The NFL Playoffs will feature the NFC Wild Card schedule on Sunday, January 5, with a pair of exciting games. In the first of those, Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints host Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings. In the later football matchup, Carson Wentz and the Philadelphia Eagles host Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks. Which two teams will move on to the Divisional Round? We gathered some Madden 20 predictions via simulations of both Wild Card games.
Madden 20 Predictions: Vikings vs. Saints matchup
New Orleans comes into this matchup at 13-3 with the visiting Vikings at 10-6. This game gets started at 1:05 p.m. Eastern Time on FOX with plenty of fans anxious to see if Minnesota can pose a threat to this red hot Saints team. They won their last three games of the season and only the Baltimore Ravens have scored more total points this past season.
In our Madden 20 predictions, we ran the 15-minute quarters simulation to see who comes out on top. This one didn’t provide a whole lot of excitement down the stretch, but the two teams stayed even at least into the second quarter. That’s when the Saints turned it up a notch, outscoring Minnesota 17-7 to take a 24-14 halftime lead. Of note, Cousins was able to complete a 61-yard touchdown pass to running back Dalvin Cook in the second quarter.
New Orleans added another TD in the third quarter thanks to a 53-yard run from Alvin Kamara. Meanwhile, Minnesota put just a field goal on the board. In fact, those three points were all the Vikings had in the entire second half as New Orleans had 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.
In the end, the New Orleans Saints dominated this game en route to a 41-17 final score. They put up over 500 yards of offense with 195 on the ground and 321 passing. Drew Brees finished with 321 yards and three touchdown passes, while Cousins had 252 yards and a TD with just a 52.6 completion percentage.
Alvin Kamara had 20 carries for 152 rushing yards and a touchdown. Dalvin Cook had a good all-around game with four catches for 105 yards and a TD reception, as well as another 59 yards and a TD running the ball.
Seahawks vs. Eagles playoff prediction
An intriguing matchup involving the 11-5 Seattle Seahawks and 9-7 Philadelphia Eagles awaits fans at 4:40 p.m. Eastern Time on NBC. This is one that could go either way based on how the two teams have been playing recently, so let’s check out the Madden 20 predictions.
Based on the simulation, this could be the more exciting game of the two from the NFC Wild Card matchups. In the first quarter, Seattle went on top 7-3 thanks to a three-yard touchdown run from QB Russell Wilson. They’d add a second touchdown in the next quarter with Wilson doing it again, this time from five yards out. Miles Sanders caught an eight-yard pass from Carson Wentz to help Philly draw closer. It was 14-10 Seahawks at the half.
Russell Wilson added a third rushing touchdown in the third quarter, but Philly matched it with a Jordan Howard three-yard run to score. The Eagles also went for the two-point conversion and it was 21-18 Seattle by the end of the third.
In the final quarter, Philadelphia was able to score twice. Wentz threw a five-yard pass to Zach Ertz for one of the scores. The other came close by when Miles Sanders punched in a one-yard TD. Russell Wilson managed to lead his team down the field late throwing a 17-yard TD pass to Tyler Lockett. Seattle would get the two-point conversion to make the difference just a field goal, but couldn’t get that on the board. Philly wins it 32-29.
Russell Wilson finished the game 30-for-38 with 323 yards passing and a touchdown throw. He also had those three rushing touchdowns for his team to keep them ahead early. Carson Wentz was 26-of-37 with 269 yards and two touchdown passes.
In terms of receiving, Lockett had eight receptions for Seattle for 103 yards and a touchdown. Philadelphia’s Ertz had eight catches as well for 81 yards and a score. The ground game was limited for both teams as Jordan Howard had 16 carries for 58 yards and a touchdown. The Eagles’ Miles Sanders had nine carries for 31 yards and a TD. Seattle’s Marshawn Lynch finished with 13 carries for 50 yards.
Based on those predictions, New Orleans and Philadelphia will play in the Divisional Round while Minnesota and New Orleans go back home to watch the rest of the postseason.
In case you missed it, check out our AFC Wild Card predictions for the Bills vs. Texans and Titans vs. Patriots games to see how those simulations went!
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