If Madden 2013 is to be believed, Bears fans should start looking at plane tickets for New Orleans for late January. A simulation of the upcoming season had the Bears and the Patriots earning top seeds for the 2013 playoffs.
According to the game, the Patriots were led by Tom Brady and his 50 touchdowns and 5,374 passing yards. The Packers also made the playoffs via wild card. The two NFC North powers had identical 12-4 records, but the Bears had the edge in tiebreakers.
Jay Cutler threw for 4,215 yards and Matt Forte ran for 1,250. Brandon Marshall caught 1,185 yards and eight touchdowns.
Well, heck. Who needs a season? With those sorts of results, let's go straight to the playoffs.
But before you drop the cash on that non-refundable hotel room, let's look at what Madden predicted for last season. For the 2012 playoffs, Madden predicted the Packers and Steelers would earn the no. 1 seeds.
While they were dead-on with the Packers, the Steelers were the fifth seed. The game also predicted Michael Vick would be the MVP. Instead, Vick struggled with injury and inconsistency, and Aaron Rodgers edged out Drew Brees for the MVP.
So, maybe not time to celebrate just yet, but still fun to see the Bears included among the best in the league.
This month, Ward Room blogger Edward McClelland’s Young Mr. Obama: Chicago and the Making of a Black President will be available on Kindle for $2.99. Tracing Obama’s career in Chicago from his arrival as a community organizer to his election to the U.S. Senate, Young Mr. Obama tells the story of how a callow, presumptuous young man became a master politician, and of why only Chicago could have produced our first black president.
