This one is, without a doubt, the strangest game of Madden I have ever played. This was the NFC Championship Game for Madden '05. I had led Detroit to a magical 13-3 season, but was seeing my homefield advantage go up in smoke, getting handled by Philadelphia pretty well. They were up 24-10 going into the 4th, and there were signs that this was, as Simmons would call it, a "No Fucking Way Game" as in, there was no fucking way I was going to win this game. I had already wasted two timeouts on failed challenges that were clearly in my favor, and had accidentally blew my third timeout already too. To start the 4th, I put together a nice touchdown drive and a defensive stop, had a big kick return into Eagle territory, and Harrington hit Charles Rogers for a 40 yard TD. Ford Field was rocking.
On the next Philly possession, I pick off McNabb and take it back for a score and a 31-24 lead. As pumped as I was, the computer quickly reminded me that this was a NFW Game. They marched right down the field and scored, and then pushed the Fuck You Button of all Fuck You Buttons. For the first time in my Madden career, they faked the extra point. Of course their 9th string tight end is wide open. 32-31 Philly. There was a stretch of swearing that prompted St. Aubyn to come in and check on me to make sure everything was OK, then give me the disgusted head shake when he realized that my breakdown was from Madden. I seriously had to pause the game and regroup for a couple minutes.
The computer hit the Fuck You Button again, causing me to muff the kickoff, and I was faced with 1st and 10 from my own 15 with 1 minute 58 seconds left. Then Harrington goes to work. I move quickly down the field, and after a 20 yarder to Marcus Pollard, I am sitting at the 7 yard line. I call three basic run plays that get no yardage, and knowing that I can hit a 24 yarder in my sleep, I decide to let the clock run to 2 seconds, call a TO, and kick.
In Madden, whenever the computer knows you are holding to kick a last second field goal, they always calls timeouts so they can get the ball back. Curiously, though, this time they aren't doing it. Laughing to myself, I continue to let the clock run with my QB under center. Finally, with 9 seconds left, with a realization that hits me like a lightning bolt, I don't have any timeouts left. I pause the game to swear at myself , have a mild heart attack, and go over my options. With it being 4th down, I can't spike the ball. The only thing I can do is change my audibles so that one of them is field goal. So I unpause it and audible to field goal. With Harrington as the kicker and RB Kevin Jones holding, the controller jumping out of my hands, and the kick meter moving at approximately the speed of sound, I somehow pull out a 99 distance 99 accuracy kick, which barely squeaks over the bar for the game.
And if you don't think that this deserves to be #2, try and kick a field goal with your quarterback. It doesn't even have to be with the NFC Championship on the line. Just try it.
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