Sitting at work lacking motivation on your Thursday? Need something to pump you up with opening day still weeks away?
We got you covered.
EA Sports released a video of the opening intro to their newest game edition of their NFL game with Madden 16. Though Odell Beckham Jr. won the cover vote, the Steelers with Antonio Brown, Ben Roethlisberger and Mike Tomlin were chosen to go against Patrick Peterson and the Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl for an interactive cinematic opening when you first start up the game.
This video had me pumped up and completely irrational over a fictional game, but maybe that's just how much we need week 1 to get here.
The video opens with Antonio Brown and Patrick Peterson first exchanging respects at the coin toss, and then battling in coverage with Peterson winning early.
When Brown gets frustrated with Peterson's coverage, EA Sports shows Martavis Bryant talking to Brown on the sideline and then stepping up to make a huge touchdown play to keep the team alive.
After back-to-back scores in the second half, the Cardinals have the ball with a 12 point lead, which calls for Mike Tomlin to rally his defensive troops for a big play. They deliver with an interactive play where you take an interception back for a touchdown as Cortez Allen.
Mike Tomlin then pumps up his team with an exclamation of excitement while still keeping the mold of Tomlinisms. "Let's go! Pay the bills!" Tomlin says. "Come on baby! One play!"
Then after an onside kick recovery, the Ben Roethlisberger jogs onto the field and charges up his teammates in the huddle, calling for them to believe in each other and declaring that it is their time to step up. Jim Nantz reminds the audience how eerily similar the situation looks to Super Bowl 43.
After getting into the redzone, Roethlisberger calls timeout to chat with Mike Tomlin. Tomlin tells No. 7, "Rally the troops here big man, tell them exactly what you need from them."
Roethlisberger gives a chilling and fired up pre-play speech to hype up the offense. Down five points with time running out, he knows what time it is.
"Alright boys, here it is," Roethlisberger starts. "We gotta leave it all on the line right here. Forget what the coaches said, forget about everything that's going on outside of this huddle and this play right now. It's all about us, man-on-man, us vs. them. I need everything you got, right here, leave it all on the line, and we're world champions. Greatest feeling of your lives, I promise you that. Let's go get it right here!"
After calling the play, Ben grabs Brown to talk outside of the huddle.
"AB listen to me," the two-time Super Bowl champion starts. "I'm coming to you on this play no matter what! It's do or die! It's all or nothing right now! Make the play for me brother!"
As Ben snaps the ball, he does as he says, going to Brown on a fade route who is covered by Patrick Peterson.
As the ball is snapped, Phil Simms explains that everyone and their mother knows where the ball is going, and that's to No. 84, Antonio Brown.
Brown sets up his boxed out frame perfectly on Peterson, going up one-on-one in single coverage with the game on the line ... take it away Jim Nantz:
"AND THE BALL IS CAUGHT! ANTONIO BROWN HAS IT! AND THE STEELERS ARE IN SEVENTH HEAVEN!"
The players celebrate the game being won, as Antonio Brown tells Roethlisberger, "we're the best in the world! This one's for the city! We're bringing this one back to the burgh!"
After it ends I felt weird that credits weren't rolling after watching a pretty cool cinematic opening like that. Madden has been working on making a stronger presentation of its gameplay, but if the game is anything like this opening, it could be moved to another level.
Even if you're not a fan of Madden or video games, if you're a red-blooded Steelers fan, this will get you pumped up.