Madden 19 came out last week for another season. Players don’t only use the game to play each other, but also as a simulation. This article will go through the results of a one year Madden 19 simulation in franchise mode.
The Cincinnati Bengals were used as the user team (TGH’s home team), but no manual roster or personnel moves were made to make it as fair as possible. Here were the results:
Playoff teams
Kansas City, Oakland, Atlanta, Minnesota, Jacksonville, Cincinnati, Detroit, Carolina, Tennessee, Los Angeles (Rams), Miami and Philadelphia all made the playoffs. The Bengals, Chiefs and Dolphins were the most surprising teams. Cincinnati benefitted from a weak division that featured the three other teams going under .500. The Dolphins surprisingly won the AFC East, while Patrick Mahomes was able to lead the Chiefs to an AFC West title.
The Chiefs and Titans played in the AFC Championship with the Chiefs coming out on top. In the NFC Championship, the Eagles squeaked by the Falcons to advance to the Super Bowl.
Super Bowl Champions: Kansas City Chiefs
In a surprising result, the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl in the one year Madden simulation. The trio of Mahomes, Kareem Hunt and Tyreek Hill stepped up to produce most of the offense and the defense held the Eagles to 17 points.
Kansas City won the AFC West and played Oakland in the Wildcard round. They beat them, then won games against the Dolphins and Titans to get to the Super Bowl against the Eagles. The Chiefs are a solid team, but their current Super Bowl odds sit at 40/1.
NFL MVP: Carson Wentz, Philadelphia Eagles
In the simulation, Wentz led the Eagles to a 12-4 record and a Super Bowl appearance. He threw for the fifth-most yards in the NFL with 4,042 and added 31 passing touchdowns, as opposed to eight interceptions. He also had a solid 64% completion.
Pre-existing injuries were used in this simulation, so it looks like Madden had him fully recovering from that torn ACL last season. Wentz seems to be back on the right track in real life, but Eagles’ fans would love to have Wentz’s results this season.
Coach of the Year: Adam Gase, Miami Dolphins
While expectations for the Dolphins may not be too high this season, Madden seems to think differently. Gase led the Dolphins to an 11-5 record and won the AFC East. Surely if Gase accomplishes all of this in the 2018 season, he would be a strong candidate for coach of the year.
The Dolphins beat out the Patriots (7-9), Bills (6-9-1) and Jets (4-12) to win the AFC East. They didn’t win the division on a fluke either, Tom Brady was healthy. This should not be expected to happen in real life, but results like this make simulations either insanely frustrating or fun depending on what side a person is on.
Offensive Players of the Year: Le’Veon Bell- Pittsburgh Steelers(AFC), David Johnson- Arizona Cardinals (NFC)
The Steelers surprisingly went 6-10 in the simulation, but Bell had a great season. He rushed for 1,419 yards and 11 touchdowns. His rushing yards led the NFL. Bell added 25 receptions for 471 yards and five touchdowns to help out the passing game. This result is entirely realistic, especially given that Bell is once again looking for a long-term contract after the season.
In this simulation, Johnson didn’t seem to have any problems with his wrist or a new quarterback. He finished second in the NFL in rushing yards with 1,384 and got to the end zone an NFL-leading 12 times on the ground. As a pass-catcher, Johnson had 23 receptions for 349 yards and five touchdowns.
Defensive Players of the Year: Anthony Hitchens- Kansas City Chiefs (AFC), Mark Barron- Los Angeles Rams (NFC)
Anthony Hitchens was just signed by the Chiefs this offseason and this Madden simulation seems to think he will have a big impact. He had 110 total tackles, three tackles for loss, three sacks, one interception, seven deflections, nine forced fumbles, four fumbles recovered. The forced fumble stat is what really sticks out, as it led the league. Hitchens could have a solid year, but winning the Defensive Player of the Year is a huge stretch.
On the NFC side, Mark Barron took home the award. He totaled 115 tackles, five tackles for loss, one sack, 11 deflections, six forced fumbles, and six fumbles recovered. Barron helped lead the Rams to the best regular-season record in the NFC at 12-3-1.
Offensive Rookies of the Year: Josh Allen- Buffalo Bills (AFC), Saquon Barkley- New York Giants (NFC)
The strong-armed Josh Allen was able to win the AFC Rookie of the Year. The biggest knock on Allen is his accuracy and that proved to be true in this simulation, as he completed 55% of his passes. He did, however, throw for 3,669 yards, 22 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions. Allen also led the Bills to a 6-9-1 record, which isn’t superb, but not bad for a rookie quarterback that won’t have a ton of help this season.
Barkley winning this award is the most fitting result in this whole simulation. Even though the Giants went 2-14, he was successful. He split carries with Jonathan Stewart and had 696 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns. He added 501 yards receiving and two touchdown catches. If anything, his rushing yards might be 300 more or higher, while his receiving yards might dip below 500.
Defensive Rookies of the Year: Derwin James- Los Angeles Chargers (AFC), Roquan Smith- Chicago Bears (NFC)
Derwin James fell to the Chargers in the draft, but is a very talented player and it was reflected in the Madden simulation. He finished the season with 100 tackles, two tackles for loss, four interceptions, eight deflections, and three fumbles forced. All of those stats are possible for James to achieve in 2018.
Smith ended up being one of the NFL’s leading tacklers with 126. He also had five tackles for loss, three sacks, two deflections, six forced fumbles and one fumble recovered. Essentially Smith was all over the field in the simulation and that may not be too far off from what happens in real life.
Records and Stats
Drew Brees becomes NFL’s all-time leading passer with 73,953 yards.
You can like The Game Haus on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from great TGH writers!