EA releases official Madden 22 Super Bowl LVI prediction cover image

EA releases official Madden 22 Super Bowl LVI prediction

The Madden franchise attempts to predict the Super Bowl result to varying success every year. This year’s prediction was just released.

Madden 22 is the NFL’s premier game franchise, offering the best (and currently only) officially in-game representation of NFL action. That’s why for the past 18 years, the game has run a simulation to try and pick the winner of the Super Bowl LVI, the NFL’s championship game. 

And this year’s prediction just got released. In a fantastic video, Super Bowl champion Marshawn Lynch gives fans the breakdown of the simulation. Cast as a fortune teller set up in a tent, Beast Mode cryptically details the big plays and scorers in the Madden Bowl.

Madden’s Super Bowl LVI prediction

The official prediction? Cincinnati Bengals win 24 - 21 over the LA Rams. Of course, that’s terrible news for Rams fans and anyone rooting for their veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford. Finally liberated from the Detroit Lions after over a decade of disappointment, Superbowl LVI represents perhaps the 12-year starter’s last chance of winning.

But it’s great news for the city of Cleveland. Their quarterback Joe Burrow is something of a hometown hero in Ohio. Playing his high-school ball in Athens before heading to Ohio State, Burrows finished his career at LSU as a Heisman winner and a National Champion. 

The Madden simulation predicts great things for Joe Burrow (Image via Sky Sports)
The Madden simulation predicts great things for Joe Burrow (Image via Sky Sports)

Winning Super Bowl LVI would see him join a prestigious group of Joes who have won both a National Championship and a Super Bowl. Joe Namath and Joe Montana are the only other QB’s able to claim this distinction. 

How accurate is the Madden prediction?

In 18 years, the Madden Super Bowl prediction has been right 11 times, meaning it’s right most of the time. It also perfectly predicted Super Bowl 49, when the Patriots beat the Seahawks 28 - 24.

But over the past few years, the game has seemingly lost its mojo. Until 2019, the game was 70% accurate. In the past four years, it’s accuracy has dropped by 10%. It predicted just one out of the past four Super Bowl winners correctly. 

And beyond that, when it’s wrong, it’s really wrong. For Super Bowl 53, the game bet against the Patriots, predicting the Rams to win 30 - 27. The actual score line: Patriots 13, Rams 3. Whether this is on the game (a defensive performance like Super Bowl 53 would be near impossible to replicate in Madden), or just bad luck is a question we can’t answer.

But what we can speculate on is whether this is a good prediction? In our opinion, it’s solid. The Madden prediction is due a victory, and most expert predictions put the score at a similar level. Most other predictions have the Rams just slightly ahead. So it’s a slightly risky choice for the game, but one that could help repair the reputation of Madden’s Super Bowl predictive powers.