Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow can light up one more victory cigar — at least if the virtual prediction of Sunday’s Super Bowl ends up coming true.

In the official Madden ’22 simulation of Super Bowl LVI, the Bengals knock off the Los Angeles Rams, 24-21, at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles and it is Burrow, the second-year quarterback out of LSU, who becomes the game’s Most Valuable Player.

Burrow, who completed 32 of 44 passes for 317 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, led Cincinnati down the field to set up kicker Evan McPherson for a 49-yard game-winning field goal as time expired to give Cincinnati the win.

Well the nerds over at EA have decided the Bengals won the Super Bowl. Great season everybody. That’s a wrap!

But seriously let’s take a look at the simulations pick history…

Super Bowl 54	KC 35, SF 31	KC 31, SF 20	Right!
Super Bowl 53	LA 30, NE 27	NE 13, LA 3	Wrong!
Super Bowl 52	NE 24, PHI 20	PHI 41, NE 33	Wrong!
Super Bowl 51	NE 27, ATL 24	NE 34, ATL 28	Right!
Super Bowl 50	CAR 24, DEN 20	DEN 24, CAR 10	Wrong!
Super Bowl 49	NE 28, SEA 24	NE 28, SEA 24	Spooky Good!
Super Bowl 48	DEN 31, SEA 28	SEA 43, DEN 8	Wrong!
Super Bowl 47	BAL 27, SF 24	BAL 34, SF 31	Right!
Super Bowl 46	NYG 27, NE 24	NYG 21, NE 17	Right!

It is so interesting to see these simulations in a grid like the one above. I was fully ready to get on here and absolute rip the simulations apart for being no real reading or barometer for what will be happening in the Super Bowl, but I got to say, looking at these numbers laid out like this, this thing is actually kind of amazing!

If this simulation were just a mere degenerate gambler, he would be in the black for sure!

Look at the years it was right, It got within a close margin for the actual scores on several occasions. And then there is Super Bowl 49! The simulation predicted New England Patriots 28, Seattle Seahawks 24. I’ll be damned if that wasn’t the score. That being said, 28 to 24 is the one of the more “football score” games (you know games where the numbers are typical integers of 7 and 3). So, not really taking any risks. Had it hit on Super Bowl 54’s prediction of 35 to 31, a far less common “football score” that would have been impressive.

As for 24 to 21 Cincinnati Bengals over Los Angeles Rams, I’m here for it. Not the most risky scoring bet. Honestly 24 to 21 with either team pulling out the win sounds fairly logical and that even sounds like the logical score. But, we aren’t here for logic! We are here for miraculous drives, unlikely heroes, and moments that make you think “Man there was just no predicting that”. So with that I’ve come all the way back around. BOO these nerds.

Also,

side tangent.

EA Sports should be ashamed for the crimes they’ve committed against the public and the American people. By having a monopoly on NFL simulation games, they have stifled game mechanic development and graphic development as well! Their lack of competition in the market is a detriment to the product and gaming culture as a whole. They’ve pumped out the same game, on the same engine since like 2016. It has to stop. Same could be said for NBA 2K22… Complacent. Every last one of them…

-Burke