The last football game of the season, the Super Bowl, is happening this weekend. The game, which will be played in Dallas’ ridiculous new stadium, looks to be a good one between two storied franchises that know how to build teams, the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
For over a week the pundits have been talking about who they think will win, and now EA Sports has released data from its annual Madden NFL simulation of the event, pegging the favorite as the Pittsburgh Steelers 24-20 over the Pack.
My first thought was, “Hey, that’s a believable score.” But, apparently, realistic scores are par for the Super Bowl simulations that EA has been running over the last several years. Also, Madden simulations have correctly pegged the winner of Super Bowls a stellar six out of the last seven years. That’s quite an impressive record, eh?
== TEASER ==So, how does this year’s Super Bowl shake out according to Madden 11? In addition to dropping a colorful highlight-filled rundown and video, the official Madden blog has provided this handy-dandy chart detailing all the major action:
1st Quarter
- 12:37 PIT FGS. Suisham missed 41 Yd
- 7:58 PIT INT T. Polamalu, Intercepts ball on own 43
- 2:55 PIT TDR. Mendenhall, 2 Yd run (Suisham kick)
2nd Quarter
- 12:41 PIT FG S. Suisham, 32 Yd FG
- 8:46 GB FG M. Crosby missed 44 Yd FG
- 1:29 GB INTA.J. Hawk, Intercepts ball on Pittsburgh 39
- 0:26 GB TDG. Jennings, 12 Yd pass from A. Rodgers (M. Crosby kick)
3rd Quarter
- 8:59 PIT TDH. Ward, 17 Yd pass from B. Roethlisberger (Suisham kick)
- 5:10 GB FG M. Crosby, 49 Yd FG
- 1:16 GB FGM. Crosby, 38 Yd FG
4th Quarter
- 9:00 GB TD J. Jones, 9 Yd pass from A. Rodgers (M. Crosby kick)
- 1:20 PIT TDM. Wallace, 36 Yd pass from B. Roethlisberger (Suisham kick)
- 0:20 PIT INTR. Clark, Intercepts ball on own 20
We probably shouldn’t take this data too seriously, despite the record Madden has in predicting Super Bowl winners. In one franchise season of Madden 11 of mine, for example, the game’s brain gave the Dallas Cowboys a stellar winning record, but this 24-20 score is pretty interesting. Both of the contending teams are defensive-minded, so it’s hard to believe the 30 barrier will be broken... but I guess we’ll see.
Who ya got!?