Each year, during the week leading up to the Super Bowl, the folks at Electronic Arts run a simulation of the big game. They run it on that year’s edition of Madden NFL by pitting both teams against one another in an AI-controlled simulation of the game. They just ran the sim for Super Bowl 52, pitting the Philadelphia Eagles against the New England Patriots.
This year, the all-knowing game predicts the Patriots will win 24-20 in a nail-biting last-minute victory. That result lines up with the big bookmakers in Las Vegas, which make New England a 4- to 4.5-point favorite over Philadelphia.
Here are the highlights from the simulation:
Why would anyone care which team a video game thinks will win the Super Bowl? Because in the 14 years EA has been doing this publicity stunt, it’s been surprisingly accurate, correctly predicting the winner 10 times. In 2015, it even got the final scores exactly right.
While that doesn’t mean the Eagles are destined for defeat this year, Madden’s track record speaks for itself. Here’s a full rundown of each previous year’s prediction and result.
Super Bowl 51 – Right
- Madden: Patriots 27, Falcons 24
- Actual score: Patriots 34, Falcons 28
Super Bowl 50 – Wrong
- Madden: Panthers 24, Broncos 20
- Actual score: Panthers 10, Broncos 24
Super Bowl 49 – Right
- Madden: Patriots 28, Seahawks 24
- Actual score: Patriots 28, Seahawks 24
Super Bowl 48 – Wrong
- Madden: Broncos 31, Seahawks 28
- Actual score: Broncos 8, Seahawks 43
Super Bowl 47 – Right
- Madden: Ravens 27, 49ers 24
- Actual score: Ravens 34, 49ers 31
Super Bowl 46 — Right
- Madden: Giants 27, Patriots 24
- Actual score: Giants, 21, Patriots, 17
Super Bowl 45 – Wrong
- Madden: Steelers 24, Packers 20
- Actual score: Steelers 25, Packers 31
Super Bowl 44 – Right
- Madden: Saints 35, Colts 31
- Actual score: Saints 31, Colts 17
Super Bowl 43 – Right
- Madden: Steelers 28, Cardinals 24
- Actual score: Steelers 27, Cardinals 23
Super Bowl 42 – Wrong
- Madden: Patriots 38, Giants 30
- Actual score: Patriots 14, Giants 17
Super Bowl 41 – Right
- Madden: Colts 38, Bears 27
- Actual score: Colts 29, Bears 17
Super Bowl 40 – Right
- Madden: Steelers 24, Seahawks 19
- Actual score: Steelers 21, Seahawks 10
Super Bowl 39 – Right
- Madden: Patriots 47, Eagles 31
- Actual score: Patriots 24, Eagles 21
Super Bowl 38 – Right
- Madden: Patriots 23, Panthers 20
- Actual score: Patriots 32, Panthers 29
To see just how prescient Madden NFL 18 is this year, tune into Super Bowl 52 at 6:30pm Eastern this Sunday, Feb. 4. Even if you don’t care about the outcome of the game, you can still watch it for the commercials.