Two weeks into the NFL season, the simulation engine underlying Madden 26 has begun its redemption tour. After a dreadful start to the season that saw the game nail just five of the Week 1 games, last week saw a turn to the positive as Madden posted an above .500 record on its Week 2 projections.
With some faith in the game’s ball knowledge restored, we can move on to Week 3 with an eye on some of the most interesting matchups on the docket this weekend to see what the virtual teams can manage as Madden predicts the NFL Week 3 games.
Last Week
Last Week’s Record: 9-7 (Season 14-18)
Biggest Hit: Falcons 24-7 Vikings (Actually 22-6 Falcons)
Biggest Miss: Steelers 28-7 Seahawks (Actually 31-17 Seahawks)
Although 9-7 is not exactly an overwhelmingly positive showing in the picking game, it was a strong bounceback for Madden, which nearly doubled its Week 1 win total. Most notably there was actual competition among correct picks for the title of best call, with the Pack and Commanders game being off by just a combined three points as well but Atlanta vs. Minnesota getting the nod for being just one point off on the margin of victory. The big loss came in the form of having too much faith in the Steelers and Aaron Rodgers after a Week 1 win. While Madden expected the Black and Gold to roll at home against Seattle, a disastrous special teams blunder proved too much to overcome for the Steelers as they fell by two scores.
Find Someone You Believe In Like Madden Believes In These Giants
The Chiefs and Giants face off this week on Sunday Night Football in a pairing of two winless teams, one of whom is much less surprising than the other. Unless you’re Madden, that is, which has two weeks in a row backed the Giants to pull off upsets that were not to be, even if they put up a much more respectable fight last time out in their overtime loss to the Cowboys.
The Chiefs, meanwhile, have faced a tough start to the year in the Chargers and Eagles, a playoff team and the Super Bowl Champions last time out respectively, but hard start or not 0-2 is a bad place to be in the NFL, even with the expanded schedule and playoffs, and an 0-3 start would be nearly a death sentence for a team that’s generally been safe to write in as AFC Champs in pen before the first kickoff of the season.
The oddsmakers aren’t sweating things too much on that front, however, with Kansas City nearly a one-touchdown favorite against the G-Men. Nobody told the simulation engine in Madden, however, where New York has been backed for the upset for the third straight week, this time to the tune of a 33-27 stunner.
Upset Of The Week: Spec-Tua-Cular Scenes In Buffalo
There is no bigger favorite in the NFL this week than the Buffalo Bills, and with good reason. They’re 2-0, having beaten the presumed Super Bowl favorites in a thriller in Week 1, then casually waxed a division rival in Week 2, with another of the AFC East’s also-rans coming to town. While they won’t have the benefit of playing Miami in the winter when even good Dolphins teams have withered and died in recent seasons, all indicators point to the Dolphins being in for a long day in upstate New York.
Madden agrees that the game is likely to be a snoozer, with a double-digit victory in the cards, but it just takes issue with who everyone else seems to think will be on the winning side of the equation. It’s not just tipping the Dolphins to pull off the upset as the week’s biggest dog, but to do it easily with a final score of 41-28 for a result that would be a genuine jaw-dropping start to Week 3 action.
Anti-Game Of The Week: 49ers 16, Cardinals 10
Not every game can be a winner, and every week, there is one or two absolute stinkers that two poor fanbases are subjected to, whether they like it or not. The NFC West is no stranger to this spot so far, with Madden tending to have more faith in their defenses than offenses, so it’s no surprise to see an intra-division conflict locking down the title of most boringly predicted game for Week 3, especially with 49ers starting quarterback Brock Purdy potentially missing another week. With more field goals than touchdowns and fewer combined points than three of this week’s losers are picked to score, this is a game Madden thinks is best left ignored at all costs if you can.
Home Is Where The Hurt Is
Home field advantage has been on a downward trend in the NFL, but it remains a marginal edge to home teams even still. Weeks where the road teams come away with a better record are uncommon and weeks where they capture double digit wins exceedingly so. Madden expects this to be one of those uncommon weeks, actually predicting the road teams to be 12-1 in the week’s first 13 matchups before a slight rally by the home sides in the primetime games and the 4:25 kickoff slot to bring the final reckoning to 12-4 in favor of the travelers.
Full Madden Week 3 Simulation Results
That covers the most notable projections for this week, but Madden provided prognostications for all 16 matchups fans have to look forward to this week:
- Dolphins 41-28 Bills
- Bengals 28-27 Vikings
- Rams 21-10 Eagles
- Packers 42-7 Browns
- Raiders 21-19 Washington
- Jets 21-17 Buccaneers
- Steelers 30-7 Patriots
- Falcons 20-17 Panthers
- Titans 24-19 Colts
- Texans 30-17 Jacksonville
- Cowboys 21-17 Bears
- Saints 24-17 Seahawks
- Broncos 28-20 Chargers
- 49ers 16-10 Cardinals
- Giants 33-27 Chiefs
- Ravens 24-21 Lions
That’s how Madden sees this week going, but do you agree? Will its recovery continue to pull the sim up over .500 on the season, or will going in so hard on the visiting teams prove too much to overcome as the game stumbles to another disappointing showing?
