Club Championship Team Finals kickoff & Derwin James vs. The World

Madden competitors have been battling through online elimination to get to this point. The Madden NFL 21 Club Championship is down to just two players per team, and we kicked the Team Finals off with two live streams this week, to crown team reps for the AFC West and NFC West. This week also had twice the Derwin James vs. The World. So it goes without saying, things were busy in the Madden universe.

Let’s talk about what happened, because it was a lot.

Noonan vs. Turbojeff | Denver Broncos

It’s only right that the biggest event of the MCS season kicks off with one of the biggest matches. Noonan was looking to overthrow Turbojeff, and Turbojeff was looking for his third-consecutive Broncos win.

Noonan took the first shot to open the game but came away with a three-and-out. Turbojeff answered back with a big drive that ate up most of the first quarter. He hit Vernon Davis with an absolute dot on a post route to go up early.

Noonan looked to shake off the early rust, but then came a costly fumble. Turbojeff took advantage of the turnover and scored another TD with Terry McLaurin to make the game 14-0 going into halftime.

It was all a formality from that point forward. Turbojeff shifted his game to kill as much clock as he could, eventually running in the finishing score. At 21-0, Turbojeff has solidified himself among the Madden elite, becoming the three-time Denver Broncos Club Champion. He’s also just the fourth person to three-peat with the same Club, and the fifth to win three Club titles. This game was also just the fifth shutout in Club Championship history.

Pavan vs. Monsta | Las Vegas Raiders

This had all the makings of one of the most critical games of the entire Club Championship. Pavan is a three-time Raiders Club Champion, looking to become the first four-time champ in Club history. Against him was Monsta, a two-time champ himself, looking to come up with a massive upset.

Monsta said before the game that he had a blitz package setup to handle Pavan. On the first drive, we saw that blitz have some immediate success. But Pavan had an answer. He spotted something in Monsta’s coverage. Terry McLaurin was wide open on the streak. Before the end of the first quarter, Pavan exposed that opening for huge passing TDs … twice. That gave him an early 14-0 lead.

If you watched the King of the Hill tournament, you know Pavan can shut it down on defense. Pavan snagged a crucial INT … twice. Apparently good things come in pairs for the reigning Raiders champ. That second INT of the game led to some quality field position, but he settled for a field goal to make it 17-0.

Monsta was not going to let Pavan run away with this though. He went right at Pavan and scored his first TD of the contest to open the second half. That narrowed it to a two-score game, but Pavan answered again with a huge rushing TD with Reggie Bush. The score was 24-7.

But Monsta would still not go quietly. Monsta scored again, bringing the game to 24-14 in the fourth quarter. Pavan had the ball though, and just needed a handful of first downs to seal the deal.

Monsta got his game going, but it was a little too late. But at least he’s got McChickens. No seriously … the dude likes McChickens … a lot. Just go look him up.

Anyway, Pavan is now the first four-time Club Champion in MCS history.

Young Tony vs. Yardy | Kansas City Chiefs

This was a tense one.

It started out as a heavily defensive battle, but unfortunately, there were some connection issues in the first half. So we had to take a long break to fix the technical issues with the score tied at 3-3.

After the break, it started out defensive again, likely due to Yardy and Young Tony having to shake off the rust for the second time. Yardy managed to march down the field and come away with another field goal. Game was at 6-3.

It was all Young Tony after that. Not only did he score the first TD of the matchup, but he snagged two INTs which pretty much clenched it. It was a tough matchup, both the game and the technical issues, but Young Tony is now the back-to-back Chiefs Club Champion.

Elite vs. Suspect | Los Angeles Chargers

The final Club Final of night came down to the Chargers. Suspect was looking to unseat the reigning Chargers Club Champ.

The first quarter went scoreless as these two talented competitors were trying to get a solid read on their opponent’s scheme. It was Suspect who struck first and came down with an INT in the second quarter. He then marched down the field with a long drive that included a fourth down conversion to keep it alive. Elite would hang tough though to force Suspect to settle for three. Game was 3-0, Suspect, at the half.

Suspect led a drive with similar results again in the third, building his lead to 6-0.

And then came the fourth quarter. Elite was stopped at midfield at the start of the quarter but notched a 48-yard FG. That put the pressure on Suspect to convert some first downs to kill the clock. Mid sack, Suspect attempted a pass that Elite took to the house for a 10-6 lead in the final minutes.

Suspect got the ball back and hit a deep pass to get across midfield. He took a shot with 30 seconds left and it bounced off the WRs hands. Elite had to make a few more defensive stops, but he hung on and became the back-to-back Chargers Club champ.

Derwin James vs. Ochocinco The Number

Unless you don’t game or watch the NFL (If that’s the case, I’m not sure how you got here. Tell me your secrets!!), then you know who Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson is. He’s a skilled gamer and a six-time NFL Pro Bowler. This night, he was going only by “The Number.” I’m … umm, I’m not calling him that.

If you know that much, then you also know that Ocho is also an epic trash talker. That’s something that usually doesn’t go well with Derwin.

As much as I want to write about this matchup, because it was pure entertainment, it’s better to just watch it. Here. Just come back when you’re done. 

Yeah, that was something wasn’t it? Sure, Ocho lost. By a lot. But the entertainment always follows Ochocinco.

SaMoAs FYN3ST vs. 49er | San Francisco 49ers

Kicking off the NFC West finals was a matchup between a pair of Madden juggernauts, SaMoAs FYN3ST and 49er.

Things got started quick from a strategy standpoint. FYN3ST went right at 49er’s top-ranked rushing defense. He went on a massive drive that ate up tons of clock. Not only did he get the game’s first touchdown, but 49er didn’t get his first possession till less than three minutes to go in the first half.

It didn’t get easier for 49er either, as he went for it all on his second offensive play. He had Julio Jones open downfield, but clicked-on to go for an aggressive catch. That proved costly, as it took Julio out of stride and resulted in an INT. FYN3ST ate up more clock, but was stopped short of a TD, making the game 10-0 at halftime. FYN3ST ran 25 offensive plays in the first half compared to 49er’s six.

Never count a Marine out of a battle though. 49er got the ball to start the second half in Trips on the short side, hit Julio with a big dot and narrowed the score to 10-7.

The momentum continued to swing. FYN3ST was looking downfield, ignoring his open RB checkdown option. 49er brought the pressure, batting the pass with the pass rush and turned that into a pick-six. Just like that, 49er took an explosive lead at 14-10.

That took us to the fourth quarter. 49er forced FYN3ST into a crucial fourth down choice. Go for it, or notch the three points and try to D-up. He chose the points, making the score 14-13.

49er needed to kill the clock. FYN3ST could not get a stop, but 49er needed to go to the pass in order to convert. Many catches going out of bounds and stopping the clock. He came away with a TD, but there was over a 1:30 left. FYN3ST still just needed one drive. Ultimately though, it didn’t matter. 49er snagged a clutch INT to put the game out of reach.

The veteran coming up big on Veterans Day. Thank you for your service 49er and congrats on your first Club Championship win!

Young Colin vs. Eli | Los Angeles Rams

Eli is well-known in the Madden community. Young Colin fell just one game short of a Club title last season, ultimately falling to Joke. So the talent in this matchup was stacked.

It started immediately. Young Colin took little more than a minute to score on his first drive, thanks to a 55-yard completion to Darren Waller. A Reggie Bush run later gave him a 7-0 lead.

Colin followed that with a solid lurk for an INT in scoring position. Handful of plays later, it lead to another Reggie Bush TD.

It was all Colin until Eli managed a TD in the final seconds of the first half. It was 21-7 at halftime.

Eli got the ball in the third and needed to come out swinging to stay alive. Unfortunately for him, Colin was relentless. He immediately shut down Eli with a pick six to make the score 28-7.

That was about it from that point though. They traded a few scores, but ultimately, this game was all Young Colin. This delivered yet another win for the Madden crew 818, who is 3-0 this season in Club Finals.

BeastModeMac vs. Freethepenguins | Arizona Cardinals

The Madden community was looking forward to this highly anticipated matchup between BeastModeMac and Freethepenguins. Mac sent a message quickly and hit a wide open Darren Waller for a big TD. It was a case of broken coverage as there wasn’t anyone within a mile of Waller.

Mac also made Penguins work for every yard on the next drive. Penguins had to kick a 52-yard FG just to get on the board and make the game 7-3. The rest of the half was a pure defensive grind. The only other score being another Penguins FG for a 7-6 score at halftime.

That’s when the pace of the game changed. Penguins hit an absolute laser of a TD pass to open the second half. On top of that, he hit the two-point conversion to give him a 14-7 lead.

Mac came right back and hit a big throw of his own to get in scoring position. But Penguins proved why Deion Sanders has been a popular Ultimate Team roster pick in this tournament. He turned the next play for a pick-six and grew his lead to 21-7.

These two continued to show why this match was considered a must watch within the community. They each scored another TD in the final minutes of the third quarter to make it 28-14 going into the fourth. That’s when Mac showed some elite-level stick work to get down the field to narrow the lead to one score.

Penguins ate up yards again to hit yet another FG for a 10-point lead. But Mac had all three of his timeouts. He hit a deep pass and immediately kicked his own FG to make the difference seven and hoped his defense would make a stand. Penguins made a critical first down conversion though, giving him the game and making him the Cardinals Club champ.

That was intense.

Young Kiv vs. Dcroft | Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks Club is marked on everyone’s calendar in the Madden community, and these two competitors are the reason why. The winning percentage of these two is absurd and they both believe the Seahawks Club is their rightful throne.

Young Kiv shutdown Dcroft’s opening drive real quick with an INT. It was a great start for Kiv, but Dcroft stood strong. He not only held Kiv to a FG, but he managed a TD on his next drive. On Kiv’s first play on the following drive, Dcroft hit him with a strip-sack and took the fumble in for another TD. With still over a minute to go in the first quarter, the game was quickly 14-3 Dcroft.

Kiv needed to answer quickly to cut into Dcroft’s momentum. He put together a solid drive, but Dcroft held strong, forcing Kiv to settle for a FG. Kiv almost made a big stop the next drive, but Dcroft went for it on fourth down deep in his own turf. Fortunately for him, he hit a deep pass to get in the red zone. Kiv held him to a FG, but that still left the score 17-6 going into the third.

Kiv answered with a TD on his first drive in the second half, but Dcroft just would not be deterred and hit a TD of his own the following drive. He followed that with a pick six. Every avenue Kiv found, Dcroft was able to either shut that down or just answer with another score almost immediately. Kiv just couldn’t get enough going and Dcroft is the back-to-back Seahawks Club Champ. It’s also the first loss for the 818 crew in the Team Finals this season. 

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