An Optimistic Season Preview, Courtesy Of Madden NFL 10
Posted by Matt Terl on July 27, 2009 – 5:11 pmLet’s be honest: there hasn’t been a whole lot of positivity about the Redskins in the national media this offseason. Most early power rankings have them in the 20s, most prognosticators have them finishing fourth in the competitive NFC East, and, basically, the strong start to last year seems to have been forgotten and eclipsed by the fade down the stretch.
Wouldn’t it be nice, though, if there were some sort of truly objective observer? Some kind of computer program, say, that would compile the statistics and project the season based on the team’s abilities rather than on some ephemeral belief that Jason Campbell is going to play poorly because his feelings were hurt in April?
Well, video game review site IGN.com simulated the entire 2009 NFL season in EA Sports’ Madden NFL 10 as a way of simultaneously previewing the NFL season and the upcoming release of the new Madden game.
Some of the final standings are predictable: the Steelers and Ravens go to the playoffs out of the AFC North, and they’re joined by the Colts, Titans, Patriots and Chargers. The Saints, Cardinals, Falcons and Eagles also make the postseason — no real surprises there. The Packers win the NFC North, which would be somewhat surprising but not completely incomprehensible.
But the NFC East… well, that doesn’t go quite as people expect:
That’s the Redskins on top with a 13-3 record, best overall in the NFC, with the Giants falling to a surprising 6-10 and last in the division. (If this actually happens, by the way, the entire preseason sports prognostication industry might collapse in on itself like a dying star.)
Also, per IGN, “Chris Horton for the Redskins finished second in the Defensive Player of Year voting while Brian Orakpo finished fourth for Defensive Rookie of the Year.”
So that’s nice.
Things take a bit of a turn for the worse in the playoffs, though. In the divisional round, per IGN:
In our NFC matchup the Redskins beat the Packers 17-14 on a last-second field goal. Jason Campbell did not play well, tossing two picks and just one touchdown enroute to 115 total passing yards. Nevertheless, the ‘Skins advance to the NFC Championship.
The championship game goes even worse, as the team loses 21-14 to the Saints at home, on the second straight dreadful playoff performance from Campbell.
I’m sure there are plenty of people who read this and say, basically, “So what? It’s a freakin’ VIDEO GAME.” Which is a perfectly fair reaction to this sort of thing … except that this is a video game that was terrifyingly accurate at predicting the Super Bowl, down to Santonio Holmes’ total receiving yards.
This projection raises one simple question for me: would you view a 13-3 season with two uninspiring playoff games as a success? I’d think you’d have to, but I’m curious to know your thoughts.
Either way, it’s nice to see some positive projections as we get close to the start of training camp.
Here’s the video of the NFC Divisional Championship against the Packers, in case you feel like spending a few extra minutes on this subject:
http://videomedia.ign.com/ev/ev.swf
Tags: madden nfl 10, MaddenNfl10, positivity, projections
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