Madden is back and hopefully with some better predictions this time around. The Cardinals came away with a win last week that was much needed to boost their morale. This week's matchup will be interesting as Josh McCown is facing his former team. For this simulation, I used 8-minute quarters, all-pro, and 10-second accelerated clock.
The Final Score: 23-9 Cardinals
The Cardinals defense really showed up in this game as they did against Baltimore forcing 3 turnovers - turning one of them into a touchdown.
Carson Palmer had 182 passing yards - not as many as we are used to. However, the Cardinals made a change from their past games and decided to put the ball on the ground much more. Carson went 19-35 with one touchdown. Josh McCown, on the other hand, had 220 yards completing 23 of his 51 pass attempts and threw 3 interceptions - one being a pick-six caught and returned by Rashad Johnson.
Chris Johnson was the horsepower for the Cardinals on the ground. He had 100 yards on 27 rushes. David Johnson received the other 4 carries for 14 yards. Isaiah Crowell led the Browns with 84 yards rushing on his 30 carries. Terrance West only had 3 touches for 10 yards as the Browns #2 man.
The Browns wide receivers had a great game as Taylor Gabriel led the Browns with 87 yards on 9 receptions. Next was Andrew Hawkins with 8 grabs for 76 yards. Dwayne Bowe had 6 grabs for 57 yards. For the Cards, Michael Floyd continued his comeback as he led the team in yards with 103 on 10 receptions. Larry Fitzgerald was next with 6 receptions for 37 yards. John Brown had four grabs for 42 yards and the Cards lone offensive touchdown.
The Cards had a spectacular game on the defensive side of the ball. Tony Jefferson had 12 solo tackles and one pass deflection. Tyrann Mathieu had 9 solo tackles, one interception, and one pass deflection. Calais Campbell had both of the sacks on Josh McCown (both on 3rd down I might add). Rashad Johnson had the 2nd interception that he returned for a touchdown, and Patrick Peterson had the final pick to close the game. However, the Cardinals did a not so great job protecting Palmer has he was sacked 4 times - 2 a piece by John Hughes and Billy Winn. Karlos Dansby led the Browns in performance by far with 11 solo tackles and 3 pass deflections.
Chandler Catanzaro was perfect with 3 field goals from 23, 37, and 42 and he made both of his extra points this game. Travis Coons was perfect for the Browns as well hitting 3 from 35, 38, and 47 and was the only member of the Browns to put points on the board in this matchup.
Madden has not been doing too well in predicting the outcomes of the games thus far, but we hope that maybe this time will be a little different, especially coming off of the win against the Ravens.