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‘Madden’ just predicted its bloodiest week yet (Ryan Matthews, watch your back)

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madden 25 nfl week 7 picks ryan matthews
Image used with permission by copyright holder

This week and every week for the remainder of the NFL season, we will bring you weekly game predictions courtesy of EA Sports’ Madden NFL 25. Our methodology: Each week we will update the rosters using the game’s roster download feature to make sure the game lineups reflect the real teams, then we’ll simulate the week’s match-ups using the Franchise Owner mode. We’ll record the simulation’s scores, its best players of the week, and the injury reports, then post these results each Saturday. This makes the Thursday game something of a litmus test (Madden 25 is 4-2 so far this season on Thursday games) – you can use this info for fantasy or gambling purposes. Or you can ignore it entirely. What does Madden know about football, anyway?

Despite the doom-filled predictions of Madden last week for Peyton Manning, the Broncos QB still managed to throw for 295 yards and 2 TDs. By Manning’s standards this season, it was a disastrous performance. By the standards of, you know, a human being, it was a pretty good game.

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Madden 25 has a serious mean streak to it. After going 9 and 6 last week and incorrectly predicting a broken jaw for Manning, this week, the game has simulated its bloodiest week yet. First, Aaron Rodgers is done for the rest of the regular season. Sorry Pack. EJ Manuel will miss the next seven weeks, and six starting running backs are going down. As a side note, Madden apparently hates Ryan Matthews. Each week we reset the rosters for these predictions, and out of seven weeks, Madden has picked Matthews to be injured a shocking four times. And seriously injured at that. It has come up so many times that it seemed mean to report them all. Matthews must have angered the programmers at EA Sports at one point. Angered them badly.

Throughout the season Madden has been hit or miss on predictions, but it has been remarkably accurate in predicting trends few people saw coming. Picking the Broncos to have a great season wasn’t exactly going out on a limb, but it also had the Chiefs going 6-0. Considering that six wins is three times the total wins the Chiefs had all last season, predicting that turnaround has been impressive. But Madden giveth and Madden taketh away. According to its predictions, the Chiefs winning streak will end this week at the hands of the Houston Texans.

But take heart Chiefs fans, that pick goes against the conventional wisdom. The Chiefs are playing at home, and just last week the fans at Arrowhead set the Guinness World Record for loudest outdoor venue, coming in just 2.5 decibels less than a jet engine – it was so loud it physically shook the press box. The Texans on the other hand, are facing a four-game losing streak and may be without quarterback Matt Schaub, who left last week’s game with an ankle injury. And yet Arian Foster is beginning to look like his old self, coming off a game where he rushed for 141 yards and had 57 receiving yards, while Chiefs’ QB Alex Smith had an exceedingly mediocre game, throwing just 128 yards with no touchdowns and 3 sacks. We’ll find out if Madden is right this Sunday.

Week 7 League Leaders:

Quarterbacks

Eli Manning: 346 yards 2 TD 1 INT
Peyton Manning: 323 yards 3 TD 1 INT
Tony Romo: 316 yards 3 TD 2 INT
Drew Brews: 307 yards 2 TD
Tom Brady: 302 yards 2 TD

Wide Receivers

Victor Cruz: 143 yards 2 TD
Larry Fitzgerald: 121 yards 1 TD
Dez Bryant: 118 yards 1 TD
Wes Welker: 112 yards
Stevie Johnson: 108 yards 2 TD

Running Backs

LeSean McCoy: 163 yards 2 TD
Arian Foster: 142 yards 1 TD
Frank Gore: 129 yards 2 TD
Marshawn Lynch: 121 yards 1 TD
Jamal Charles: 107 yards 1 TD

Injuries

EJ Manuel (QB): 7 weeks Torn bicep
Ryan Matthews (HB): 6 weeks Upper arm fracture
DeMarco Murray (HB): 7 weeks Upper arm fracture
Maurice Jones-Drew (HB): 5 weeks Hamstring tear
Reggie Bush (HB): 4 weeks Dislocated ankle
Aaron Rodgers (QB): 12 weeks Foot stress fracture
Darren McFadden (HB): 4 weeks Broken collarbone
Darren Sproles (HB): 3 weeks Pulled groin

Week 7 Game Results

Thursday Night Game

Madden Result   Actual Result  
Seattle: 32 Arizona: 14 Seattle: 34 Arizona: 22

Sunday Games

Madden Result   Actual Result  
Tampa Bay: 37  Atlanta: 13 Tampa Bay: 31 Atlanta: 23
Washington: 31 Chicago: 10 Washington: 45 Chicago: 41
Philadelphia: 38 Dallas: 21 Philadelphia: 3 Dallas: 17
NY Jets: 37 New England: 27 NY Jets: 30 New England: 27
Miami: 14 Buffalo: 7 Miami: 21 Buffalo: 23
Carolina: 28 St. Louis: 0 Carolina: 30 St. Louis: 15
Detroit: 17 Cincinnati: 14 Detroit: 24 Cincinnati: 27
San Diego: 16 Jacksonville: 3 San Diego: 24 Jacksonville: 6
Houston: 27 Kansas City: 13 Houston: 16 Kansas City: 17
San Francisco: 31  Tennessee: 13 San Francisco: 31 Tennessee: 17
Cleveland: 45 Green Bay: 7 Cleveland: 13 Green Bay: 31
Pittsburgh: 31 Baltimore: 27 Pittsburgh: 19 Baltimore: 16
Denver: 24 Indianapolis: 17 Denver: 33 Indianapolis: 39

Monday Night Game

Madden Result   Actual Result  
Minnesota: 25 NY Giants: 29  Minnesota: 7 NY Giants: 23

Photo via NFL.com

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