Madden NFL 10: IGN Sim 2009 Season, Saints Go 13-3 And Into Super Bowl XLIV
By Keith Null
Madden NFL 10 drops tomorrow and hordes of football fans everywhere will flock to their local game store in hopes of scoring a copy of the coveted game, myself included.
Now I have to admit I was a little upset at EA, Madden’s developers, due to the fact they ranked the Saints and it’s players incredibly low.
I won’t rant about it too much here but if you want to see the complete rankings on the article I wrote about it, visit the link here.
Moving on the guys and gals over at IGN.com got their hands on the new game, for review purposes, and decided to to sim the entire 2009 season to see who was left standing at the end of the year.
It turns out the Saints and Patriots where the two lone teams left, squaring off at Super Bowl XLIV (44) in Miami.
It’s laughable because of how badly EA had ranked the team and ironic at the same time that a simulation carries them all the way to the Super Bowl — man you have to love that!
The Saints cleared out their own division while decimating the NFC East teams, blowing out the likes of Dallas and Philly.
Once they secured the division it was on to the divisional playoff game where the Saints faced the wild-card Atlanta Falcons (10-6), and again for the third time that season the Saints marched by the Falcons with ease.
Naturally it was on to the NFC Championship game against the Redskins. The defense showed what they may able to do in 2009 picking of Redskins QB Jason Campbell two times.
Drew Brees carried the Saints to the 21-14 victory, no surprise there, completing 19 of 36 passes for 168 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Speaking of Brees he won the MVP and Offensive Player of the Year award during the regular season, although no stats were available.
Unfortunately the Saints fell short in the Super Bowl, falling to the Patriots with a score of 21-14. The Saints held the Patriots scoreless though the first have of the game, retiring to the locker room with a 3-0 lead from a Hartley field goal.
Brady, being among the highest rated players in the game, lead his team to 14 third quarter points and a lead too insurmountable for the Saints to overcome.
The Saints however did stage a comeback, bringing the score to within one touchdown, but in typical 2008 form couldn’t muster enough to seal the victory in the fourth quarter.
Oh well, let bygones be bygones as they say. It is nice for Saints fans to see their team come out on top in a simulation, albeit losing to the Patriots.
It only adds fuel to the fire and continues to increase our expectations of a playoff bound Saints team in 2009, WHO DAT!!
If you would like to see the entire breakdown of IGN’s simulation of the season, highlighted by division, then follow the link here.
Here is a video of the last few minutes of the Saints and Patriots game at Super Bowl XLIV, enjoy.
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