Philadelphia Eagles at Buffalo Bills

Well, it’s happened … we’ve gotten so hard up for sports that we’re willing to bet on All-Madden setting sim games.

I mean, it’s not even Esports … because we are watching the computer play the computer (insert face-palm emoji here). Anyhow, it’s not that much different than watching the ‘real’ thing. I mean, if you listen to guys like Neil deGrasse Tyson and Elon Musk, we’re probably living in a simulation anyhow … so you’re just a simulation reading what a simulation wrote about watching a bunch of simulated players within a simulation plays a game of football.


But how’s it work?

Well, we’re on last years end of season roster, so if you were following last year’s football season at all – played fantasy football, or handicapped any games, then you should have a pretty good idea of the teams. On top of this, All-Madden mode makes the games much more realistic – those crazy computer blowouts are not nearly as likely.

Mediocre NFC Offense vs. Tough, Cold Weather AFC East Defense

I love the lines in this one because Betonline has the Eagles listed as 3.5 point favorites over the Buffalo Bills.

It doesn’t say Philly at Buffalo, but the Bills are listed on the bottom, and every betting line I’ve ever seen, that indicates they would be the home team. But heck, even if this is some sort of tricker on the odds board, I’d still take the Bills in this situation +3.5.

Ok … so it might be the fact that Buffalo had a shaky offense, scoring just under 20 points per game last season. But here’s the rub, they had the No. 2 defense in the league, allowing just 16.53 points per game. The Bills were freaking monsters on the defensive side of the ball, and at home, in Buffalo, even more monstrous.

So, I can see why the sportsbooks would give the Eagles sim team a 3.5 point advantage, even playing in virtual buffalo. Just like in the media, video games are probably going to favor the offensive stats over defensive ones. But, I’m handing capping this just like a real game. The Bills held the Ravens to just 24 points, the Steelers to 10, the Cowboys to 15, the Broncos to 3, and the Texans to just 22 in the playoffs.

Sure the Eagles won the NFC East, the worst conference in the NFL. But barely … they fought back tooth and nail and took the conference. So, I know some of you will probably be upset with me for calling them medicare … but really, they won ugly. They barely beyond a .500 record, and only did so because four of their last five games were against three of the worst teams in the NFL, two against the Giants, the Dolphins, and the Skins.

They sat right on the good side of the league scoring average, putting up 23.18 per game. Defensively, they were 14th in the league, holding teams to 21.82. So, their winning margin was by less than two points. At least the Bills win margin is 3 and change.

The point is, if the Eagles went on the road into Buffalo last season, they would have faced a tough Bills squad in a frigid, hostile environment. And, they would have lost. It would have been a close game, but the Eagles were not consistent enough to put up 20 or more points against this burly Bills defense. But the Eagles defense fits right into the Bills average score.

Bills win 20-17. So, I’ll take the points. Madden might give the better offensive team the nod, but they are not going to have the No. 2 defense in the league lose to a middling offense while at home by more than a field goal.

I’ll ride the point spread on this one and take the pretend Buffalo Bills +3.5 at home against the ones-and-zeros Philadelphia Eagles on the road.

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