Madden Sims the Super Bowl
Submitted on: 02/05/2012 by
Mike Kilroy
Four years ago, the New York Giants were heavy underdogs heading into Super Bowl XLII against the undefeated New England Patriots. Thanks to a dominant pass rush and some sticky fingers (and helmet) by wide receiver David Tyree, the Giants won 17-14.
No one saw that coming, not even Madden, which predicted at the time an easy victory by the Patriots. Now, four year later, the two teams meet again in Super Bowl XLIV.
Tyree is long gone, but Madden 12 still sees the Giants pinning another Super Bowl loss on the Patriots. In fact, Madden sees the Giants beating the Patriots twice. Yes, in two simulations, New York got the best of New England, winning the first game 42-21 and the second 35-28.
Why two simulations? Because of “Brady Break.”
In the first game, Tom Brady broke his – what else – collar bone on the game’s second play, sending him on a joyless golf-cart ride off the field at Lucas Oil Stadium. That meant backup QB Brian Hoyer had to play much of the game under center for the Pats.
Hoyer didn’t do badly; He completed 10 of 27 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns, including an 84-yard hookup with Deion Branch that helped the Patriots cut the lead to 28-21 early in the fourth quarter.
New England’s shaky defense had no answer for the Giants, however, as New York rushed for 265 yards. Ahmad Bradshaw rumbled for 256 of those on 30 carries and five (yes, five) touchdowns. Needless to say, he was the game’s MVP. His scoring runs of 66 and 7 yards in the fourth quarter sealed the game.
Eli Manning, meanwhile, was serviceable. He was 20 of 31 for 237 yards and a 30-yard touchdown to Victor Cruz.
Just to see what would have happened had Osi Umeyiora not snapped Brady’s clavicle in half, another simulation was run.
This time, Brady stayed healthy and was very Brady-like, completing 27 of 40 passes for 382 yards and two touchdowns.
The Pats defense, though, was very Pats-like again, coughing up 444 yards on offense and another 200-yard rushing day by Bradshaw. This time, Bradshaw gained 209 yards on 32 attempts and scored two touchdowns as the Giants led 35-14 heading into the fourth quarter. Again, Bradshaw was the MVP.
Brady nearly rallied New England with a TD pass to Wes Welker with 1:03 remaining to cut the Giants’ lead to a touchdown. The Pats, though, could not recover the onside kick and Manning took a knee to set up another White House visit with Barack Obama.
Madden has been pretty accurate in picking the Super Bowl winners over the years. The game has successfully predicted six of the last eight champions, putting it slightly behind Paul the Octopus’ World Cup success rate.
What are your thoughts on Madden’s Super Bowl picks?
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