Thursday, Jan. 15, 2004 | 8:30 a.m.
The tide had turned and Justin "Untouchable" Cohen could feel the momentum swing his way.
His Washington Redskins had just pulled within one point of the Miami Dolphins, 28-27, on a desperate pass to the end zone as the game expired.
It's what NFL highlight films are made of: the last-ditch heroics of a team that refused to yield to overwhelming odds.
Now it was simply a matter of kicking the extra point, tying the game and sending it into overtime.
Cohen, however, would have none of it.
The 21-year-old freelance Web designer from Pennsauken, N.J., opted for the risky two-point conversion to win the game outright. It's an all-or-nothing approach few - if any - NFL coaches would have the guts to call.
"Champions have heart, man. If you don't have heart ... I mean, you're not going to win anything," Cohen said later in a phone interview from his home. "The way the game was going, we couldn't stop each other (offensively)."
In hindsight, the play he called - the seldom-used halfback pass - actually seemed a wise choice. The defense should crowd up to stop the run, leaving a receiver uncovered in the end zone; if not, there should be enough room for the running back to bull his way through for the score.
Unfortunately for Cohen and the Redskins, the Dolphins, led by a battle-tested, 28-year-old coach named Melvin "Morpheus" Johnson, sniffed out the play. The Redskins' receivers were blanketed by the Dolphins' defensive backs while the defensive line and linebackers plugged possible running lanes.
In desperation, Cohen sent his running back, Stephen Davis, plunging toward the end zone, only to be stopped just short of the goal.
Final score: Miami 28, Washington 27.
It's barely been a month since the game and Cohen is still grieving over the loss.
"I hate talking about it," he says. "So I'm going to stop talking about it."
It was only a year ago that Cohen won the "Madden Challenge" -- a nationwide tournament of players in the "Madden NFL" sports franchise.
After this loss, though, he is no longer able to defend his title. Instead, a new champion chosen among 32 finalists from around the nation will be crowned this weekend in Las Vegas. "Madden Challenge" finals take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Mandalay Bay's House of Blues.
The tournament is certain to attract players such as Cohen, who later in the conversation did address his heartbreaking defeat.
"I have a play that I always run at the goal line for my two-point conversion. I started to the right and then I tried to cut it back to the left," he says. "But the defense was just so fast ..."
Cohen takes the loss as hard as most real coaches do, perpetually examining the X's and O's of the game and wondering what he could have done differently to win.
Still, he refuses to second-guess his decision that cost him a chance to at least tie the game and force an overtime.
"You've got to stick to your game, regardless of what your opponent is doing," he says. "I feel confident that every time my offense has the ball, we can score."
Welcome to the world of "Madden NFL," a video- and computer-game sports franchise turned juggernaut.
Released 14 years ago by Electronic Arts, the "Madden" series is to video games what the NFL is to American sports: dominant.
The series has generated $1 billion in sales and has sold 30 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling sports video game series of all time.
"Madden 2004," the newest title in the franchise, has already sold 4 million copies and grossed $100 million in its first three weeks of release. Only EA's "FIFA" soccer series is more popular worldwide.
"It's certainly the flagship of our sports business in North America," says Carolyn Feinstein, EA vice president of marketing and communication. " 'Madden Football' has a 93 percent share of the football market. "It's the 800-pound gorilla of sports gaming," she says.
The game's popularity ultimately led to the tournament.
Already there were various independent tournaments conducted nationwide. But last year EA decided to officially sanction one of its own to decide the best "Madden" player in the world.
This year's challenge took place in 32 cities -- including Las Vegas -- where 500 contestants in each city competed single-elimination style until one champion emerged.
The bracket-style format remains the same for the finals, as players select their team and square off against one another in single-elimination contests.
Win your game and you move on. Lose and, just as in the real NFL playoffs, you're eliminated. At stake is a $50,000 grand prize.
More than 15,000 gamers participated in this year's challenge.
The tournament is so popular that G4, a network devoted to video games, has covered "Madden Challenge" from its inception.
"We televised it last year when it was a 10-city tour and the finals were in Jamaica," says Charles Hirschhorn, founder and CEO of G4, which can be seen locally on Cox digital cable channel 355.
The network has devoted 500 hours to this year's tournament so far and will broadcast its coverage of the championship in a two-hour special on Jan. 30 -- two days before the Super Bowl.
When asked how big "Madden NFL" has become, Hirschhorn says the franchise has created more of an initial interest in football than the sport itself.
"I think it's introduced, in my opinion, more people to football than football has. And by that I mean the whole picture -- NFL or college or throwing a football in the yard with your dad," he says. "More people are being exposed to football and other sports by video games."
And just like their athletic counterparts, the gamers take these games seriously.
The first time Toby "T-Fonk" Merahant was in a championship game he got sloppy -- in part because his Tampa Bay Buccaneers were leading 21-0 at halftime. "I started messing around and the guy tied it up with no time on the clock," he recalls. "On the first play in overtime, he went over the top" to his receiver, Miami's Chris Chambers. "He scored on the first play in overtime."
Merahant learned from his defeat in Phoenix. And a few weeks later, while playing the championship game in Las Vegas, it was a different outcome.
Merahant switched from the Bucs to the Raiders, his favorite team, and returned to his technique of managing the clock and simple-but-effective ball control.
The strategy worked as Merahant won 17-8.
The 28-year-old Oakland resident intends to employ the same style for the finals.
"There's no messing around this time," he says.
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