'Madden 20' won't officially be released for a few weeks, but early looks at gameplay indicate that Patrick Mahomes could be a real problem.
The Chiefs quarterback is coming off an incredible unofficial rookie season in which he threw 50 touchdown passes, led Kansas City to the AFC Championship game and was awarded NFL MVP. The breakout year led to the 23-year-old not only earning the honor of highest rated QB in this year's Madden (he's a 97 overall) but he's also the video game's cover athlete.
From some of the early looks that have trickled onto social media prior to the game's release, it appears that Mahomes is basically an unbeatable cheat code. Just check out the absurd arm strength on display in these clips.
I can promise you that Mahomes will be the most annying player you’ve ever faced in any madden 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/n40r84SHMO
— Richard Teat (@T_Riggerd) July 24, 2019
“Bazooka” is real. I’m not good at math but I believe that’s about 83 yards in the air. pic.twitter.com/plU7DNAy0p
— Richard Teat (@T_Riggerd) July 25, 2019
The very next play. Mahomes is going to be the reason for a lot of broken controllers. pic.twitter.com/g2C10C6o23
— Richard Teat (@T_Riggerd) July 25, 2019
Combine that arm strength with Mahomes' vision and mobility and he's most certainly going to be one of the most frustrating, annoying and unfair players to play against in the game. The thing is, though, you can't really blame Madden too much here... Mahomes is basically a cheat code in real life, too.
Sure, maybe the scrambling off-balance heave of 60-plus yards is a bit ridiculous, but Mahomes did things on the field last year that you would think wouldn't even be possible in a video game, so who's to really say? I mean, the no-look pass from last season probably would have resulted in thousands of broken controllers.
Turns out EA Sports has incorporated it into this year's game, so your controllers have officially been put on notice.
Apologies for the poor camera angles but PAT HIT EM WITH THE NO LOOK pic.twitter.com/Nb0sJUZ38E
— Richard Teat (@T_Riggerd) July 24, 2019
From the initial looks, it appears very possible that Mahomes could be the most unfair and dominant Madden character since the days of Michael Vick in Madden 2004. Vick also had the cover of that year's game and he was capable of doing things like this:
If you played with or against him in that year's installment, you know how insanely unfair Vick was both on the ground and through the air. That version of Vick is generally regarded as one of the most dominant sports video game characters of all-time, right up alongside Bo Jackson in 'Tecmo Bowl.'
Could Mahomes be joining that elite club with 'Madden 20'? We'll probably have to wait until the game is officially out on August 2nd to know for sure, but the early footage points to the plausibility.