It’s that time of year again. EA Sports has cranked its annual Super Bowl simulation through the latest installment of the Madden NFL franchise to predict the winner of this Sunday’s big game.
And the winner is… the New York Giants. Despite being three-point underdogs as far as Vegas is concerned, Madden 12 predicts that the Giants will beat the New England Patriots 27 to 24 on a last-second field goal by Lawrence Tynes. Exciting, no? Well, unless you’re a Pats fan, of course.
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EA’s Super Bowl simulation has been an annual occurrence since 2004 — for your reference, here’s how the past years have shaped up:
- 2004 – Prediction: Patriots 23, Panthers 20 | Actual: Patriots 32, Panthers 29
- 2005 – Prediction: Patriots 47, Eagles 31 | Actual: Patriots 24, Eagles 21
- 2006 – Prediction: Steelers 24, Seahawks 19 | Actual: Steelers 21, Seahawks 10
- 2007 – Prediction: Colts 38, Bears 27 | Actual: Colts 29, Bears 17
- 2008 – Prediction: Patriots 38, Giants 30 | Actual: Giants 17, Patriots 14
- 2009 – Prediction: Steelers 28, Cardinals 24 | Actual: Steelers 27, Cardinals 23
- 2010 – Prediction: Saints 35, Colts 31 | Actual: Saints 31, Colts 17
- 2011 – Prediction: Steelers 24, Packers 20 | Actual: Packers 31, Steelers 25
So not a perfect record by any means, but the company’s 75% accuracy isn’t too shabby. Note that it incorrectly picked the 2007 game between the Patriots and Giants, though.
Our own Sean Gregory is picking the Giants as well. I live in Boston and value my personal safety too much to even consider thinking about picking against the Patriots during the regular season, let alone the Super Bowl. I grew up in Minnesota, though, so “winning” and “football” making it into the same sentence is a new, strange, almost tingly sensation for me anyway.
Check out the above video for highlights from the Madden simulation.
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