It’s Thursday, so it’s time for another week of NFL action. After turning to Madden NFL 26 to predict the results of last week’s games, we are back at it again with a look ahead to Week 2. Who is going to grab the wins they expect, who will pull off a big upset, and what will that mean for the standings after the second weekend of NFL action?
Last Week
Last Week’s Record: 5-11
Biggest Hit: Texans 14-13 Rams (Actually Rams 14-9)
Biggest Miss: Titans 28-7 Broncos (Actually Broncos 20-12)
There’s probably no better indication of how rough of a go Madden had with Week One than the best call of the week being nailing the vibe on a game it did not nail the winner of. It predicted the Texans would win a game that was basically torture to watch, and while the winner was wrong, the call to avoid the game was certainly correct. Otherwise, Madden picked up a handful of gimmes like picking against the Browns and not trusting the Dolphins while getting absolutely obliterated everywhere else.
Detroit Takes The Ben Johnson Bowl
One of the big stories this week is the return of Ben Johnson to Detroit, where fans will be eager to see if he benefits more from knowing the Lions’ defense than the Lions benefit from knowing his offense. With both teams having lost in Week One, this will be a crucial game for each as falling to 0-2 in a division generally expected to be the most competitive in football again this season could spell a hole too deep to recover from when the competition in the standings, and on the field twice per year, is so high.
Lions fans can breathe easy (unless Week 1 has made you more inclined to root against your virtual team for your real one’s sake) as this game became a snoozer as soon as the second half began. While ahead just 14-10 at the break, the Lions defense put the clamps on Caleb Williams and Johnson, posting a 17-0 shutout to take the game in a 31-10 cakewalk.
Upset(s) Of The Week: Giants And Titans
I was determined to pick just one team for this slot this week lest I need to start removing the parentheses in the heading, but then I saw that Madden had other ideas. Once again, it has picked two teams with nearly identical low win percentages to come out on top. Once again, those two teams were the New York Giants and Tennessee Titans.
While I might be inclined to urge the game to learn some lessons from its opening week struggles, it has belief in these teams, clearly, and fancies them to shake off those Week One blues. The Giants are backed to squeak past the Cowboys by the score of just 19-13, not a game that anyone would write home about, but one the Giants would happily take if it means avoiding a 0-2 start in the division with two games against the champs still to play. Tennessee, by contrast, is once again among the biggest winners of the week, hanging 38 on the Rams to win by 14 points.
Anti-Game Of The Week: Panthers 10, Cardinals 9
Moving on to the one thing Madden seemed ready to do out of the gates, calling the most atrocious piece of football on offer in the upcoming slate. Calling which match will actually prove most disastrous is always a tough ask, as you never know what two teams are going to perfectly cancel each other, or which game will suddenly be played in a waterfall, but Arizona hosting Carolina is a good shout.
Neither team looked like an offensive juggernaut in Week 1, and the potential for this to turn into a game of punts and turnovers is certainly on the table. Perhaps the most concerning risk to anyone picking the under here is that Carolina allowed the Jaguars to put 26 on them in week one with an offense that will need to do that more than once before anyone is convinced they’re for real.
Philadelphia Compounds KC’s Troubles In Super Bowl Rematch And Other Notable Results
The marquee matchup of Week 2 is a pairing of last year’s Super Bowl participants, and with the Chiefs having dropped their Friday Night matchup with division foes Los Angeles last week, the pressure will be on them to avoid starting the year in a 0-2 hole. Philadelphia, by contrast, knocked off its own division rivals Dallas and will be looking to solidify its place as the best team in the league this season, too.
It was the Eagles getting the result on the Madden field this time, and it wasn’t particularly close. As with the Lions-Bears game, the winning team pitched a shutout in the second half, turning a tense 14-10 lead into a breezy 28-10 win.
Elsewhere in the league, the Ravens are expected to bounce back from their shocking Week 1 collapse, albeit by a smaller margin than many might expect, as they top Cleveland 31-27. Good thing they did, too, as both the Steelers and Bengals are backed to win big in Week 2 and move to 2-0, which would put all the pressure on the Cleveland vs. Formerly Cleveland grudge match to avoid falling two games off the pace so quickly.
Full Madden Week 2 Simulation Results
With the most notable games behind us, there’s still a lot of action to look forward to this weekend. Here is what Madden NFL 26 had to say about the rest of the matchups this week, with a full slate of action before the byes begin in a few weeks:
- Packers 26-20 Commanders
- Bengals 42-21 Jaguars
- Detroit 31-10 Bears
- Titans 38-24 Rams
- Giants 19-14 Cowboys
- Ravens 31-27 Browns
- 49ers 31-17 Saints
- Bills 25-21 Jets
- Miami 16-9 Patriots
- Steelers 28-7 Seahawks
- Panthers 10-7 Cardinals
- Colts 27-24 Broncos
- Eagles 28-10 Chiefs
- Falcons 24-7 Vikings
- Texans 29-10 Buccaneers
- Raiders 20-17 Chargers
With its picks locked in, all that’s left for Madden is to wait and see if things turn around. The optimists’ view is that the game can only get better. Did your team get the nod from Madden this week, or will you be left hoping for another performance like Week 1 to see your team pick up a win?
