Derwin James vs. The World & King of the Hill - Week 2 Recap

In case you haven’t noticed, Tuesday nights are the nights to catch tons of competitive Madden action.

We’ve got Derwin James vs. The World, presented by Oakley, where the Pro Bowl safety and Madden legend takes on a new celebrity challenger each week.

On top of that is King of the Hill, a single-elimination tournament with two different brackets. One with NFL rookies, and the other featuring some of the best competitors in the Madden Championship Series.

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Let’s go over what happened this week. Might as well start with the controversy:

After Derwin James annihilated Lil Baby last week, people were starting to wonder if anyone would even keep it within 20 points?

Quavo answered that real quick. He was locked in and opened the game with a drive that ate up nearly the entire first quarter. No big plays, but he chewed up yards and found gaps in Derwin’s game. For the first time this season, Derwin James was trailing.

But then, it was Derwin’s turn. He ran a few plays, got a look at Quavo’s defensive scheme, and went to work. One deep pass later, James went up 7-3 and it was pure Derwin Domination from that point on.

It should be noted that Quavo is the first person to score and hold a lead against Derwin this season. Announcers Scott Cole and The Spokesplayer made sure to note that and, well … Derwin might have taken issue. As he put it, he “hit the switch” and his inner competitive animal took over. He leaned into Quavo, forced User Pick after User Pick, and was basically untouched on offense.

The final score was … that actually doesn’t matter. Quavo ended the game when he had enough. He even threw out a rematch offer with default rosters and a million dollars on the line. When asked about whether he’s game for a rematch, Derwin simply responded, “Heck yeah. That’s a free million.”

James is proving to be above the rest of the field this season. The Los Angeles Chargers’ social team might’ve captured the perfect moment after Quavo walked off stream. 

Young Kiv vs. Pavan

In Madden, as is the case in the NFL, winning the turnover battle is critical to notching a W. That proved to be the case here between two MCS giants, Pavan vs. Young Kiv.

Both have won big in the competitive Madden scene -- Kiv won the Madden NFL 18 Bowl, and Pavan took home the Madden NFL 19 Club Championship belt -- and their expert level game planning showed during the highly contested first half. But it was Pavan’s talent for turnovers that locked this one up for him. Pavan came away with a forced fumble and two huge interceptions in the second half.

The big takeaway from this one was Pavan’s goalline defense. Multiple times, Kiv was only a yard or two away, but could not pound it in for the score. If you’re looking to take your goalline defense to the next level, especially against the run, watch Pavan in this match. It took a lengthy scramble by Lamar Jackson and broken TE coverage for Kiv to break through, and not every team has a mobile enough QB to make that happen.

Cam Akers vs. Henry Ruggs III

This one got out of hand quick. Los Angeles Rams RB Cam Akers admitted at the start that he wasn’t the biggest Madden player, that his focus was mostly making it to the NFL. And if we’re honest, that strategy worked out for him. But what that also meant was Henry Ruggs III coasted through this one.

Ruggs was locked in throughout the contest. The Las Vegas Raiders were coming off a great start of the season, and Ruggs was looking to keep that momentum going in King of the Hill. He’s now defeated two challengers and his confidence with the sticks has grown significantly week to week.

- Daniel Williams (Follow Dan on Twitter @thatDanW)

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