Cardinals vs. Redskins: Arizona outlasts Washington in Madden simulation

Revenge of the Birds is back, bringing to you the NFL season's week 6 Madden Simulation. Thus far Madden is 2-2 in predicting the outcomes of the Cardinals games. I updated the roster on Friday to ensure all injuries were in place.

All-Pro, 8-minute quarters, 10-second accelerated clock, and Logan Thomas.

The Result: Cardinals 36, Redskins 31

I was surprised to see such a close matchup in what is predicted to be sure Cardinals win. However, I believe Madden knows the Cardinals may struggle adjusting to their new quarterback just as much as he will need to adjust to the rest of the team.

Logan Thomas, the rookie out of Virginia Tech, did not do badly. He actually played great producing numbers much higher than Redskins' quarterback Kirk Cousins.

With his 390 passing yards, 73% completion percentage, and 3 touchdowns as opposed to Cousins' 240 yards, 68% completion rate, and 1 touchdown, Thomas put on the better performance. However, Thomas' 2 interceptions, one in the red zone, cost his team a time of possession deficit and made the game a fight to the finish since Cousins' threw one interception at the start of the game.

Larry Fitzgerald led his team in yards with 147, receptions with 10, and points with two touchdowns. Have a day, Larry Fitzgerald!  Michael Floyd (74 yards), Ted Ginn Jr. (58 yards), John Carlson (25 yards), and Andre Ellington (25 yards) each had 5 receptions.

Similarly the Redskins DeSean Jackson carried his team with 10 receptions for 74 yards and a touchdown. Niles Paul game in a close second with five receptions for 65 yards. Andre Roberts racked up 41 yards on 4 receptions, Santana Moss and Roy Helu Jr. both had three catches foe 19 yards. Alfred Morris had four catches for 18 yards. Pierre Garcon was just as non-existent as he was on Monday Night against the Seahawks with one catch for 9 yards.

Andre Ellington, who has been the Cardinals biggest weapon in the recent past, ran for 84 yards and one touchdown on 23 attempts. Stepfan Taylor only got nine touches for two yards.  However, Redskins' Alfred Morris also had 23 attempts but produced 95 yards and two touchdowns. His counterpart, Roy Helu Jr., had five attempts for 17 yards and a score.

So the Redskins unexpectedly dominated the ground game while the Cardinals dominated the air game. So the last question is, who won the defensive side?

Both teams allowed two sacks, Sam Acho recording both for the Cardinals while Keenan Robinson and Brian Orakpo had one a piece for the Redskins. Both players also led the Redskins in tackles with nine solo tackles and two for losses each. Larry Foote and Tony Jefferson led the Cards in tackles with nine apiece.

Ryan Clark, the Redskins free safety picked off Thomas twice. Tyrann Mathieu picked off Cousins once and returned the ball 40 yards to set up for a Cardinal touchdown.

Pretty even on the defensive side. Now we go to the kickers.

Both kickers, Cardinals Chandler Catanzaro and Redskins Kai Forbath, were perfect hitting three and one field goals respectively. Catanzaro hit from 46, 48, and 50 while Forbath hit from 42.

Both punt and kick returns did not occur. Cardinals stopped the Redskins on both of the fourth down attempts near the end of the game. Redskins held onto a four-minute time of possession advantage while the Cardinals had 4 more first downs than the Redskins.

It was a surprisingly evenly matched game in this simulation. As always, we place our full confidence in our Cardinals but we can only hope that Logan Thomas plays the way he did in this simulation and not the way he did in the second half versus the Broncos.