Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
A look at the best of the best in high school esports gaming for each state/region as the season moves toward April.
As the 2023 high school esports season moves along, here are the “Madden NFL 23” power rankings for each region/state across North America, per PlayVS.
EA’s football simulation has got the Super Bowl outcome wrong seven times in the past 10 years.
By now, you likely know that the Kanas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 at Super Bowl 57 on Sunday — an outcome that Electronic Arts (EA) didn’t see coming.
According to EA’s official Madden prediction, the Philadelphia Eagles were supposed to clinch a 31-17 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs – which (obviously) didn’t happen. Not only that, but Madden NFL 23‘s simulation also unsuccessfully called Pat Mahomes having a mediocre performance when in reality, he was the Super Bowl 2023 MVP.
When you look at the historical data, this marks the third year in a row that Madden’s prediction was dead wrong. For example, before Super Bowl 56, the simulation thought the Cincinnati Bengals would win 24-21 over the Los Angeles Rams, but that wasn’t the case. The Rams ended up winning 23-20 over the Bengals.
Worse yet, Madden’s prediction has been wrong seven times out of the last 10 years, only getting the outcome (sort of) correct for Super Bowl 54, Super Bowl 51, and Super Bowl 47.
In fairness, technology can only take you so far when predicting the future. Our own Madden NFL 23 simulation had the Chiefs winning 57 of 100 simulated games, so we’re taking this as a win.
Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.
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We ran 100 Madden 23 Super Bowl game simulations to see which team had the greatest chance of winning. Here’s what happened
Super Bowl 57 is rushing up fast, and that means it’s time to predict a winner. EA Sports already did their annual prediction run, but we’ve got another trick up our sleeves. Madden 23 has a useful simulator that allows you to simulate 100 games between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles with their proper quarterbacks and dozens of many possibilities for how the game might play out. Some were close, while others were complete blowouts, but from the mass of data, you can piece together an idea of what may happen.
The Chiefs won 57 of the 100 simulated games, leaving the Eagles with just 43. If you rely on this outcome alone, Madden says the Chiefs have a clear advantage, and Patrick Mahomes plays a significant role in that lead. The most notable prediction for Mahomes is he’ll throw at least one touchdown pass and have at least 200 passing yards, if not more. The outlier was game 13, where Mahomes threw for 196 yards, but on the upside, he was responsible for three touchdowns.
27 of the Chiefs’ 57 wins saw Kansas City take home the gold, so to speak, with a lead of 10 or more points. Patrick Mahomes’ best game was number 18, where he threw a staggering 575 yards with four touchdown passes. However, that was also one of the games where the Chiefs barely scraped by with a win, as the final score was 48-45.
Only four games went into overtime, which is probably a good probability when predicting the Super Bowl outcome, and the Chiefs won all of them.
Out of those Eagles’ 43 wins, they won 14 of those them by 10 or more points. The Eagles have a better percentage for winning games by 10 or points compared to the Chiefs, despite losing more games in total. The stats for Jalen Hurts aren’t all that eye-popping, so it seems pretty evident that Madden thinks that, unlike Mahomes, Hurts won’t be the biggest deciding factor. Instead, it looks like the Eagles’ defense will play a decisive role.
Of course, Madden 23 simulations are just that, simulations. Even with 100 or more games, you can never really predict what might happen – what strokes of luck or quirks of fate might take the game in a completely unexpected direction come Super Bowl Sunday. One thing worth keeping in mind with these simulations is that since 2004, Madden’s Super Bowl predictions are 11-19. Madden has predicted the actual score and winner only once, in Super Bowl 49, and has a 50 percent success rate when predicting the outcome for the Chiefs when they make the Super Bowl.
They correctly predicted that the Chiefs would beat the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 54, but then wrongly picked the Chiefs over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for Super Bowl 55. As for the Eagles, Madden is also 50 percent when predicting the outcome if the Eagles make the Super Bowl, having predicted the Eagles would not win Super Bowl 39 correctly, but then incorrectly picking the Eagles to lose Super Bowl 52.
If you’re after some more simulation antics, check out what happened when we put the worst NFL teams together for the most awful Super Bowl imaginable.
Written by Raymond Goode on behalf of GLHF
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Wondering how Mahomes would perform with the Eagles or Hurts with the Chiefs? We were too, so we turned to Madden 23 for the answer
The Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles have won their respective conferences and are headed to the Super Bowl, thanks in no small part to their quarterbacks. Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts are both MVP candidates for the 2022 NFL season fighting to bring home a championship. We couldn’t help but wonder what if these two talented quarterbacks were on the opposite side and turned to Madden 23 to find out. Why, you may ask? Well… why not.
The Eagles surpass the Chiefs with their wide receiver core. Jalen Hurts has DeVonta Smith, A.J. Brown, and Quez Watkins to throw to, while Mahomes is throwing to JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Kadarius Toney. The Eagles have a stronger receiving core – minus the tight end position – but consider Patrick Mahomes hurling the ball to two talented wide receivers, one a 92 Madden rating overall and the other an 87.
Now the Eagles have Dallas Goedert, no Travis Kelce admittedly, but Goedert is talented and a force to reckon with at an 89 overall. Kelce, Mahomes’ main, is the best tight end in the NFL currently, with a 99 overall, but he’s throwing to above-average wide receivers.
The Chiefs receivers include Mecole Hardman (80) and Kadarius Toney (79), but it goes downhill after that. Imagine the talented Patrick Mahomes with his 98 overall rating throwing to two amazing wide receivers and a pretty decent tight end. It’s a pretty potent offensive setup.
On the offensive line, the Eagles have Lane Johnson (95), Jason Kelce (93), Jordan Mailata (85), Isaac Seumalo (79), and Landon Dickerson (78). The Chiefs have Creed Humphrey (89), Joe Thuney (89), Orlando Brown (82), Trey Smith (82), and, at right tackle, a slightly underwhelming Andrew Wylie (68) at right tackle. Hurts and Mahomes have great agility, but Hurts has 89 speed in comparison to Mahomes’ 84 speed. Mahomes does have 97 throw power, unlike Hurts, with his 86 throw power.
One of Mahomes’ biggest strengths is his awareness, his 96 play action, 98 throw on the run, and 97 throw under pressure. With the arm strength and his high football IQ, Mahomes throwing to two wide receivers with 91 speed against a Chiefs defense that has cornerbacks with 94 speed and 91 speed, would theoretically make for some good matchups.
However, the Chiefs have wide receivers with speed ratings of 87, 93, and 97. The Eagles have cornerbacks with speed of 92 and 90 speed, and both are zone-type cornerbacks. The receiving vs. defensive matchup leans more in favor of the Chiefs, though there’s another wrinkle.
The Eagles defensive playbook is Tampa 2 and the biggest weakness that Tampa 2 has is the deep balls and middle of the field – something the Chiefs offensive playbook can hurt the most.
The Eagles style of offense is the West Coast Spread, which mainly targets the option for fast quarterbacks and fast tight ends, but the Chiefs offense is also West Coast Spread. Their offense is mainly focused on the pass first, though it does favor mobile quarterbacks and an elite tight end. The Chiefs offense favors Jalen Hurts’ 89 speed and 90 throw on the run, but the downside is his 86 throw power and 87 throw deep accuracy, which is why having a 99 overall tight end is beneficial if you put Hurts on the Chiefs offense.
The Eagles offensive playbook favors Mahomes’ 96 play action and 98 throw on the run, but the number of designed runs in the Eagles playbook bodes poorly for Mahomes’ 84 speed.
What this all boils down to is: If you switch the quarterbacks, both quarterbacks are getting upgrades, especially on the offensive line. Only Hurts would be benefiting for the tight ends, but inheriting a 79 overall team against an 85 overall team is still a big gap. The Chiefs have a better built defensive line that could be an even match against the Eagles offensive line, but the Eagles defensive line could struggle against the decent Chiefs offensive line.
Based on Patrick Mahomes’ X-factors and abilities, if the Eagles wide receivers find separation, then dashing deadeye, bazooka, and pass lead elite are more in favor than Jalen Hurts’ superstar abilities of juke box and fastbreak, especially since the Chiefs offensive playbook would lean more to the passing game. On designed quarterback runs, Jalen Hurts would be unstoppable with fastbreak. Switch the quarterbacks, and they would suffer from the different schemes in some way, but each will benefit with the different weapons they receive.
Written by GLHF
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Madden 23’s worst teams faced off in a challenge to see which of the worst teams could be the best in the completely unofficial Worst Bowl
Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, is fast approaching, the premier football game and the reward for Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs being very good at the game this season.
The reward for being bad at football? Joining our 2023 Road to the Worst Bowl.
We’re getting rather impatient for the big game, so to pass the time, we’ve drafted an upside-down bracket using the worst NFL teams of the season, and we’re simulating the outcome with Madden 23 and its team ratings. EA Sports is also running their famously hit-and-miss Super Bowl predictions, which called the Eagles this year.
Ours is unrealistic anyway, so we don’t have to worry about accuracy.
Welcome to the penalty zone, the reward for underperformance: the Worst Bowl.
NFC:Worst team, Bye, #1 Chicago Bears
The tale of the NFC wild-card weekend saw two visiting teams win their game, but with records that poor, home advantage evidently amounts to little. In the first matchup, the 79-rated Washington Commanders overcame a substantial 14-10 halftime barrier to beat the 76 OVR rated Arizona Cardinals 24-21.
The Los Angeles Rams came out with a win against the Panthers in overtime and pulled off a 20-17 win. The Atlanta Falcons never looked like losing to a deflated New Orleans Saints, winning 27-20 to round off the wild card.
The 2022 Chicago Bears took a bye for going 3-14, including a 10-game losing streak, and the NFC divisional rounds were set. For the Cardinals, Rams, and Falcons, the season was over.
AFC:Worst Team, Bye, #1 Houston Texans
The Indianapolis Colts proved a stiff challenge for the Pittsburgh Steelers, clinging on to their 28-3 halftime lead and pulling even further ahead with a 35-10 win at home in the first of the AFC wild card games. Next on the list was an entertaining tie between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Denver Broncos, which ended 31-24 to Vegas and another road W.
The final matchup saw the #5 seed Titans beat the Browns 41-21 – our highest-scoring wild card fixture overall.
The Texans grabbed the bye for being rather terrible this season. Their 3-13-1 record was more than enough to send them right through in the Bowl nobody wants to win, with the Titans waiting for them.
Fans of bad football finally got to see their bye-round teams enter the divisional rounds.
NFC
Number one-seeded Chicago came last in the 2022 NFL season. Their in-game rating of 78 isn’t much worse than Washington’s 81, so this promised to be a closer simulated clash
The game was shaping up nicely after the first half, with Commanders 27-21 up, and the floodgates seemed to open in the third quarter when they extended their score to 40-28. But madness ruled in the final quarter.
Both teams traded blows, and Chicago came good with two touchdowns and a 36-yard field goal with a slim 22 seconds left on the clock. Final score: Commanders 43-44 Bears. Maybe the worst football can be the best football? It certainly was in this case, at least.
Falcons at Rams was less eventful.. Scoreless in the first and 7-7 at halftime, the Rams at home managed to edge out a 24-17 win and set up a tasty clash with the Bears in the NFC Championship game.
AFC
Down in Texas, Houston benefited from home advantage, though not without a few scares. Up 14-7 versus Tennessee by halftime, the Titans bullied their way back into the tie in the third and led 21-17. Showing the true spirit of the Worst Bowl, the worst team stuck it out and won 27-21.
And In the spirit of the Worst Bowl for the Texans, Davis Mills made only 204 yards at 53% completion for his team’s 2 touchdowns. The #1 seed was through.
Raiders at Colts were tied Tied at 10-10 at halftime and seemed to be a close matchup. In Madden 23, just one rating point separates Las Vegas (83) and Indianapolis (82). The visiting team emerged victorious in their pursuit of playoff success by clinching the game 24-20. The Raiders, with Derek Carr, benched on poor form, had backup QB Jarrett Stidham carry them to the championship game.
NFC: #1 Bears vs #3 Rams
The NFC Championship unfolded at Soldier Field, a chance to find the best of the worst in the NFC. The Bears had a bad start, with the Rams’ #5 Jalen Ramsey intercepting their second play and immediately bringing Matt Stafford into the game. The first quarter ended 0-0, but the second started with the Rams being 2nd and goal, which they converted into points. This was the only score of the quarter, and the game was 7-0 Rams at the half.
The game rumbled on. The scoreline didn’t. An Aaron Donald penalty saw the Bears get first and goal in the dying embers of the 4th quarter, and yet they still couldn’t convert. The first and second were incomplete, and the third was intercepted again.
This was a wonderfully awful game of football, the poster child of the Worst Bowl. It’s a shame to see the best worst team drop out, but the LA Rams holding on to a scrappy 7-0 win was earned. It seems the Bears can’t even win at being bad.
AFC: #1 Texans vs #6 Raiders
Would more points come in the (Worst) AFC Championship game, held at the NRG Stadium? It turned out the answer was yes, which is good since we were getting bored.
This simulation centered on a real back-and-forth tie: 14-10 Houston at the end of Q1, 24-21 Raiders at HT, 28-24 Houston at Q3. The game sped breathlessly into full time tied at 35-35.
OT drama once more in these playoffs saw Kaʻimi Fairbairn push an 18 yard field goal 27 seconds in to seal the AFC with a 38-35 tiebreaker. The kicker was the hero for the Houston Texans, with a 100% completion on the night. Not bad for one of the Worst.
The inaugural Worst Bowl was set, with the Rams and Texans lacing up their cleats for the best game of the most awful teams.
#1 Texans vs #3 Rams
The home team Texans were one of the worst performers overall in the season, and they’re also the worst team in Madden 23 with a paltry 74 rating. Facing the Rams in a one-off game, with an unbelievable 88 OVR rating, should be one game too far for the Texas outfit. Every instinct said this would be a comfortable win for the Rams.
A neutral venue had to be selected, so naturally, we made it the worst for both teams: Wembley Stadium in London, England, thousands of miles from home for both teams. In Madden, you can’t brand any game as a Super Bowl tie, so we had to settle for Texans branding.
Another thing missing from the Madden 23 kickoff is live teams and form, so we saw LA’s Matthew Stafford come off IR to play in the big game, facing up against youngster Davis Mills at Houston.
At halftime, the scores were set at 24-10 with Houston in the lead. The entertainment from London and ads followed. We put on a 20-minute megamix of Rebecca Black, Robin Thicke and Nickelback through cheap speakers. We actively sought out in-app ads during this time. This was the Worst Bowl, after all. We were obligated to make the worst halftime show ever.
After the atrocious festivities ended, the game came to a climax at 38-17 Houston in Q3. Could the plucky team with their makeshift starting QB really win it all?
The Rams started a Q4 noble fightback, with Matthew Stafford hitting two touchdowns for 14 unanswered LA Rams points, but it was too little too late in the end for the 5-12 side as they lost 38-31.
And that was game. The stats had the Rams, who hit 511 offensive yards compared to Houston’s 391, but at no point were they really in this clash.
The Houston Texans were crowned Worst Bowl I winners, and it was a romantic, deserved campaign. The worst team in Madden 23, the worst team in the AFC, and now Worst Bowl champions. We couldn’t believe the Madden 23 simulation threw this up for us. The Texans couldn’t string 2 wins together during the 2022 NFL season, so to run it all the way was impressive.
No Lombardi Trophy here; just the reassurance that whilst the Texans might be amongst the worst in the NFL currently, at least they could be the best of the worst.
So that’s our Worst Bowl 1 completed. A genuine contender for a new NFL format? Maybe not. Still, giving the wooden spoon out to the losing team in a one-off game between the two worst teams of the season could be more interesting than the now-diluted Pro Bowl.
Want to live out a football bracket in an alternate universe like us? Madden 23 is available now on PlayStation, Xbox and PC. EA Play members get a discount and exclusive in-game unlockables, too.
Written by Alex Bugg on behalf of GLHF
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Microsoft announced the Xbox Game Pass games for February 2023, and while the lineup is a bit slim, there are some heavy hitters in the mix
Microsoft announced the Xbox Game Pass games for February 2023, and while the lineup is a bit slim, there are some heavy hitters in the mix. Leading the pack, and just in time for Super Bowl LVII, is Madden NFL 23 for console and PC. Mech-loving folks can get their hands on Gundam, and you can plan the city of your dreams – or everyone else’s nightmares – in Cities Skylines.
As always, the new month’s releases are staggered across a week.
These three go live on Feb. 9, 2023.
On Feb. 15, 2023, you can grab Cities Skylines – Remastered via the cloud and Xbox Series S. Shadow Warrior 3: Definitive Edition lands on Feb. 16, 2023, for cloud, console, and PC, and on Feb. 21, 2023, you can play Atomic Heart for cloud, console, and PC.
A handful of games are leaving Game Pass on Feb. 15, 2023.
Xbox and Tango Gameworks surprise-released Hi-Fi Rush in January after the Developer_Direct conference, but it looks like February will be a lighter month for releases on the Series X|S, at least from Microsoft studios.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
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Madden NFL 23 official simulation predicts the Philadelphia Eagles to beat Kansas City Chiefs 31-17 in Super Bowl LVII
Madden NFL 23’s official simulation is out, and the prediction has the Philadelphia Eagles pulling away in the second half and outlasting the Chiefs 31-17.
In the simulation, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts gets the last laugh and is named the game’s Most Valuable Player after completing 26 of 33 passes for 282 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions while rushing 10 times for 88 yards and another touchdown.
Miles Sanders has 15 carries for 78 yards and the Eagles’ final touchdown, while A.J. Brown is the game’s leading receiver with eight catches for 114 yards and a touchdown.
DeVonta Smith added six catches for 92 yards and a touchdown.
Back in 2018, the simulator pick New England over Philadelphia.
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EA’s popular football simulation has some interesting stats ahead of the big game.
Ahead of Super Bowl 57, the latest iteration of Madden has perhaps given us a glimpse into how things will shake out later this week.
On Monday, Electronic Arts (EA) released its annual prediction for the Super Bowl after running a simulation within Madden NFL 2023. Based on those results, it seems the Philadelphia Eagles will be victorious, soundly defeating the Kansas City Chiefs by 31-17.
There are a few other notable statistics as well from the simulation. Pat Mahomes scored one touchdown and 29/39 attempts. Meanwhile, A.J. Brown had a single touchdown and eight catches. Chris Jones has two sacks and four tackles, while C.J. Gardner-Johnson had five tackles and one interception. Quite a busy game!
There’s a short video starring former professional wide receiver Chad Ochocinco that goes over the simulation’s highlights. Not sure what the desert mirage motif is all about, though.
As always, you shouldn’t take these predictions as gospel. Madden has a spotty history of successfully predicting the Super Bowl’s outcome – though it isn’t always wrong. Obviously, we won’t know how accurate any of the numbers are until the game itself happens.
Madden NFL 23 came out in the summer of 2022 with generally favorable reviews and captured the late John Madden’s legacy by many accounts.
Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.
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EA Sports is removing the a CPR touchdown celebration from Madden 23 in response to Damar Hamlin’s recent collapse.
Thankfully, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is now on the road to recovery after his collapse due to cardiac arrest in the Week 17 game against the Bengals, and he’s been moved from Cincinnati to Buffalo.
After this incident, EA Sports confirmed to CBS Sports that the company will remove a touchdown celebration animation from Madden NFL 23. This celebration sees one player lie on the ground while another pretends to shock him back to life, mimicking the process of CPR.
It’s a celebration we’ve seen occasionally in the NFL, which included last Sunday — Pittsburgh Steelers players did a CPR celebration during their game against the Cleveland Browns. It’s of course in poor taste in the wake of Hamlin’s collapse, which is why EA Sports are keeping it out of the Madden games for the time being.
This comes not long after Madden 23 faced harsh criticism from players after a technical problem caused many players to permanently lose their save files last week, forcing them to restart their franchise mode careers.
Written by Marco Wutz and Ryan Woodrow on behalf of GLHF.
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The new Madden 23 update fixes franchise mode’s many bugs and improves player likeness
EA’s latest Madden game launched in a bit of a state, and while the bugs and issues didn’t stop it from outselling every other game in Aug. 2022, EA has been hard at work smoothing its issues out with the latest Madden 23 update. The update, officially called Madden 23 Title Update 3, is live now on all platforms and introduces improvements to authenticity and player likeness, while fixing a range of bugs and performance issues affecting franchise mode, blocking, passing, and much more.
The new Madden 23 update also adds the Madden Ultimate Team Season 2 Field Pass, with a Deion Sanders team, Prime Time gear drops, and new card packs.
Some of the biggest changes pertain to franchise mode, which suffered from connection issues and AI behavior that made negotiations and other key aspects difficult to navigate. These issues, along with Top Threat detection, ability recognition, and gear display problems, should all be resolved with the new update.
Blocking was another area plagued with bugs, and the Madden 23 updates address several issues where players were unblockable under certain circumstances, along with more general fixes, such as improving block animations to make plays more effective.
Equally, if not more, important is the suite of fixes for catching. No longer will receivers miss the ball because their animations played too early, nor will running backs face the wrong way when you need them to catch the ball.
Finally is an overhaul to authenticity, including uniform and cleat updates and improved face scans for players such as Christian Barmore, Pat Freiermuth, and Willie Gay.
EA’s website has the full list of patch notes.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
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