The digital prognosticators at EA Sports have delivered their official Madden NFL 17 prediction for this year’s “Big Game.” It may not be the result everyone wants, but according to EA, the New England Patriots will defeat the Atlanta Falcons 27 to 24 in Super Bowl LI.
According to the simulation, the Patriots will trail the Falcons 24 to 20 with just a few seconds left on the clock. From an unenviable 4th and 4, and with no timeouts remaining, Tom Brady will drop back and hit Julian Edelman for the game-winning touchdown.
But before that bit of last-second magic, EA’s simulation of Super Bowl LI plays out pretty much how you’d expect. Atlanta’s running back committee of Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman will each score a touchdown, while the always-impressive Julio Jones will add 89 receiving yards. But the Patriots will get the chance to spread the ball around and Brady’s pair of touchdown tosses to Dion Lewis and Chris Hogan (along with the game-winning score) will earn him the Super Bowl MVP trophy.
Is it likely that any of these controller-aided conclusions will come to pass on Sunday? Your guess is as good as mine, but EA’s Madden-powered Super Bowl prediction is usually a pretty accurate barometer of Super Bowl Sunday. Last year, Madden NFL 16 predicted the Carolina Panthers would win Super Bowl 50 in a nail-biter, but they actually lost a lopsided game to the Denver Broncos.
Patriots fans would probably rather look to the Madden NFL 15 simulation from two years ago, which perfectly predicted Super Bowl XLIX’s final score of 28-24.
Whatever happens, I’m sure the commercials will be good.
