I'm still working on my full review of Madden 18. It was starting to get kind of long and rambly, so I decided to break off the section regarding the Longshot story mode (which I've already played to completion) into its own post so that I could be a little more thorough regarding this unique game mode. Well, unique for Madden anyway. Games like 2K's NBA 2k have been doing a similar thing for years.

Longshot is a pretty radically different gameplay mode compared to the rest of Madden, and so it also felt kind of out-of-place in the review for the rest of the game. It's very much its own self-contained thing. In fact, it very easily could have been released as a stand-alone game or "expansion" DLC pack for Madden 18, rather than being a back-of-the-box feature. It's inclusion in the core package is probably one of the reasons that franchise mode received so little attention this year, as I'm sure this thing must have taken a lot of time and resources. Madden is already overpriced as it is (in my opinion) -- especially when you consider how much money EA makes from the Ultimate Team feature -- so I'm certainly happy that I got to play this mode without having to spend any extra money.

The story of Devin Wade

If Madden 18's arcade, simulation, and competitive game modes aren't enough game varieties for you, or if you're one of those "games as art" "snobs" who writes lengthy blogs about ludonarrative dissonance or about how seemingly-arbitrary game mechanics are actually informing the narrative, then the new "Longshot" story mode might be for you.

This isn't a character-creator like in earlier iterations of Madden's Superstar mode, or NCAA Football's Road to Glory / Race for the Heisman / Campus Legend. Instead, you take on the persona of a character designed by EA, named Devin Wade. Devin is a former college football star who quit after the death of his father and is eventually recruited into a fictional reality television show called "Longshot", in which he's trained to become a potential NFL draftee. Wade is dealing with the trauma of his father's untimely death a few years ago, as well as his own feelings of inadequacy, abandonment, and maybe some guilt. You play through his training process, as well as flashback bits of his high school career (and watch other bits of his college career and some pee wee moments). Surprisingly, one thing that you won't do is have Devin suit up in an NFL uniform, as the mode concludes with him being drafted (or not, as the case may be).

Longshot includes flashbacks of Devin Wade's high school and college careers.

The mode is mostly like watching a movie (a three-and-a-half hour long movie), with the occasional quicktime event, mini-game, or time-sensitive Mass Effect-style dialogue choice...

The Bears' QB is going to be Trubisky's job sooner or later. But when?

With an 0 and 2 start, people are already talking about benching Mike Glennon in favor of number 2 overall pick Mitch Trubisky. The writer at ESPN dismisses concerns about sparing Trubisky's health and psyche. "You can't seal him up with bubble wrap", says Jeff Dickerson. Apparently, coach John Fox disagrees.

I wasn't a fan of signing Glennon, and drafting Trubisky just confused me. But since the Bears drafted him as the obvious QB of the future, I want to see Trubisky play. More importantly, though, I want him to succeed.

If Trubisky is the starting quarterback in week 3's matchup against the Steelers, he'll be taking over a team that doesn't seem to have any weapons for him to work with. The receiving corps is depleted by injuries, with both Cameron Meredith and Kevin White being done for the season. Pro bowl guard Kyle Long is also still uncertain to be ready for the Steelers game. Missing Kyle Long might also be part of the reason that even Jordan Howard has been unproductive the first two weeks...

Every year, I hope that UNLV's football team will show some improvements. That it won't repeat the same mistakes that it's made year after year.

But every year, UNLV finds a way to let an easily winnable game slip away early in the season, setting a tone of disappointment for the entire season. Usually, UNLV at least gets its first game or two against a power conference team and gets to raise an illusion of optimism by playing surprisingly well until they inevitably get overpowered in the fourth quarter.

Cam Newton's little brother, Caylin, thrashed UNLV with his legs in a 43-40 upset.

But this year, the tone-setting upset couldn't even wait past week one. In fact, it couldn't even make it past the first play of the season. UNLV opened its 2017 season by going offsides on the opening kickoff. They went on to play a mistake-filled game that Howard University exploited to a 43-40 victory -- the biggest upset against a point spread in college football history. A $100 bet on Howard to win outright would have won you $55,000.

UNLV lacked discipline, committing multiple procedural penalties that killed drives and put UNLV in a hole early. They lacked energy and couldn't contain freshman quarterback Caylin Newton (Cam Newton's younger brother) who dominated UNLV with his running ability. And UNLV gave up back-breaking fumbles that prevented momentum from swinging back in their favor.

UNLV seemed to have a lot going for them going into this season. UNLV had one of the top running games last season. The defensive line is supposed to be improved. Star receiver Devonte Boyd is back from a severe injury that prematurely ended his 2016 campaign, and he has a hyped up freshman quarterback throwing him the ball.

The offense did show some promise. Rogers and Boyd connected on some big passes, and the running game looked pretty good. They even met their goal of 40 points per game!

Armani Rogers and Devonte Boyd hooked up for a couple big plays.

The defense, however, looked abysmal. From the start, they showed a frustrating lack of energy. They lost contain, missed open-field tackles, and couldn't get to Caylin Newton in the pocket. From the start of the game, the defense looked like it was tired, as if it had already gone through three quarters of ground-and-pound football. Howard had even recognized that UNLV's greatest weakness is likely to be its secondary and coverage against the deep pass. Howard took a number of shots down the field, but was never able to connect. Kudos to Howard's coaches for identifying that vulnerability and designing a gameplan to exploit it, but they didn't have to exploit UNLV's obvious weakness, because even the supposed strengths of the defense looked rusty and full of holes...

I was a little late at seeing the Bears' first 2017 preseason game. I had meant to record it Thursday evening and watch it later that night. Instead, my DVR recorded two hours of A Football Life instead of the game. I don't know if this was NFL Network's fault for airing the wrong show, or if it was Century Link's fault for mislabeling the schedule. In any case, I had to wait to record the re-broadcast later Saturday morning and watch it Saturday night.

I've been pretty vocal about my confusion with the Bear's offseason quarterback decisions. While I wasn't sorry to see Jay Cutler kicked to the curb, I was very unsure about signing Mike Glennon. I was even more dumbfounded by the Bears' decision to trade up to draft Trubisky after having already spent all that money on Glennon.

Glennon didn't give fans reason to be optimistic, as his preseason debut went about as bad as it could possibly go. His second pass of the game was intercepted by Chris Harris Jr. and returned for a touchdown.

Mike Glennon's second pass was intercepted by Chris Harris Jr. and returned for a TD.

In Glennon's defense, the offensive line wasn't doing him many favors. He seemed to be getting hit every time he dropped back. While Chris Harris Jr. was high-stepping the pick into the end zone, Glennon was peeling himself off the turf. If the Bears want Glennon (or any quarterback they decide to field) to be successful, then they're going to need to beef up their protection.

Cody Whitehair, in particular made a key mistake by snapping the ball over Glennon's head during the Bears' second possession. The ball was recovered by the Broncos, but the Bears' defense managed to hold them from scoring.

Cody Whitehair snapped the ball
over Glennon's head.

The Bears' third drive was where they were finally able to move the ball for the first time in the evening thanks mostly to their running game. Jordan Howard only got a few runs, but rookie Tarik Cohen made some pretty good runs that may earn him some extra play-time and maybe a spot on the final roster. Down 10-0, Glennon ended his night in the early second quarter with only two completions on eight attempts, with the pick-six and a quarterback rating of 0.0 -- yes, that's zero point zero!

Mark Sanchez didn't see much playing time, but I think the coaches probably have a pretty good idea of what Sanchez brings to the team...

I hated seeing Belichick, Brady, and the Patriots win the Super Bowl too, but don't blame the rules!

Possibly bitter over the New England Patriot's unprecedented comeback victory in overtime of Super Bowl LI, a CBS Sports blogger is arguing that the NFL should adopt college football overtime rules. The author asserts "[...] the one thing college football does better than the NFL? Overtime, without a doubt.".

I don't want to sound rude, but: no. Absolutely not!

This idea that college football does overtime better than the NFL is a popular opinion that I just flat-out do not agree with, and which I -- quite frankly -- don't particularly understand. The college football overtime rules is something that I despise about that game. For many reasons.

College overtime isn't football

First of all, college overtime is a totally different rule set than the regulation game. The CBS writer claims that "The overtime rules in college football are straight forward." I disagree on that point, as college overtime is full of caveats of its own. After all, if it were so simple, then why would sites like Sports Illustrated and ESPN feel it necessary to feature posts titled "How does college overtime work?"? For example, teams are required to go for two-point conversions starting in the third overtime because the rules-makers realized they needed some way to limit multiple overtimes. It's a more complicated and arbitrary ruleset than the CBS writer gives it credit for, and it's no less complicated than NFL overtime rules which played virtually identically to a regulation game, except that it has a hybrid "sudden death" that allows for the game to continue if the opening possession results in a field goal.

Special teams stars like Devin Hester are
completely irrelevant in college overtime.

Perhaps most importantly: college rules completely ignore special teams. Have an explosive punt or kick returner like, say Devin Hester? Well, in college football, he never gets to step foot on the field - at least, not as a return man. Same goes for an exceptional punter (like Hall of Fame punter Ray Guy) or a standout kick coverage unit (like perpetually-snubbed gunner Steve Tasker).

Or maybe it's the exact opposite. Maybe your kick coverage unit is a huge liability. In college football overtime, that's a weakness that you don't have to worry about, and that the other team doesn't have the opportunity to exploit.

Either way, they all get to sit on the sidelines and watch because they're arbitrarily no longer part of the game. Special teams is part of football, and should be part of overtime. Whether it's straightforward or not, any overtime rule that neglects special teams is not football....