The point of Madden NFL 16 this year, plain and simple, is to "be the playmaker."

It's been obvious ever since Odell Beckham Jr., was named the cover athlete many months ago. Receivers were about to get their time to shine in Madden, even if it meant certain receivers coming down with never-before-seen catches and them appearing to look overpowered in the game.

There's good news, though: A patch will be available soon to fix any problems you may see. After playing this game for the last 72 hours, I have yet to run into any problems that resemble Dez Bryant leaping 45 feet into the air and making a catch that would make sense in real life because, well, it's Dez Bryant.

My goal in observing the offensive gameplay was to take two games in particular, and use those as the base for the overall offensive impressions. All teams were chosen at random, so none of this was preconceived information. Before we dive in any further to the combined breakdown of these two games, a few things to keep in mind.

The first game (Atlanta vs. Tennessee) was played on All-Pro difficulty, the second (Indianapolis vs. Pittsburgh) on All-Madden. Both games were played on 6 minute quarters and 20 seconds on accelerated clock. The weather was clear in both games, and I controlled the Titans and Steelers. One of my goals was to see if the game difficulty actually made a difference. To my surprise, it did, but in a way that wasn't expected.

Talent Makes a Difference

Before I elaborate any further on this obvious claim, the final score of the Atlanta/Tennessee game was 6-3 in favor of the Falcons. The way the Titans played, it should've been 36-3. Atlanta also has way more talent than Tennessee, and I was expecting Julio Jones and Roddy White to pick apart the Titans' defensive backs. Instead, it was slot receiver Leonard Hankerson who did the most damage for Atlanta. There was one point where Hankerson went on a post to the right corner, and had Titans corner Coty Sensabaugh turn around twice before finally acknowledging Hankerson caught the ball. Once you notice Sensabaugh's awareness rating is a 67, that's something to expect and be fine with.

What I didn't expect was for Marcus Mariota to get absolutely destroyed by the Atlanta front seven. Based on averages, both the Titans' offensive line and Atlanta's front seven are about the same. Mariota was sacked four times in this game, no matter how many chances Tennessee had to win the game. You're probably wondering how Mariota got sacked four times against a young, yet not great, Falcons defense. For as much as Madden stressed the "be the playmaker" mantra, no one ever said that you actually need a playmaker for this to become true. Tennessee's receivers could not get separation from Atlanta's secondary, leaving Mariota to run for his life and struggle heavily. Mariota finished 5-of-12 for 57 yards and an interception. Matt Ryan, meanwhile, finished 10-of-13 for 125 yards and an interception.

Compare that situation in Tennessee to what happened between the Colts and Steelers. When a receiver like Antonio Brown is on your team and catches four passes for 122 yards and a touchdown (the touchdown was a 75-yard pass in which he sprinted past four Colts), that sounds much better than hoping Kendall Wright or Justin Hunter can get free off a slant route. Pittsburgh won 24-14 behind a nearly-flawless day from Ben Roethlisberger, and Andrew Luck somehow looked not as great as an A.I. controlled quarterback.

Momentum Will Matter This Year

Talking about Luck is a good segway into this momentum discussion. Midway through the first quarter, the Colts were driving and near the red zone. On a 2nd down pass play, Luck threw a terrible pass right into the hands of Brandon Boykin, who took the interception 79 yards for a touchdown. The next Colts drive was a 3-and-out. Other than a late touchdown pass to Andre Johnson to make it a 7-point game with three minutes left, Luck's day wasn't great on the road in Pittsburgh, finishing 11-of-20 for 159 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.

The same can be said for Mariota and his terrible game against Atlanta. The more he got rattled and hit, it actually made life tough on the the Titans. Atlanta continued to bring blitzes and not give Tennessee's receivers any room to make a catch. If you don't establish a rhythm early offensively, there's a good chance you'll end up with three points for the entire game like Tennessee did.

The lower rated the team, the worst chances to win

This isn't about a particular game, as much as a moment in the Titans game. Tennessee was down 3-0 and looking to score a touchdown in the second quarter. Titans right tackle Byron Bell and tight end Delanie Walker, more than likely one of them, was supposed to block first-round pick Vic Beasley (who had a star studded game with four tackles for loss). As the play developed, both Bell and Walker decided to morph past Beasley and block towards the goal line. Beasley got there untouched and brought down Bishop Sankey for a loss of three yards. That was the game in a nutshell. Bell is a 73-overall rated tackle, so take that with what you will.

What's the verdict?

From the short amount of time I've gotten to play, it appears Madden has done a lot of good things to ensure they're on the right path offensively. Of course, they need to eliminate anymore glitching in terms of the rocket catch. Hopefully that will all be addressed in the patch coming up. Double teams on the offensive line will have to be toned down a bit, because sometimes a double team isn't always going to achieve what it is meant to do. I'll give the offensive gameplay of Madden NFL 16 a solid 'B.' There is a lot to like, but of course from others who played it earlier there's still major need for improvement. All in all, in the first 72-plus hours, offense is much more fun and calculative to play than ever before.