Madden 13 NFL predictions

by: Nathaniel - posted: 8/27/2012 1:20:00 PM

Every year, the soothsayers at EA Sports work their digital magic and try to tell us the results of the whole season before it happens using that year's edition of Madden.  Honestly, their accuracy can be pretty close to reality, and if the NFL season plays out in any way similar to Madden NFL 13's prediction, it will only reaffirm my belief that I made the right decision by defecting to the other football - soccer.

You can read the full results after the jump, but the highlights include the completely unsurprising facts that New England and Chicago win the number one seed in their respective conferences, the NFL MVP is Tom Brady, Rookie of the Year is Andrew Luck, and Coach of the year is Romeo Crennel.

Also I'm vastly unsurprised that Drew Brees and Tom Brady lead the league in passing while Calvin Johnson and Wes Welker are the top receivers, and Jared Allen leads the way with 19 sacks.  In slightly more surprising news, Darren McFadden is the league's top rusher.

Finally, the full playoff seedings look like this:

AFC	NFC
1. New England Patriots (12-4)	1. Chicago Bears (12-4)
2. Baltimore Ravens (11-5)	2. San Francisco 49ers (11-5)
3. Kansas City Chiefs (11-5)	3. Atlanta Falcons (11-5)
4. Houston Texans (10-6)	4. Philadelphia Eagles (10-6)
5. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6)	5. Green Bay Packers (12-4)
6. Buffalo Bills (10-6)	6. New Orleans Saints (10-6)

August 27, 2012 –The Chicago Bears and New England Patriots won their respective divisions and took home the overall number one seeds in the playoffs according to the Madden NFL 13 Season Simulation, powered by EA SPORTS Arena. The Patriots followed up last year’s Super Bowl appearance with a dominant season, securing a 12-4 record on the arm of NFL MVP Tom Brady. Brady delighted fantasy football owners everywhere by tossing a record-tying 50 touchdown passes against only 8 interceptions.

The Bears matched the Patriots’ record, also going 12-4 to win a tightly contested NFC North. Chicago needed every win they could muster, as the Green Bay Packers also ended the season at 12-4, but with the Bears holding an edge in the tiebreakers the Packers were relegated to the 5th seed in the playoffs.

The two surprise playoff teams in the AFC were the Kansas City Chiefs (11-5) and Buffalo Bills (10-6), both ending long playoff droughts. The Chiefs were a particular shock, winning the AFC West with a record of 11-5 and earning Romeo Crennel Coach of the Year Honors.

The NFC experienced near total upheaval, with new champions in three of four divisions. The Atlanta Falcons (11-5) and Philadelphia Eagles (10-6) joined the Bears as new divisional winners, while only the San Francisco 49ers (11-5) were able to repeat amidst weak competition in the NFC West. In bombshell news, last year’s Super Bowl champion New York Giants didn’t even reach the postseason, finishing a disappointing 8-8.

Though the rebuilding Indianapolis Colts (4-12) had a tough season, fans were able to take solace in the fact that rookie quarterback and number one overall draft pick Andrew Luck took home Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. Luck managed to outduel fellow highly-touted rookie Robert Griffin III, finishing the season with 4,170 yards, 32 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. On the defensive side of things, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Courtney Upshaw was able to step into an already intimidating unit and cause enough havoc to be named Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Other award winners include Detroit Lions wide receiver and Madden NFL 13 cover athlete Calvin Johnson, Jr. as Offensive Player of the Year (97 receptions for 1,572 yards and 16 touchdowns), and DeMarcus Ware of the Dallas Cowboys as Defensive Player of the Year (18 sacks).

Tune into G4’s X-Play on Monday, August 27th at 6:30/5:30pm CT to check out more video of the Madden NFL 13 Season Simulation.

NFL 2012 Season Awards (as simulated by Madden NFL 13):

• NFL MVP – Tom Brady, New England Patriots

• Offensive Player of the Year – Calvin Johnson, Jr., Detroit Lions

• Defensive Player of the Year – DeMarcus Ware, Dallas Cowboys

• Offensive Rookie of the Year – Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts

• Defensive Rookie of the Year – Courtney Upshaw, Baltimore Ravens

• Coach of the Year – Romeo Crennel, Kansas City Chiefs

Top Ten Offensive Performers

Quarterback

Player - Team - Yards - TDs - INTs

Drew Brees - NO - 5399 - 48 - 13

Tom Brady - NE - 5374 - 50 - 8

Mathew Stafford - DET - 5288 - 40 - 14

Aaron Rodgers - GB - 5245 - 49 - 9

Eli Manning - NYG - 4853 - 31 - 11

Peyton Manning - DEN - 4612 - 35 - 7

Matt Ryan - ATL - 4602 - 34 - 7

Philip Rivers - SD - 4475 - 35 - 12

Jay Cutler - CHI - 4215 - 36 - 18

Andrew Luck - IND - 4170 - 32 - 20

Running Back

Player - Team - Yards - TDs

Darren McFadden - OAK - 1523 - 16

Arian Foster - HOU - 1501 - 18

Ray Rice - BAL - 1425 - 17

LeSean McCoy - PHI - 1386 - 14

Marshawn Lynch - SEA - 1317 - 14

Chris Johnson - TEN - 1309 - 12

Matt Forte - CHI - 1250 - 9

Adrian Peterson - MIN - 1118 - 10

Maurice Jones-Drew - JAX - 1115 - 10

Fred Jackson - BUF - 1109 - 7

Wide Receiver

Player - Team - Rec - Yards - TDs

Calvin Johnson, Jr. - DET - 97 - 1572 - 16

Wes Welker - NE - 111 - 1430 - 7

Julio Jones - ATL - 89 - 1326 - 8

Jimmy Graham - NO - 100 - 1301 - 13

Larry Fitzgerald - ARI - 87 - 1222 - 10

AJ Green - CIN - 79 - 1189 - 10

Rob Gronkowski - NE - 82 - 1188 - 13

Brandon Marshall - CHI - 80 - 1185 - 8

Roddy White - ATL - 101 - 1169 - 7

Eric Decker - DEN - 90 - 1150 - 6

Top Defensive Performers

Sacks

Player - Team - Sacks

Jared Allen - MIN - 19

DeMarcus Ware - DAL - 18

Jason Pierre-Paul - NYG - 17

Aldon Smith - SF - 16

Jason Babin - PHI - 14

Chris Long - STL - 14

Clay Mathews - GB - 13 

Von Miller - DEN - 13

Tamba Hali - KC - 10

Brian Orakpo - WSH - 10

Interceptions

Player - Team - INTs

Charles Woodson - GB - 7

Eric Weddle - SD - 6

Corey Webster - NYG - 5

Kyle Arrington - NE - 5

Darrelle Revis - NYJ - 5

Brandon Browner - SEA - 5

Courtland Finnegan - STL - 5

Ed Reed - BAL - 5

Brandon Flowers - DAL - 5

Nnamdi Asomugha - PHI - 5

2012 NFL Playoff Seeding

                                     AFC

                           NFC

New England Patriots (12-4)
1. Chicago Bears (12-4)

Baltimore Ravens (11-5)
2. San Francisco 49ers (11-5)

Kansas City Chiefs (11-5)
3. Atlanta Falcons (11-5)

Houston Texans (10-6)
4. Philadelphia Eagles (10-6)

Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6)
5. Green Bay Packers (12-4)

Buffalo Bills (10-6)
6. New Orleans Saints (10-6)

For more information about Madden NFL 13, please visit www.easports.com/madden-nfl.

Madden NFL 13 is developed in Orlando, Florida by EA Tiburon and will be available for the Xbox 360® video game system from Microsoft, Kinect, PlayStation®3, Wii™, and PS Vita (PlayStation®Vita) handheld entertainment system on August 28.  For more information about Madden NFL 13 please visit http://www.easports.com/madden-nfl.

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