Not only does Electronic Arts' "Madden" series own the football video game market (thanks to lack of competition), but it also stands atop the realm of accurate Super Bowl predictions.
Prior to Sunday's matchup between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, the "Madden" simulation that EA runs before every championship game had correctly picked eight of the last 11 Super Bowl winners.
It's accuracy reached a new level with Super Bowl XLIX, according to Yahoo! Tech.
The simulation, which took place last week, had the Patriots winning the game, 28-24. That's right, it hit the nail right on the head, correctly picking the exact score of a Super Bowl for the first time since it started predicting the games. The accuracy only gets more uncanny from there.
The prediction had New England scoring first, mounting a dramatic, late-game comeback and quarterback Tom Brady winning MVP honors. The simulation even had Julian Edelman on the receiving end of the game-winning touchdown in the final frame.
Going even further, the simulation almost had Brady and Edelman's stats down to the exact yard.
Brady finished with 328 passing yards and four scores. "Madden" correctly had the quarterback throwing four touchdown and had him finishing with 335 yards - only seven off. For Edelman, the video game had him finishing with eight catches for 106 yards. In reality, the receiver caught nine passes for 109 yards.
The accuracies stop there, though. Not even a machine could have predicted offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and head coach Pete Carroll's bonehead decision to allow Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson to throw the ball in the middle of the field on the goal line instead of handing the ball off to Marshawn Lynch, arguably the best running back in all of football.
