Will Brinson at CBSsports.com does a yearly Madden simulation to see what the virtual football giant “predicts” will occur in the upcoming season. Last year, the simulation yielded an interesting result—that the Atlanta Falcons would make the Super Bowl. This year, his simulation came up with something even crazier: The Buffalo Bills will win the AFC East for the first time since 1995.
Yes, you read that correctly, Bills fans. The Madden simulator took pity on our souls and came out with Buffalo securing the division title and number one overall seed in the AFC by completing an 11-5 regular season. Of course, in very Billsian fashion, the team was obliterated by the Los Angeles Chargers in the divisional round, losing 38-14 at New Era field.
Brinson correctly notes that, with such a surprising result, most would assume that Tom Brady and Jimmy Garappolo were injured during the season; however, that was not the case. Brady threw for over 5,000 yards and 34 touchdowns while completing 75% of his passes. The second assumption would be that Buffalo’s quarterback, Tyrod Taylor, must have taken the next step towards becoming a “franchise quarterback” if Buffalo were to win that many games. Instead, Taylor’s stat line (2,069 passing yards, 16 touchdowns, 5 interceptions) was nearly matched by his backup, Nathan Peterman (2,051 yards, 15 touchdowns, 7 interceptions).
LeSean McCoy was the NFL’s leading rusher with 1,614 yards; he also finished 7th in MVP voting. Head Coach Sean McDermott came in second in Coach of the Year voting, losing out to Atlanta’s Dan Quinn. This seems pretty unjustified, as breaking a 17-year playoff drought would almost certainly net McDermott the top-billing for the award, especially if the Bills earned a bye in the process.
Now, if fantasy can become reality for the 2017 Buffalo Bills, we can all say that Will Brinson’s Xbox is the best around.