NFL Week 1 predictions: Who does Madden 15 say will win in Cardinals vs. Chargers?

Here on Revenge of the Birds, we have a yearly segment, in which we simulate the Cardinals games on Madden and see what the outcome may be. This year is no different.

I had to wait until Friday before I could update my rosters. With it, both Glenn Carson and Darren Fells were added to the teams roster.

In the simulation, I boosted the difficulty to All-Pro, 15 minute quarters with no excel clock. Here is the outcome:

20-17 San Diego

The two quarterbacks were bad throwing the ball. Palmer threw for 280 yards, a touchdown, but threw four interceptions. Classic Palmer right? Philip Rivers was slightly better, throwing for 201 yards with two touchdowns but two interceptions. Palmer completed only 59% of his passes 25-42, where Rivers went 30-42 and a 71 completion percentage.

On the ground, the team ran for 93 total yards. Ellington carried the ball 20 times for 89 yards and a touchdown, with Palmer and Floyd each carrying the ball once for two yards. It was interesting to see that neither Jonathan Dwyer or Stepfan Taylor carried the rock.

On the flip side, the Cardinals rush defense was stout. On 26 carries by the Chargers backfield, the front seven held them to 57 total yards.

The Cardinals receivers each put up solid numbers. Larry Fitzgerald was the teams leading receiver, with 91 yards and a touchdown. John Brown lead the team in receptions, with eight, but only picked up 49 yards. Michael Floyd caught six passes for 69 yards, Jaron Brown caught two for 46 yards, and John Carlson and Andre Ellington caught one pass each, for 13 and 12 yards respectively.

Malcolm Floyd lead the Chargers with eight receptions for 68 yards while Eddie Royal caught eight passes for 31 yards. Keenan Allen, last years rookie sensation, caught six passes for 54 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The Cardinals offensive line allowed only two sacks, but both sacks came from our most talented players in Bobby Massie and Jared Veldheer.

Both kickers were perfect. Chandler Catanzaro was 1/1 from 43 yards, while Nick Novak went 2/2, both inside the two yard line.

The Cardinals offense out gained the Chargers 373 yards to 258.

Time of possession was nearly split down the middle, with the Chargers having the ball a mere 30 seconds more than the Cardinals.

Special Teams had no effect on the game. Both teams returned punts for less than 15 yards, while the Chargers were the only team to return a kick, with two going for 59 yards.

Hopefully the outcome is different from the Madden Simulation.We shall see come Monday night!