Nov 18, 2006
Author: Dan Martin, Staff Writer
Most of us cannot stand the sound of his voice, or care what he has to say, but many of us donate 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 have been made to where the video and gameplay is much more realistic than one might think. Enough so, that major networks like ESPN, FOX, and CBS have used it for footage to give football viewers a preview of what might happen. 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.
Both teams are beat up, so I settled on starting anyone who was Questionable or better. I know that many doubt Droughns and Bodden to play, but I had to figure out an easy way to do the injuries so both of them played in the simulations. On that note, I present you with Madden 2007’s predictions for the week 11 rivalry match up between the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers
The goal was to simulate ten games and then average the statistics. All stats were averaged and approximated; the results are as the following:
Browns 7 wins 28.6 PPG
Steelers 3 wins 22.6 PPG
Stats per Game
QB Comp/Att Yards PCT TD/INT
Frye 20/33 196 62% 1.3/0.6
Roethlisberger 16/29 164 57% 1/2
RB Attempts Yards TDs Fumbles Rush Avg.
Droughns 29 100 1.7 0 3.5
Parker 23 102 0.3 0 4.4
WR Rec Yards TDs
Edwards 4.3 42.3 0.7
Jurevicius 4.3 73 0.7
Winslow 5.3 33.7 0.1
Droughns 2 17.7 0
Cribbs 3 26 0
Wilson 1.3 3.7 0
Ward 4 50.7 0.7
Holmes 1.3 13.3 0
Parker 3.5 16 0
Washington 1 13.7 0.3
Miller 4.3 32 0.1
Wilson 2 38 0
Defense Tackles Sacks FFs INTs
Davis 8.7 0.1 0 0.2
McGinest 8 0.5 0.2 0
Wimbley 4.6 1.4 0.2 0
D’Qwell Jackson 5 0.3 0.1 0
Roye 3.1 0.1 0 0
McKinley 2.5 0 0 0
Washington 3.2 0 0 0
Jones 2.6 0 0.2 0.7
Russell 1.6 0 0.3 0.2
Pool 3 0 0.1 0.9
Bodden 2.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
Joey Porter 9.3 0.4 0.1 0
Troy Polamalu 4.9 0.3 0 0.2
James Farrior 5 1 0.4 0.2
Larry Foote 4.1 0.1 0.1 0
Deshee Townsend 1.8 0 0 0.1
Casey Hampton 4.2 0.1 0 0
Madden Says: Cleveland Browns Win 29-23
So there we have it. The firing of Carthon has not only re-energized the real Browns but also the video game Browns. Surprising this was the most accurate simulation yet, as far as how the teams were doing. Both had the same records when I simulated, 3-6, and the players are mimicking their real life counterparts fairly well. Roethlisberger continues to struggle, while Brodney Pool makes a great CB and Sean Jones continues to come up with much needed turnovers. One interesting bit during the simulations, whoever had the better running game actually lost the game. The stats even show it that Willie Parker was a better than Droughns but turnovers seemed to play the key factor. Hopefully this simulation is correct because with the way that Droughns has been running, the Browns are going to have to rely on some turnovers from Shaky Ben.
I welcome you to send me any comments, feedback, or suggestions through The Bone Yard or through my email at
dmartin3@gmail.com.
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