In a rather stunning turn of events, this year's Madden Bowl has been won by a player who never threw a single pass. Raidel “Joke” Brito took home $65,000 for outsmarting his opponent, and perhaps even the Madden NFL 20 developers.
The Madden Bowl is structured around team/roster building, with a salary cap in mind. A top QB like Patrick Mahomes or the Madden NFL 21 cover athlete Lamar Jackon are both going to cost more money than journeyman Harvard-grad Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Players need to build the roster accordingly and decide which position to pick a superstar, where to pick a solid starter, and where to perhaps even have a gap in their roster with low-end talent. In theory, this set-up creates a fair playing field for both the strategy of team-building (similar to the very popular MUT mode in Madden) and for which participant can put it all together in-match. However, some players have found ways to game the system.
Raidel “Joke” Brito decided to stock up almost entirely on defense and offensive line play. In fact, he didn't even pick a quarterback as a part of his team. Joke used Washington Redskins punter Tress Way as his quarterback, whose only job was handing the ball off. Joke didn't spend massive money on wide receivers and a superstar QB, and he ended up winning Madden Bowl 17-0 over Daniel “Dcroft” Mycroft.
Outsmarting the opponents, and in some ways, the game itself, but not even picking a quarterback or being very unconventional isn't new to Madden. Fans online have been clamoring for some changes in the series, as there are other events that have been won by people who find out that they can use a left-handed punter to more efficiently run a series of two or three plays than a standard QB with the entire playbook. It seems highly unlikely that any NFL team could make a Superbowl run with a punter at the helm. Fans are looking forward to Madden NFL 21, and many are hoping that the game doesn't allow for this sort of manipulating.
The best Madden games are the ones that nailed both the fun of imagining being an NFL player with the simulation elements that fans want. Former NFL head football coach Herm Edwards has one of the all-time memorable quotes after a loss in which he barked back at reporters. "You play to win the game. You don't play it to just play it." Well, Raidel “Joke” Brito played to win the game, and he did.
Madden NFL 20 is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Source: USA Today
