Bears vs Lions Week 1 Madden Simulation Prediction

Madden expert Sam has been going crazy on Madden simulations this week.  He’s got the full slate of Week 1 games simulated and his predictions are here.  After a preseason where he went 2-2 in correctly predicting the outcomes of the games, Sam is ready for the regular season.

The Lions come to Soldier Field having lost 20 consecutive on the road and 2 games in the last 2 years, so this one seems like it should be a breeze for the Bears.  But with this Bears team, nothing is as easy as it seems.

In the first quarter, Jay Cutler picks up where he left off last season, throwing a pick in the Red Zone:

The Lions take advantage and Stafford hits Bryant Johnson for a19 yard TD strike:

Lions grab First Quarter 7-0 lead, but fear not Bears fans, it gets better.  The Bears come back with a pair of Johnny Knox TD’s in the second quarter:

First a 34-yarder

Followed with a 46-yarder

Lions add a Jason Hansen 43 yard FG to close the margin to 14-10 Bears at the half.

In the second half, the Bears offense still can’t seem to get firing on all cylinders.  A chip shot 21-yard field goal by the Lions closes the gap to a 14-13 game at the end the third quarter.  In the fourth quarter, the Bears open the lead back up on a 1-yard Cutler to Hester TD pass:

Hester doesn’t exactly seem like the ideal target for a fade route, but we’ll take it as the Bears open up a 21-13 lead.!  The Lions add another Jason Hansen FG to make it 21-16, but that’s as close as they can get as the Bears win 21-16.  Here’s the scoring summary and game stats:

Bears 21 Lions 16

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter

(DET) B.Johnson 19yd rec from M. Stafford (J.Hanson)

2nd Quarter

(CHI) J.Knox 34yd rec from J.Cutler (R.Gould)
(CHI) J.Knox 46yd rec from J.Cutler (R.Gould)
(DET) J.Hanson 43yd FG

3rd Quarter

(DET) J.Hanson 21yd FG

4th Quarter

(CHI) D.Hester 1 yd rec from J.Cutler
(DET) J.Hanson 25yd FG

Stats