcast level, it surpassed all Thursday Night Football and Monday Night Football games, setting a new record for viewership and number of viewers this season. The numbers were even more incredible than the first round of last year's playoffs. One of the most interesting data points was that the viewership in the San Francisco Bay Area accounted for 80% of the audience that night. In other words, in the Bay Area, eight out of ten people who turned on their TVs that night chose to watch Monday Night Football. After the game, the Bay Area, led by San Francisco and Oakland, celebrated all night long, bringing in the annual party time a week before Christmas.

On an internet level, all the discussions, keyword searches, and related topics on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube all set new season highs, almost comparable to the league championship game held on January 23rd. In the NFC Championship game, the century-old rivals, the Green Bay Packers, faced the Chicago Bears. In the end, the visiting Packers defeated their opponent and successfully won the NFC Championship. As a sixth seed, they fought their way from the wild card round to the divisional and championship rounds, and then went all the way to the Super Bowl to face the AFC champions, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

That game set new records for discussion in all aspects. Besides the Super Bowl, it was the most popular game. And now, this Monday Night Football game's data in all aspects was close to the Packers' victory over the Bears. This was just a regular season game, which truly made the league feel a huge business opportunity!

Business opportunities, and the profits hidden within them, were the most important things. Before, in the Thursday Night Football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Lu Ke's performance was a huge disappointment and was completely drowned in a surging wave. But in this Monday Night Football game, Lu Ke completely changed people's fixed impressions and even wrote his own history. The sudden bad weather, his poor physical condition, and a respectable and strong opponent—last year's Super Bowl runner-up, a top player with a 10-3 record this season, the number one-ranked defense this season, and the stage of a nationally broadcast night game where he was widely questioned.

Everything was against him. But Lu Ke did it. He delivered an excellent game and defeated the league's strongest defensive opponent with a top-tier performance. It was like a sword duel in a movie, and his excellent and outstanding absolute strength stunned the entire crowd and appeared out of nowhere. If before, it was all just rumors, then this time, everyone saw it with their own eyes!

You could draw a conclusion from the post-game statistics: 36 completions out of 47 attempts, 422 yards, four touchdowns, one interception, one sack, a quarterback rating of 122.8, and a PFF rating of 1.9. Among them, the quarterback rating once again exceeded 120, and the PFF rating reached a season high, even surpassing the game where he threw five touchdowns in the first regular season game. His strong performance was praised unanimously by all industry professionals. What's more, this performance was achieved when the Pittsburgh Steelers' defense was in top form, which made it even more unbelievable.

No one knew if Lu Ke could continue this form next season, but what was certain was that Lu Ke was red-hot this season and was in the first peak of his career. His outstanding performance was enough to threaten elite quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees and try to compete for the regular season MVP title. This was not a joke.

With top-tier performance, top-tier games, and a top-tier player, Lu Ke naturally won the hearts of a large number of neutral fans. Besides San Francisco and Pittsburgh, it was really hard for viewers who watched this Monday Night Football game not to become fans of Lu Ke. In competitive sports, strength is always the best weapon and the best competitive advantage.

This classic showdown even surpassed the San Francisco 49ers' game-winning drive against the New York Giants with zero seconds left and became one of the strongest candidates for the best game of the season. Of course, the 49ers had already provided enough exciting games this season. When people started watching the replays, they felt like they had discovered a treasure and fell even deeper in love.

The influx of neutral fans undoubtedly became the biggest highlight after the game. All the fanboys and fangirls stood up! The most obvious change was on Google Search. The keyword "Lu Ke/Chinese" had been the number one search for a week straight, and there were no signs of the search volume slowing down.

It wasn't "Bambi" or "Luke Skywalker." It was "Lu Ke/Chinese," which clearly pointed to the search subject. This time, there were no misunderstandings. Everyone knew who they were looking for: the first starting Chinese quarterback in NFL history, Lu Ke!

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