Its the Top Madden Season 4 Championship round. The Final Four. Let’s take a brief look into the matchups and discuss what each team needs to do to find their way into the Super Bowl.
NFCCG: Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ New York Giants
Tampa Bay (12-4)
The 4 losses this team suffered were due largely in part to injuries. Now with the Bucs full strength they have been absolutely unstoppable. Howard dominated the season with 1,300 yards and Rosen looked like an MVP candidate. Their playoff run has been hot and cold though, as a dominating offensive show out against the Packers sent them to Arizona for the divisional round. What makes Tampa Bay an elite team is their ability to find ways to win. With Rosen struggling, Howard/Evans with one catch a piece the notorious Danny Defense rose to the occasion and outscored their offense 14-13 with two back to back pick sixes and were able to hold Arizona short on a game tying drive. That being said, their 3 keys to victory are:
- Dominate in the trenches. Force Daniel Jones to beat you, not Saquon.
- Feast in the run game with RoJo
- Have a plan vs pressure on every play.
New York (15-1)
The Giants had a magical season and MVP Saquon Barkley will likely repeat in that award category. The Giants are built to match Warrens strengths and it has been tough for teams to handle, in fact, only one team has done the job…..Tampa Bay. With possibly the best RBBC ever and a defensive mastermind the Giants easily disposed of the Vikings high powered offense and find themselves one game away from Warrens first M20 title. The Giants keys to victory are:
- Take no defensive plays off. Find the stars on every play and have a plan.
- Give.The.Ball.To.SaQuon.That.Is.A.Grown.Ass.Man.
- Stretch the Tampa defense using Engram and Slayton, force White to stay busy.
AFCCG: Houston Texans @ Cleveland Browns
Houston (11-5)
Widely regarded as the underdog in this fight, the Texans put an asswhooping on the Browns earlier in the season. Thought their roster may be inferior, they have elite talent on both sides of the ball and a QB that can make anything happen. Houston has been shakey in terms of rising to the occasion but with a big defensive performance against the Jets they can put the regular season behind them and get into the Bowl. Their keys to victory are:
- Force Cleveland Off Islands. Make them respect Hop and open the offense up.
- Win on third downs and get points first.
- Stop Chubb early and force Dan to sling it.
Cleveland (13-3)
Not a down year, but a quiet year for the Browns after their Super Bowl victory last season. Boasted what is widely regarded as the best Madden CFM roster anyone has ever seen, people may forget that Dan has been an excellent defensive user for awhile now. Chubb has dominated the broken tackles column and a strong run game and elite defense is enough to land Dan in the AFCCG. But first, they must avenge their worst loss of the entire cycle from an early season matchup that went south early. Their keys to victory are:
- Limit first half mistakes, trust the playmakers to put you in big positions.
- Limit Jordan Thomas without exposing yourself to Hop and Fuller.
- Feed Nick Chubb but have a plan if its not working.
