Madden 21 Season Simulation

If you’re reading this, you’re probably aware that we at BroSports are doing a game-by-game prediction of the Las Vegas Raiders’ upcoming season. While it’s fun to speculate, the actual results remain a mystery. A blockbuster trade could happen at a moment’s notice, completely shifting the landscape of the NFL forever.

So if we’re going to pretend to know what happens based on personal inklings, is a video game really any less realistic? At least in Madden, every player in the NFL has (mostly flawed) ratings, balanced out to determine which teams are better than others. So, like we’ve done in the past, we ran the season through a simulation, and this is what we got.

Madden 21 Season Simulation

Disclaimer

By picking a team, I automatically changed the outcome of the season. If I took over and played, obviously I would shift the direction of the squad, but by doing nothing, I also hindered the development of the unit. No matter what I did, as an observer, I changed the outcome. So I decided to pick the Miami Dolphins, who had the worst overall rating (75) of any team in the league, and probably weren’t going to make an impact anyway. Sorry Phinheads.

Divisional Standings

AFC North

4. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-13)
3. Cincinnati Bengals (10-6, Wildcard)
2. Baltimore Ravens (10-6, Wildcard)
1. Cleveland Browns (13-3)

AFC South

4. Jacksonville Jaguars (5-11)
3. Indianapolis Colts (9-7)
2. Houston Texans (9-7)
1. Tennessee Titans (10-6)

AFC East

4. New York Jets (5-11)
3. Miami Dolphins (6-10
2. New England Patriots (7-8-1)
1. Buffalo Bills (8-8)

AFC West

4. Kansas City Chiefs (7-7-2)… I’m starting to think this isn’t accurate.
3. Las Vegas Raiders (9-7)
2. Los Angeles Chargers (9-7, Wildcard)
1. Denver Broncos (12-4)

NFC North

4. Minnesota Vikings (3-13)
3. Chicago Bears (6-10)
2. Detroit Lions (7-9)
1. Green Bay Packers (10-6)

NFC South

4. Atlanta Falcons (3-12-1)
3. Carolina Panthers (4-12)
2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-6, Wildcard)
1. New Orleans Saints (13-2-1)

NFC East

4. New York Giants (3-13)
3. Washington Football Team (6-10)
2. Philadelphia Eagles (9-7, Wildcard)
1. Dallas Cowboys (12-4)

NFC West

4. Arizona Cardinals (7-8-1)
3. Los Angeles Rams (8-8)
2. Seattle Seahawks (10-6, Wildcard)
1. San Francisco 49ers (10-6)

Playoff Picture

AFC

WC. Los Angeles Chargers
WC. Cincinnati Bengals
WC. Baltimore Ravens
4. Buffalo Bills
3.Tennessee Titans
2. Denver Broncos
1. Cleveland Browns

NFC

WC. Philadelphia Eagles
WC. Seattle Seahawks
WC. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
4. Green Bay Packers
3. San Francisco 49ers
2. Dallas Cowboys
1. New Orleans Saints

Playoffs

AFC

Baltimore Ravens @ Buffalo Bills- Baltimore (38-28)
Cincinnati Bengals @ Tennessee Titans- Tennessee (27-7)
Los Angeles Chargers @ Denver Broncos- Los Angeles (38-10)

Los Angeles Chargers @ Cleveland Browns- Cleveland (35-21)
Baltimore Ravens @ Tennessee Titans- Baltimore (31-23)

Baltimore Ravens @ Cleveland Browns- Cleveland (42-28)

The Cleveland Browns, helmed by Baker Mayfield hoist the Lamar Hunt Trophy, while Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs don’t even make the playoffs… These are wild times.

NFC

Seattle Seahawks @ Green Bay Packers- Green Bay (37-23)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ San Francisco 49ers- Tampa Bay (24-7)
Philadelphia Eagles @ Dallas Cowboys- Dallas Cowboys (28-23)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ New Orleans Saints- New Orleans (31-7)
Green Bay Packers @ Dallas Cowboys- Green Bay (31-21)

Green Bay Packers @ New Orleans Saints- New Orleans (21-10)

Drew Brees and company overcoming the Tom Brady threat to take the NFC South is the real challenge, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see the winner of that division bring George Halas home. The NFC side makes substantially more sense than the AFC side.

Yearly Awards

The yearly awards really sunk the process for me. Even though the Houston Texans missed out on the playoffs with a 9-7 record, and six other quarterbacks had more touchdowns, (Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Baker Mayfield, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, and Dak Prescott), Deshaun Watson took home the MVP for leading the league in passing yardage (4,645). Sure, his 36-8 TD/INT ratio is respectable, but he wasn’t even top five in passer rating. Very bizarre.

The coach of the year was Cleveland’s Kevin Stefanski, no surprise as he took the Browns to a AFC-best 13-3 record and ending up taking them to the Super Bowl. Sean Payton technically had a better year, seeing as he has a tie instead of a third loss, but somehow, somewhere, some former letterman complains that a tie is worse than a loss.

Then, madden splits off into conferences for some very strange reason.

AFC

Offensive Player of the Year- Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans
Defensive Player of the Year- Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns
Offensive Rookie of the Year- Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
Defensive Rookie of the Year- Patrick Queen, Baltimore Ravens
Quarterback- Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns
Running Back- Alvin Kamara… Baltimore Ravens?*
Wide Receiver- Zach Pascal, Indianapolis Colts
Offensive Lineman- Ronnie Stanley, Baltimore Ravens
Defensive Lineman- Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns
Linebacker- Jayon Brown, Tennessee Titans
Defensive Back- Stephon Gilmore, New England Patriots
Kicker- Greg Joseph Tennessee Titans

*I looked it up, but it was too late. At some point, during the sim, the Saints traded Alvin Kamara to Baltimore for, from what I can tell, Gus Edwards and Chris Wormley? I’ve looked all over, but I can’t find the rest of the trade value. If you got past the Chiefs going 7-7-2 and still believed this process worked, you certainly don’t now.

NFC

Offensive Player of the Year- Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Defensive Player of the Year- Khalil Mack, Chicago Bears
Offensive Rookie of the Year- CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys
Defensive Rookie of the Year- Chase Young, Washington Football Team
Quarterback- Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Running Back- Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys
Wide Receiver- Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Offensive Lineman- Zack Martin, Dallas Cowboys
Defensive Lineman- Aaron Donald, Los Angeles Rams
Linebacker- Khalil Mack, Chicago Bears
Defensive Back- Jaquiski Tartt, San Francisco 49ers
Kicker- Michael Badgley, New Orleans Saints

The Super Bowl

It seems like the Super Bowl was a really wild one. Midway through the second quarter, the Cleveland Browns were up 14-0, but then Brees and the Saints came roaring back, scoring 21 unanswered to close the first half. The Saints outscored the Browns 10-7 in the third quarter, before adding a dagger touchdown in the fourth and only allowing a field goal. New Orleans wins, 38-24 and Drew Brees retires as Super Bowl MVP.