Adrian Peterson, Devin Hester, Ed Reed: Gods of the (Virtual) Field

Let me introduce this final player by saying that I am a much better Madden player than the CPU that plays against me. I win those games by 50 or more points, even if I'm playing against the "All-Madden" difficulty. I'll throw into the most ridiculous coverage just to see how many times they bat the ball down instead of making an easy interception.

I will not throw to Ed Reed's side of the field. He's not controlled by the CPU—he is controlled by God himself. Much like in real life, the virtual Ed Reed takes away every deep route on the field, even if it's not on his side.

He is the most ruthless predator on the field at every given instance in the game. You throw a ball near his side, it's going the other way (probably for six). You run a toss to his side, your running back is fumbling (unless, of course, it's Peterson—then he's just tackled).

He is the one defensive player that strikes fear into the hearts of every virtual quarterback.

Most of you will probably read this and wonder "Where is he going with this?" I do have a moral to this story. People who don't watch football on a constant basis or follow the sport closely, notice who the best players are.

They don't know what formations are, what routes receivers are running, or what blitz the defense used the last play, but they can always identify the standout players.

I was watching the Vikings game against the Lions later in the season with my cousin who is nine years old. During a run up the middle in the fourth quarter, Adrian Peterson broke a tackle, hit the hole, and was faced with a one-on-one in the open field at about the 10 yard line.

He implemented a juke so vicious that the strong safety fell down onto the turf, and AD high-stepped into the end zone. Look it up on YouTube if you think I'm exaggerating that description of the play.

My cousin's reaction was simply "Wowwww, he's good. Is he the best player on his team?" My only response was a simple head nod, because I had been rendered speechless.

Later on when Peterson (controlled by a nine-year-old girl who had never played the game before) broke a 96 yard touchdown run against me (a stereotypical 20-year-old football fan who plays Madden close to 20 hours a week), my cousin's reaction was again "Hey, is that the guy we just saw on TV. He is DEFINITELY the best player on his team!"

I simply nodded, again...speechless.

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