Few things get me hyped up for the NFL season like the release of EA Sports landmark Madden game. EA consistently tweaks enough stuff in the game to make the newer versions exciting, and it feels like a legitimate milepost as we head to the NFL season. First everyone gets hot and bothered by ratings and next we all start playing the game. For what feels like roughly a decade now, I'm busting out a review of the game coupled with our trademark simulation of the 2019 NFL season. 

This year's version feels like it might have the most aesthetic tweaks we've seen in a while. I'm not sure if it's sacrilegious to suggest this, but there's a little bit of an arcade feel to the game this year -- not quite NFL Blitzian, because it's much more realistic -- almost like the game is souped up a little bit past the norm we've come to expect. 

If you're dying to get a copy of Madden, may I recommend subscribing to the Pick Six Podcast and/or listening to the latest episode below? Somewhere in the show, which features the dulcet tones of myself and Brady Quinn, is information on how you might do that. You might also want to follow yours truly on Twitter @WillBrinson and also on Instagram @WillBrinson. Just saying.

Madden 20's intro is outstanding, and very much a nod to the new wave of stars taking over the league. It opens up with cover boy Patrick Mahomes winging passes left and right and from absurd angles and sometimes without looking. The reigning MVP is quickly followed by clips of Saquon Barkley stuffing roughly 12 Redskins cornerbacks (RIP Josh Norman) into the ground with a viscous stiff arm and right after that is JuJu Smith-Schuster making plays as wild cursive illustrations fly. It feels young and new and I like it! Don't worry, the GOAT makes an appearance shortly thereafter. 

Inside the game are a bevy of additions. Most notable is the Superstar X Factor feature, which is the most arcade-like addition to the game. Essentially, the folks at EA Sports picked the 50 best players at various positions and made them X Factors. There's a higher end class of guys who are the créme de la créme, and who receive extra abilities. For instance, Mahomes has a BAZOOKA feature. When he's "in the zone" he throws, to quote Phil Mickelson, BOMBS. 

Up Front

One subtle thing I really like that was added to the "Play Now" mode is the ability to pick a "Featured Game" (Vikings vs. Saints) and "Thursday Primetime" matchups (Rams vs. Raiders) so you don't have to scroll through teams if you want to see a current game. Those are actual preseason matchups! Presumably this will update throughout the year if you're playing and you can fire up Madden with your brother/sister/friend/roommate and play a game on the slate for the upcoming week. 

When you get inside one of these games and you're choosing your team, you can also view Superstar X-Factors before the game. This is where you can also use the "Arcade" mode to get the most out of the X Factors.

In the Zone / X Factors / Superstars

So as mentioned, this has an arcade feel to it. And you get the most out of these X Factors when you play in Arcade mode. The best possible example here? Mahomes with his BAZOOKA, a word I just like to capitalize. How does this work? Basically if you complete a 30+ yard pass with Mahomes, he will have 15 yards added to his max throw distance until the next time he's sacked. That's a problem for defenses. If Earl Thomas of the Ravens gets an interception, it cranks up the likelihood that he'll make future big plays. In Arcade mode he has a big flaming X on him, although nothing is over the top in terms of how it's displayed. 

Every single NFL team is represented in either the X Factor list or Superstar list, which is a pretty smart move because otherwise you'd prevent people from playing with the Redskins. The full database of players and their respective factors is the first option on the main page, which is extremely helpful for making decisions about who to use/swindle from the computer in franchise mode trades.

Read Option/RPO

Hello, game-changing offensive plays. For years, EA has struggled -- in my opinion -- to incorporate the boom of running quarterbacks into the game. It was never a problem with Michael Vick because he was a unicorn for the game at the time. And he just did Vick stuff -- throw crazy passes, run around a bunch and destroy ankles/jockstraps. It's a different animal with the playbooks adjusting and read option plays and RPO (run pass option) components being incorporated. 

To test it out, I used the Chiefs briefly and humiliated the Raiders defense with Patrick Mahomes on some RPO and read option concepts. I was VERY curious about how Lamar Jackson would work in this offense, so I fired up the Ravens (while grabbing Andy Reid's playbook). He is LETHAL. 

For the read option, it feels like it's been made seamless in terms of handing off and actually gaining yards for the first time in the game's history. Often using read option plays that were built into the basic playbook were a disaster, even with the most mobile quarterbacks.

Now you can sort the playbook by concepts -- I believe for the first time -- and you can highlight RPO and read option plays to dive into the playbook. The RPO was a little tricky but it's actually simple if you read the instructions: either rip a throw quickly or the option to run will be automatically selected. 

For my final test I wanted to see what Cam Newton could do. And Norv Turner's playbook is ridiculous. Under the option concept tab you get RPO Alert, Read Option, RPO Read, Inverted Veer, Load Option, Shovel Option, Speed Option, Triple Option and RPO Peak. Cam mauls people on these runs and you've got Christian McCaffrey to pitch to. Again, it's a problem. 

Face of the Franchise

Each of the last few years, EA has built in a "storyline" type of mode for Madden that allows gamers to grab ahold of a first-person situation and build out someone's career. Face of the Franchise is the newest version, with you getting to make choices as a high school recruit who can actually, uh, sign with colleges. They threw Mahomes a bone and put Texas Tech in there, otherwise it's just the standard powerhouse/traditional big name schools. 

From there you're thrust into a College Football Playoff situation and a recruiting war against a No. 1 overall pick. Some reporter named Taylor Bennett (is she real?) is following you around; she's also the person interviewing new coaches in Franchise Mode. "Good Morning, Football" provides the analysis, which is weirdly enjoyable. 

More importantly, within the first five minutes of doing this storyline approach, you're in JerryWorld, warming up for a CFP semifinal game. And then shortly thereafter you actually get to play a college football game. Florida vs. Oregon for me -- it feels like playing a modern version of NCAA Football. Is it coming back???

To be perfectly honest, I'm never that into these type of setups in video games. But I am extremely intrigued by this one and will probably play this dude into the NFL. And if the storylines are your thing? This is going to be a winner. 

Franchise Mode 

The departure of NCAA Football from the EA Sports catalogue is one of the Internet's biggest bugaboos. Credit EA for incorporating some of the fun stuff from running a college program into the franchise mode, like letting you scout players throughout the year for draft purposes. 

OFFICIAL 2019 CBS SPORTS MADDEN SIM

As always, we use the team with the lowest Vegas win total as our "control" team to avoid anything weird happening with the sim. Welcome to the party, Miami Dolphins.

And as always, things got a little crazy with the Madden sim. Actually, things got bats--t insane this time around. I've seen Blake Bortles land MVP votes, I've seen the Falcons predicted to make the Super Bowl and actually make the Super Bowl. 

But this was the most nuts ending possible. More on that in a second. First some awards and stats from the year, plus standings. 

STANDINGS

NFC North
Packers 8-8*
Bears 7-9
Vikings 6-10
Lions 6-10

NFC South
Saints 11-5*
Panthers 9-7
Falcons 7-9
Buccaneers 1-13-2 (!)

NFC East
Cowboys 12-4*
Eagles 11-5*
Giants 9-7
Redskins 8-8

NFC West
Seahawks 10-5-1*
49ers 9-7*
Cardinals 8-8
Rams 8-8

The Rams fell of a cliff and had the same record as the Redskins. As expected. The Giants were GOOD? Eli Manning started all 16 games! The Buccaneers were awful and Bruce Arians got fired after one season. The Packers going 8-8 and hosting a playoff game probably started a very important Twitter debate. 

AFC North
Browns 13-3*
Bengals 9-7
Ravens 7-9
Steelers 5-10-1

AFC South
Titans 9-7*
Colts 9-7
Texans 7-8-1
Jaguars 5-10-1

AFC East
Bills 9-7*
Patriots 7-9
Jets 5-11
Dolphins 2-13-1

AFC West
Chargers 12-3-1*
Chiefs 10-6*
Raiders 10-6*
Broncos 3-13

So, yeah, that's insane. Three teams, including the Raiders, made it from the AFC West. The Bills toppled the Patriots for the AFC East (Pete Prisco has predicted it will happen next year but doesn't want to go out on that potentially humiliating limb this season), the Bengals were good and the Steelers were terrible. Adam Gase got canned after a single season when the Jets won five games in a year where the Patriots won seven. Don't miss your windows, kids. 

AWARDS

Ezekiel Elliott MVP
Freddie Kitchens COY
Baker Mayfield OPOY
Khalil Mack DPOY
Devin White DROY
Kyler Murray OROY

These actually look totally reasonable outside of Zeke -- although if he goes for 2k+ and Dallas gets the one seed he could absolutely get the award. 

RECEIVING YARDS

This was the weirdest thing about the whole sim. The leader in 2019 NFL receiving yards? Dede Westbrook! But even more bizarre than Westbrook's 1,273-yard season for the Jaguars with Nick Foles under center was Terrence Williams (currently unemployed!) leading the NFL with 112 catches and managing 1,181 receiving yards for the Packers. Green Bay randomly signed Williams off the street and he blew up for a monster year. Cole Beasley was top 10 in receiving yards (1,152) and Anthony Miller of the Bears was top five with 1,191. 

RUSHING YARDS

As mentioned, Zeke was outstanding. Kareem Hunt was allowed to play the whole season through a snafu and finished second. Saquon and CMC were next followed by Mark Ingram and ... Adrian Peterson!! AP finished with 1,285 yards. Mostly a normal group here.

PASSING YARDS

Foles went nuts for the Jags, finishing with 4,399 yards, a shockingly high number. It would have been mind-blowing if Westbrook hadn't gone bananas. Also, ahead of Foles was a surprising name: Mitchell "MVP" Trubisky, who ended up with 4,410 yards. Pod listeners will know that Ryan Wilson will be sweating that. Lamar Jackson's stats were hilarious. He threw for 4,250 yards and rushed seven times for 29 yards. OK, sure. Josh Allen also had a big season, with 4,326 yards. 

RETIRING

Say goodbye to both Tom Brady and Philip Rivers, as Madden tapped into my darkest timeline to produce a nightmare situation. Another weird offseason thing? Three prominent kickers -- Adam Vinatieri, Stephen Gostkowski and Greg Zuerlein -- were all cut by their teams. The mock Twitter accounts on the game were outraged over Vinatieri being dumped by the Colts. 

PLAYOFFS/SUPER BOWL

This ultimately involved the Dallas Cowboys beating the Cleveland Browns in the Super Bowl. 

*record scratch*

Yup, that's right. America's Team squared off against America's New Team (patent pending, by me, must credit Will Brinson/CBS Sports) and came away victorious. Jerry Jones might have literally sold his soul for this setup, but it worked out. 

Ezekiel Elliott ran wild all year long, recording more than 2,000 rushing yards on the season and threatening to break the single season record for rushing yards as late as Week 17. The Cowboys also had the best defense in football. Both of these things are realistic ... if Dallas pays Zeke. 

Cleveland was the best offense in football and finished 13-3, securing the No. 1 seed in the AFC. It feels weird to type even with all the hype surrounding the Browns in 2019. 

But it was the Cowboys who won a title. Imagine Jason Garrett's excitement. 

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via NFL Broadcast