Hump Day Distractions: A Madden Eagles-Packers Simulation and 4th-and-26th

I’m still a little nervous about Sunday as an Eagles fan, so I went surfing for some inspiration for the weekly look at something a little different from the sports world. To start off the year with the newly-titled weekly post, Hump Day Distractions, I ended up going into the future and the past of the Eagles-Packers matchups. (Hey, I offered to let readers name it.)

I found a couple Madden simulations of the upcoming playoff game, but let’s just say the below version will be the most palatable to Birds fans. The final score is more than a little unrealistic – I don’t see this game becoming a shootout – and the graphics didn’t seem as good as the other simulation that I saw. I haven’t played Madden in years, so I can’t say for sure if the simulation is from the latest version of the game.



Of course, Eagles fans will never forget FredEx, Freddie Mitchell, or 4th and 26!



Mitchell famously thanked his hands after the game. Philly Sports Daily talked to the “People’s Champ” about the play in an article that ran yesterday. Mitchell had plenty to say:

You know that play is a love-hate play for me because that was the first time they threw to me the whole friggin’ game. I was blocking my ass off doing everything it took, doing the stuff that society doesn’t recognize.

That whole year sucked for me, and the next year sucked even more. But anyway . . .

I actually had to go tell the coaches that I was wide open and to throw me the ball. The coaches literally had to talk into Donovan’s headset and tell him I was wide open and to throw it to me.
Donovan looked at me in the huddle and said, “Ready?” And I said, “Dude, I’ve been ready the whole game.”

I started reading the defense as soon as I got to the line of scrimmage. For most guys, it takes a lot of years to read defenses like that.

The name of the play was a 2 Jet Double Go. What it does is sends Pinkston and Thrash on “Go” routes and what I do, as the Sultan of Slot, is I read the middle. I had to take a certain angle that most young receivers wouldn’t have taken. Any other angle and it would have been a bum play. I was the master of finding holes, and I knew right where the hole would be. It was money.

First of all Donovan’s pass was behind me and it was wobbly, but I had to take advantage of the opportunity that was presented to me. Right when I caught the pill, I kind of knew I had the yardage right away. I looked at the sticks and to see where I was at and I knew I got it. I felt like Michael Jordan hitting a last-second shot or Tiger Woods sinking a 50-foot putt.

Then I had to pull out the belt . . .

You gotta love Freddie.