Madden Says - Browns vs. Saints
Sep 6, 2006
Author: Dan Martin, Staff Writer

Most Cleveland Browns fans, NFL fans for that matter can not stand the sound of his voice, or care what he has to say, but many of us donate $50 to him every August. That man would be John Madden, the legendary coach, announcer, and face of video game football. His football game, produced by Electronic Arts (EA), has become more than just a video game, but an entertainment legend complimenting, and sometimes challenging the NFL.

It may not be the most realistic game, but year after year improvements are being made to where the video and gameplay are much more realistic than one might think. Enough so, that major networks like ESPN, FOX, and CBS have used in game footage to give football viewers a preview of what might happened. I am going to do a very similar thing, but in a more scientific method. Each week I will be simulating 10+ games and recording the statistics, hoping to give an educated prediction of this week’s Browns game.

I think I should note that the results in testing Madden 2007 did not quite live up to my initial expectations. Specifically, I had a hell of a time getting the game to simulate substitutions as a real game would. No matter what settings and pre-game substitutions I made, I was unable to simulate a game where Jerome Harrison, Reggie Bush, or Kamerion Wimbley would receive playing time. It is something that I will have to keep looking into. I will admit it did discouraged me quite a bit, enough that I contemplated saying “Just Screw It” and simulating the games on EA’s Mutant League Football for the Sega Genesis. As fun as that would be, you probably wouldn’t be too interested in the results, but either way I present you with Madden 2007’s predictions for the week 1 match up between the Cleveland Browns and the New Orleans Saints.

The goal was to simulate ten games and then average the statistics. Unfortunately, after ten games the record was tied 5-5. I simulated an 11^th tiebreaker game to determine a winner. All stats were averaged and approximated; the results are as the following:

Browns                    6 wins              22.1 PPG

Saints                          5 wins              20 PPG

Stats per Game

Frye                            18/30               248.5               60%                 1.6/1.5

Brees                          16/26               166.9               62%                 1.2/0.8

Droughns                    32                    134                  0.7

McAllister                  31                    134                  0.9

Jurevicius                   4.1                   51.8                 0.6

Edwards                      3.5                   29                    0.4

Northcutt                    2.1                   21.8                 0.4

Winslow                      4.7                   38.1                 0.4

Droughns                    1.5                   12.1                 0

Cribbs                         1.3                   12.3                 0.1

Horn                            4.4                   58.5                 0.3

McAllister                  3.1                   24.2                 0.2

Henderson                  1.5                   17.2                 0.2

Davis                          7.4                   1                      0                      0.3

McGinest                   8.1                   0.4                   0.1                   0

Roye                           3.3                   0                      0                      0

Thompson                   5.1                   0.3                   0.1                   0

Washington                4.3                   0.1                   0                      0

Jones                          3.5                   0                      0.2                   0.2

Pool                             2.3                   0.2                   0.1                   0.1

Simoneau                    8.8                   0.2                   0.3                   0.1

Fujita                           5.7                   0.1                   0                      0.1

Harper                        3.6                   0.3                   0.1                   0.1

Madden Says:           Cleveland Browns Win 22-20

There you have it. Much like in reality, even in video games the Browns keep it close. Obviously, if I could get either team to use Harrison or Bush, things might be a little different. Personally, I think both QB's would have had better games, and the starting RB's would not have had to carry such a load. On the defensive end, it would have been interesting to see what impact Wimbley would have had. McGinest played great games on the other end of the line, so I suspect Wimbley would have put up decent numbers.

Either way, Madden 2007 thinks that the Browns will win. Despite both RB's having great games, Charlie Frye was able to get the offense moving better than Drew Brees could with his offense. Much of that might have had to do with the outstanding play of Andra Davis and Willie McGinest and the Browns CB duo of Baxter and Bodden.

You are probably wondering at this point if I forgot the stats for both Baxter and Bodden, and you would be correct. It is not that I necessarily forgot them, but more so that neither of them had many tackles or anything else the first few games. After that, I left them off the list, forgetting that I should keep track of how many INT’s they got throughout the simulation.  I welcome you to send me any comments, feedback, or suggestions through The Bone Yard, where I will start a thread for this article, or through my email at dmartin3@gmail.com

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