The big play is king in Madden NFL 16, with even mediocre players making highlight reel grabs. That said, we haven't yet seen anything like this, which would be a career highlight IRL even for an all-galaxy receiver like Calvin Johnson.
What's remarkable is not necessarily the one-handed grab — they are commonplace — but how the game recognizes that Megatron never touches the ground as he tumbles over the defensive back. T.J. Lauerman of ThatSportsGamer then cruises to the end zone, arms out in a glide-pattern celebration for effect.
It must be pointed out that the only thing T.J. had to do, physically, to pull in this ball was keep his thumb on the triangle button (Y on your Xbox One.)
Lauerman, one of the regulars on the Press Row Podcast panel discussing sports video games, was playing with Johnson in Madden's new Draft Champions mode. That's why he's not in a Lions uniform. Lauerman said he was given the choice of Johnson, Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers, or Pittsburgh receiver Antonio Brown in the same round of the quick-drafts game mode.
For more on Draft Champions, see this preview and for more on Madden NFL 16, which launched Aug. 25 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One, see Polygon's review.
