There were a lot of big moments at Super Bowl LIII, but they all seemed to be happening on the defensive side of the ball, and that is not what Madden NFL 19‘s official Super Bowl Simulation promised.
The latest entry in EA Sports’s long-running franchise predicted that the Los Angeles Rams would push past the New England Patriots in a tight-knit (but high-scoring) game. But instead of a 30-27 shootout that ultimately favored the west coast franchise, the Patriots managed to stumble their way to victory in real life thanks to a fourth quarter touchdown and a winning score of 13-3. That minuscule scoring line actually made it the lowest-scoring Super Bowl ever.
Super Bowl LIII was one for the old guys as Tom Brady became the oldest quarterback to win a Super Bowl (at age 41), and Bill Belichick did the same as the oldest coach to win “The Big Game” (at age 66). With six Super Bowl Championships, the Patriots tied the Pittsburgh Steelers as the most successful football franchise of all time.
But there’s no joy at EA Sports, for this loss drops Madden’s predictive powers to 10-6 since the publisher first ran an official Super Bowl Simulation in 2004. But EA Sports’s picks have been especially bad in the last six years, correctly picking the winner only twice.
For those keeping track at home, that’s worse than a coin flip.