Since 2004, Electronic Arts has used its Madden NFL series of sports sims to play out each year’s Super Bowl match-up, and the results of this year’s prediction have just been announced: According to EA, the winner of Super Bowl 49 will be the Philadelphia Eagles. Madden 25 says the team will defeat the Kansas City Chiefs in a close 23-21 match.
However, before you go placing your bets on this outcome, keep in mind that Madden’s track record of predicting the Super Bowl winner isn’t great. In fact, it’s not much better than a coin flip. Well, there was that one time when EA perfectly predicted not just the winner but the exact score. Freaky. That’s only happened once though, so I’m not expecting Sunday’s big game on February 9 to end 23-21.
If you’re curious, here’s every Madden prediction, along with the actual winner, since EA started doing this in 2004.
Super Bowl 58 – Correct!
Madden: Chiefs 30, Giants 28
Actual score: Chiefs 25, Giants 22
Super Bowl 57 – Wrong!
Madden: Eagles 31, Chiefs 17
Actual score: Chiefs 38, Eagles 35
Super Bowl 56 – Wrong!
Madden: Bengals 24, Rams 21
Actual score: Rams 23, Bengals 20
Super Bowl 55 – Wrong!
Madden: Chiefs 37, Buccaneers 27
Actual score: Buccaneers 31, Chiefs 9
Super Bowl 54 – Correct!
Madden: Chiefs 35, 49ers 31
Actual score: Chiefs 31, 49ers 20
Super Bowl 53 – Wrong!
Madden: Rams 30, Patriots 27
Actual score: Patriots 13, Rams 3
Super Bowl 52 – Wrong!
Madden: Patriots 24, Eagles 20
Actual score: Patriots 34, Eagles 28
Super Bowl 51 – Correct!
Madden: Patriots 27, Falcons 24
Actual score: Patriots 34, Falcons 28
Super Bowl 50 – Wrong!
Madden: Panthers 24, Broncos 20
Actual score: Broncos 24, Panthers 10
Super Bowl 49 – Perfect! (Weird, huh?)
Madden: Patriots 28, Seahawks 24
Actual score: Patriots 28, Seahawks 24
Super Bowl 48 – Wrong!
Madden: Broncos 31, Seahawks 28
Actual score: Seahawks 43, Broncos 8
Super Bowl 47 – Correct!
Madden: Ravens 27, 49ers 24
Actual score: Ravens 34, 49ers 31
Super Bowl 46 – Correct!
Madden: Giants 27, Patriots 24
Actual score: Giants 21, Patriots 17
Super Bowl 45 – Wrong!
Madden: Steelers 24, Packers 20
Actual score: Packers 31, Steelers 25
Super Bowl 44 – Correct!
Madden: Saints 35, Colts 31
Actual score: Saints 31, Colts 17
Super Bowl 43 – Correct!
Madden: Steelers 28, Cardinals 24
Actual score: Steelers 27, Cardinals 23
Super Bowl 42 – Wrong!
Madden: Patriots 38, Giants 30
Actual score: Giants 17, Patriots 14
Super Bowl 41 – Correct!
Madden: Colts 38, Bears 27
Actual score: Colts 29, Bears 17
Super Bowl 40 – Correct!
Madden: Steelers 24, Seahawks 19
Actual score: Steelers 21, Seahawks 10
Super Bowl 39 – Correct!
Madden: Patriots 47, Eagles 31
Actual score: Patriots 24, Eagles 21
Super Bowl 38 – Correct!
Madden: Patriots 23, Panthers 20
Actual score: Patriots 32, Panthers 29