Cardinals vs. Raiders: Carson Palmer blows out Oakland defense in Madden Simulation

Despite being plagued with injury to start the season, the Cardinals have continued to fight for every victory. In this week's matchup, they face an Oakland team with a new coach and a fired up Derek Carr.

So how does Madden 15 think the Cardinals will do in this week's matchup? All-Pro, 8-minute quarters, 10-second accelerated clock were the setting we used for this week.

Madden in 3-2 so far in deciding the outcomes of these games and we hope this one is correct as well.

Finals Score: 23-16 Cardinals

The game was much closer than even such a close score might suggest. The Cardinals barely snatched up the lead at halftime, punching in a touchdown to go 20-13.

However, Palmer's arm is looking a lot better according to Madden. By a lot better we mean 39 completions on 51 attempts, 424 yards, no interceptions, and a touchdown better. Carr did not perform at the level he needed to beat the Cardinals as he only threw for 272 yards on 44 attempts with no touchdowns.

With a quarterback at his best you get receivers at their best. Michael Floyd led the Cards in receptions (14) and yards (181). In a close second was Larry Fitzgerald with 11 receptions for 132 yards. Larry also caught the Cardinals solo-passing touchdown. John Brown and Ted Ginn each had 7 catches for 34 and 82 yards respectively.

The leading receiver for the Raiders was James Jones with 7 catches for 88 yards. David Ausberry also had 7 catches but only for 36 yards. Andre Holmes had 6 for 87 yards. Maurice Jones-Drew had 6 catches for 57 yards.

Andre Ellington was not a huge presence in this game as he has been in past Cardinal victories with only 53 yards on 24 attempts but scored a touchdown late in the game (letting fantasy owners breathe a sigh of relief). Stepfan Taylor got 6 touches for 20 yards. Similarly Jones-Drew had only 46 yards on 16 attempts and his team's lone touchdown. Darren Mcfadden had 3 carries for 7 yards.

However, The Raiders did show up the Cardinals in one category: defense. Linebacker Khalil Mack had 11 solo tackles and a sack. Charles Woodson and Carlos Rogers each had 10 solo tackles while Chimdi Chekwa and Jamar Chaney each had 8.

Larry Foote led the Cards in tackles with 8 and 1 sack. Tony Jefferson came in second with 7. Sam Acho had 6 but also recorded the second sack on Derek Carr.

NFC Special teams player of the week, Chandler Catanzaro was a perfect 3-3 from 23, 33, and 36 as was the Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski was also 3-3 from 46, 45, and 42. Cardinals punted 5 times while the Raiders punted 7 times. Kick Returns and punt returns were not a factor in the game.

Let's hope that the Cardinals passing game is as good as Madden made it out to be. We place our full confidence in our Cards. 5-1  sounds pretty good to us