The NFL Playoffs 2020 edition officially kicks off on Saturday, January 4 with a pair of AFC Wild Card games on the schedule. In one matchup, the Houston Texans host the Buffalo Bills. In the other, it will be the Tennessee Titans taking on reigning Super Bowl champions New England led by Mr. Tom Brady. We’ve put the games to the simulation on EA’s popular football game to see what the Madden 20 predictions say.
Madden 20 Predictions: Buffalo Bills vs. Houston Texans
First up on the NFL Playoffs schedule for Saturday is the 10-6 Bills vs. the 10-6 Texans. This one begins at 4:35 p.m. Eastern Time on ABC/ESPN. As of this report, the Texans are favored to win on their home field by 2.5 points.
So what do our Madden 20 predictions say? We ran the simulation with the new NFL Live Playbooks turned on and 15 minute quarters. At the start, it looked like the Buffalo Bills might upset the Texans on their home field. They jumped out to an early lead behind a touchdown pass from Josh Allen to Robert Foster. Add on a pair of field goals and they were ahead 13-0 at halftime.
However, the Texans made their second-half comeback. They’d score two touchdowns in the third quarter, one of which was a 34-yard pass from Deshaun Watson to DeAndre Hopkins. Houston scored another TD in the fourth while holding Buffalo to just a field goal. In the end, this was a close one, but Houston prevailed, 21-16 at home.
Watson finished with 296 yards passing and three touchdowns. Two of those were TD receptions by Hopkins who tallied 116 yards on seven receptions. Allen had 301 yards passing and a touchdown, while Frank Gore ran for 79 yards on 21 carries.
Tennessee Titans vs. New England Patriots prediction
Primetime on Saturday brings Ryan Tannehill and the Titans (9-7) to Gillette Stadium to take on the New England Patriots (12-4). Game time is set for 8:15 p.m. ET on CBS. Plenty of fans are ready to see how this one plays out.
The Patriots are currently favored by five points at many sportsbooks, but will the Titans get a shocking upset? We ran this one through the simulation treatment to see if Tom Brady and the Pats will exit earlier than usual in the playoffs.
The Patriots jumped ahead early on with a field goal to take a 3-0 lead through the first quarter. However, Tennessee responded in the second quarter with a 52-yard touchdown pass from Tannehill to Adam Humphries. They’d take on a field goal to go up 10-3 until Brady threw a six-yard TD pass to Ben Watson. That evened things up 10-10 at the half.
The two teams traded field goals in the third quarter. In the fourth, the Titans’ rushing weapon Derrick Henry took off for a 41-yard score. Brady led his team down the field and a one-yard Sony Michel touchdown run evened things at 20-20. However, the Titans had the upset in mind and were able to connect on a 37-yard field goal with 25 seconds to go in the game.
This one goes in favor of Tennessee, 23-20, eliminating New England from the playoff bracket. Tom Brady was 30-for-31 with 341 yards, a touchdown, and one interception. Ben Watson had 120 yards and a touchdown on 11 catches. For the Titans, Ryan Tannehill was 17-of-23 with 218 yards and a touchdown. Henry ran for 82 yards and a touchdown, while Humphries had 83 yards and a touchdown on four receptions.
Will these be the two AFC teams moving on after Saturday’s games? Based on our Madden 20 predictions they could be, but it’s hard to bet against Tom Brady and the Patriots.
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