Super Bowl LVI Spoiler Alert!!! This column reveals the winner of Sunday’s game as predicted by John Madden’s NFL 22 from EA Sports.
Or maybe not.
You may recall that the Madden computer program predicted last year’s Super Bowl champ would be the Kansas City Chiefs, winning 37-27 over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
If you don’t recall that, you may recall the winning team – Tampa Bay – if not the actual score (31-9).
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There are years when the Madden football simulation showed uncanny accuracy. It’s based on a large amount of actual NFL data and stats, so when the computer takes over the management of both teams, the results can be very realistic.
Case in point: Super Bowl XLVII, when it correctly predicted the Ravens would defeat the San Francisco 49ers by three points; Anquan Boldin and Frank Gore would both score touchdowns and Ravens’ quarterback Joe Flacco would win the Most Valuable Player award.
EA Sports started using its Madden NFL program to predict Super Bowl winners in 2004. It correctly predicted four Super Bowls in a row (XXXVIII to XLI). But it hasn’t done a run like that since. In the last decade-plus, it never got more than two years in a row correct; but it hasn’t gotten more than two in a row wrong, either.
And this year, the winner is: Cincinnati Bengals, 24; LA Rams, 21.
I’ll let the EA Sports public relations department fill in the details from the simulation:
“The Bengals enter halftime down 14-7, following touchdowns by Rams running back Sony Michel and red-hot wide receiver Cooper Kupp, with Ja’Marr Chase putting up the Bengals’ only touchdown.
“At the start of the second half, the Bengals lock up on defense with cornerback Eli Apple picking off Matthew Stafford and taking it to the house to tie the game. Joe Burrow takes the lead early in the fourth quarter on a touchdown pass to Tee Higgins, but Los Angeles answers with an Odell Beckham Jr. touchdown to level the game.
“In the final minutes, Burrow gets his team in field goal range creating another opportunity for Evan McPherson to step up and kick the winning field goal to secure a historic victory for the Bengals franchise.”
There you have it. For a second opinion, I went to another master of prediction: The Magic 8-Ball. Being Gadget Daddy, I used the Internet version, found at: www.magic-8ball.com.
“Will Madden’s Sunday prediction prove correct?” I asked before clicking on the big 8 ball on the monitor.
(Spoiler Alert!)
“Outlook not so good.”
Take your pick.
Lonnie Brown can be found at LedgerDatabase@aol.com.
