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‘Madden’ shows some heart, predicts the Texans to rally and the Dolphins to pay

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madden 25 nfl week 10 picks texans football
Can second year quarterback Case Keenum rally the Texans to a win following coach Gary Kubiak's stroke? 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 6-3 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?

Madden has proven to be a cruel, heartless digital football god. Whether it is repeatedly, almost pathologically predicting the same players to be injured over and over, or if it just refuses to give plucky underdogs like the Jets or Browns a shot at the upset, Madden can be harsh.

This week, however, seems to be an exception. After coming off its worst week yet only sub-.500 performance at 6-7, you’d be forgiven for expecting Madden to play it safe. The predictions are all based on hard, cold numbers, so it is typically a matter of putting all the pieces in the right place at the right level, and then running the probabilities over and over.  The game doesn’t take into account things like momentum or heart.  But sometimes it can surprise you. 

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The Houston Texans began the season with big expectations. They were considered among the 10 best teams in the NFL, coming off back-to-back years where they were legitimate Super Bowl contenders. Last year they started the season 11-1, and while losses at a few key positions in the off season definitely hurt, few expected them to start out a disappointing 2-6. Injuries certainly played a part; star running back and former-fantasy football god Arian Foster hasn’t been 100-percent all season. The Texans other running back Ben Tate is playing with multiple broken ribs. Quarterback Matt Schaub was carted off the field to the sound of hometown fans booing him. Last week was perhaps the most shocking injury though, as Houston coach Gary Kubiak suffered a mini-stroke during a game against the Colts.

On paper, the Texans should lose this week to the 4-4 Arizona Cardinals, who will have Pro Bowl receiver Larry Fitzgerald at (or at least near) 100-percent for the first time all season. Playing at home, the Cardinals should have no problem beating the Texans’ interim coach Wade Phillips and former back up QB Case Keenum. On paper. According to Madden though, the Texans won’t just win, they will demolish the Cardinals by a staggering 32 points. For a computer simulation, it is shocking, but for the real world, it actually makes sense. 

Athletes tend to rally when tragedy strikes. Kubiak has been the head coach in Houston since 2006. He is the heart and soul of that team, and if ever there were a time for the team to come together it would be now. After being named as the starter over Schaub, Keenum is settling into the role as a starting QB, and the former University of Houston QB has the support of the team and the community. In two games he has thrown 621 yards and 4 TDs with no interceptions, bringing some optimism back to the Texans.  Kubiak is expected back next week, but don’t be surprised to see the Texans put up their finest performance this season in support of their coach and new QB.

And Madden’s gentle touch doesn’t end there. The winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers face off against the 4-4 Miami Dolphins on Monday night. Even though the game is in Tampa Bay, the Dolphins should be the clear favorites – and yet Madden has the Bucs handily winning by two touchdowns. On paper, the Dolphins are the better team. But following the bullying allegations that resulted in Jonathan Martin leaving the team and Richie Incognito being indefinitely suspended, plus revelations that the Dolphins staff encouraged tougher treatment of Martin, the team is in disarray. A blowout loss isn’t just possible, it may be likely.  

Week 10 League Leaders:

Quarterbacks

Eli Manning: 402 yards 3 TD 2 INT
Drew Brees: 361 yards 2 TD 1 INT
Russell Wilson: 347 yards 2 TD 49 yards rushing 1 TD
Andrew Luck: 307 yards 1 TD 93 yards rushing 1 TD
Case Keenum: 303 yards 2 TD 1 INT

Wide Receivers

Wes Welker: 148 yards 1 TD
Victor Cruz: 134 yards 1 TD
Larry Fitzgerald: 132 yards 1 TD
AJ Green: 126 yards 1 TD
Marques Colston: 119 yards 2 TD

Running Backs

Ben Tate: 176 yards 2 TD
Frank Gore: 165 yards 3 TD
Adrian Peterson: 154 yards 1 TD
Alfred Morris: 128 yards 2 TD
Ray Rice: 127 yards 1 TD

Injuries

Jordy Nelson (WR): 5 weeks Foot fracture
Joe Flacco (QB): 2 weeks Broken thumb
LeSean McCoy (RB):1 week Dislocated elbow
CJ Spiller (RB): 3 weeks Shoulder tear

Week 9 Game Results

Thursday Night Game

Madden Result   Actual Result  
Washington: 30 Minnesota: 17 Washington: 27 Minnesota: 34

Sunday Games

Madden Result   Actual Result  
Philadelphia: 25 Green Bay: 14 Philadelphia: 27 Green Bay: 13
Tennessee: 24 Jacksonville: 7 Tennessee: 27 Jacksonville: 29
Pittsburgh: 31 Buffalo: 10 Pittsburgh: 23 Buffalo: 10
NY Giants: 34 Oakland: 28 NY Giants: 24 Oakland: 20
Indianapolis: 24 St. Louis: 3 Indianapolis: 8 St. Louis: 38
Seattle: 38 Atlanta: 28 Seattle: 33 Atlanta: 10
Baltimore: 19 Cincinnati: 17 Baltimore: 20 Cincinnati: 17
Chicago: 23 Detroit: 10 Chicago: 19 Detroit: 21
San Francisco: 31 Carolina: 10 San Francisco: 9 Carolina: 10
Houston: 52 Arizona: 20 Houston: 24 Arizona: 27
San Diego: 21 Denver: 13 San Diego: 20 Denver: 28
New Orleans: 34 Dallas: 24 New Orleans: 49 Dallas: 17

Monday Night Game

Madden Result   Actual Result  
Tampa Bay: 37 Miami: 13 Tampa Bay: 22 Miami: 19

Editors’ Recommendations

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Ryan Fleming
Ryan Fleming
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ryan Fleming is the Gaming and Cinema Editor for Digital Trends. He joined the DT staff in 2009 after spending time covering…
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While EA's Madden football games often top sales charts every year, those sales haven't reflected quality. The critical consensus on the series has been on the decline in recent years, and Madden NFL 22 was riddled with bugs that hampered the experience. Thankfully, the developers are aware of Madden's flaws and trying to improve its signature gameplay with Madden NFL 23.
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Before the team could make Madden NFL 23's gameplay better, they had to fix what was broken already. The past few Madden titles have all been riddled with bugs, and the situation got worse than ever with Madden NFL 22. The annual release schedule and pandemic had finally caught up to EA Tiburon's game quality. McHardy outlined the steps the developers are taking to ensure it (hopefully) doesn't happen again.
"We looked at how we developed the game and scoured the internet, and actually got our QA department to, within our dev tools, log every complaint that we could find to track them," McHardy explains. "Where possible, we'd go in and analyze that to figure out what the actual issue was that was causing someone to complain. If there was a video, we put it in our database, and if it was a general complaint about an area of our game, we'd gather them all together and figure out what all the issues are."
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"In the way that we plan new features every year, we were also planning fixes for all of those bugs to make sure that we fixed them and also have time left to catch new ones we are creating," he said. "Polish was a big thing for us on the team this year, so while there are still some bugs because we aren't finished, we feel like the game is already in a better position this year than it was at this time last year. We are hyperfocused on making the most polished game that we can."
We won't know for sure whether or not this will all really pan out until the game is in our hands this August, but it seems like EA knows where it messed up and wants to do better.
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"I don't even think there were discussions as everybody just arrived at the fact that he's going back on the cover because we have to honor him in the best way we possibly can," McHardy said. "It's been so long since he was on the cover of the game, but the game has got his name on it every single year, so we wanted to do everything we could to honor the legend like he is, and it was a no-brainer to put him on the cover." 
Madden is not just being honored on the cover. The first thing players will experience when booting up Madden NFL 23 is a fictional game where two versions of Madden are facing off against each other with all-star teams of athletes in the 1970s Oakland Coliseum. This game will even include real voice clips from Madden, remastered just for this experience. McHardy also believes Madden's influence can be felt outside of that opening game because his death encouraged the development team to work harder. 
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