Week 17 - What to Watch

by MadBomberTV | 3 years ago | 0 Comments

With Week 17 upon us, there are still quite a few questions about the playoff spots and seeding.  The Madden schedule makers gave us some great games this week to try and figure all of that out.  So lets take a look at some of the big games with playoff implications.

 

SF vs Arizona

Both teams come into this game at 10-5, with Meats taking the first meeting between the two teams 17-10.  This is one of the more heated rivalries in all of the SML and what a way to end the season than with a head to head matchup to decide the NFC West Champion.  The winner of this game would move to 11-5 and securd the division.   The loser would then have to put their playoff fate in the hands of the Madden tie-breakers.  As it stands, a 10-6 team will be left out of the playoffs.  If it comes down to Dump and RD, they would have split the h2h and would each have the same division record.  Assuming they are the only 6 loss teams, it would come down to common opponents or a madden coin flip for all we know.  If Dump wins this game, he would win the NFC West and Meats would own the tie breaker over RD, by virtue of a 2-0 h2h record. 

  Meats won the earlier matchup of these two teams and currently has the #2 scoring defense in the SML.  If there's one weakness to his defense, it comes against the run, where he is 15th in yards allowed.  This plays right into Dump's offense, which runs through Eddins.  Who coincidentally seems to run through everything in front of him.  Both teams have a well-documented history of struggling in pressure situations, but in a game of two tough defenses, I'll take the team with the more competent offense and that is Dump and the 49ers.  

Prediction - 49ers 28 Cardinals 24

 

NYG vs WFT

Much like the game above, both teams come in with identical records.  Both teams currently sit at 11-4 and the winner will lock up the division and the #2 seed, while the loser will end up either the 5 or 6 seed, depending on the outcomes of the Panthers and Falcons games.  WFT won the only head to head meeting between these 4 teams, which was a 41-38 win over the Panthers. As for this matchup, Rowin won the first meeting of these two teams all the way back in Week 1.  It was a 21-20 victory and his first over QP in the cycle.  

Both teams have cooled after a hot start.  The Giants have not topped 200 passing yards in their last 6 games and during that time have thrown 7 interceptions.   The offense definitely runs through Saquon Barkley more than ever and he will need Barkley to continue his +9 ypc pace to pull this game out.  After back-to-back losses to the Raiders and the Broncos, WFT bounced back against a Cam Akers-less CPU led Rams team and an already eliminated Eagles squad, so it will be interesting to see if they can recapture some of that early season magic.  Or maybe this WFT is a bit of a mirage.  Aside from a CPU game against the Rams, they have only beaten 1 team with a winning record and that was a 3-point win over the Panthers.  Rowin has been playing pretty well lately and I've got to give him the slight advantage in this one.

Prediction - NYG 35 WFT 28

 

Carolina vs Buffalo and Atlanta vs Miami

Buffalo hasn't really got anything to play for other than to be a spoiler. The Panthers come in tied with the Falcons at 10-5, with both teams' only division loss coming to each other in a split season series.  This means, once again, if both teams have the same outcome in Week 17, Madden gets to work its tie-breaking magic.  The Panthers are favored coming into this game by 4.5 points over the Bills.  Despite handing the Ravens a Week 14 loss, the Bills have been pretty bad  to put it nicely.  If the Bills can pull off the upset, the Falcons may still be able to win the tie breaker if it comes down to common opponents, as the Falcons were able to beat the Bills back in Week 12. 

That brings us to the Falcons and their matchup.  While the Panthers get what should be a cakewalk against a struggling Bills squad, the Falcons have to face the Dolphins and returning HB M.Breida.  The Dolphins still have playoff seeding that they are looking to secure.  A win against the Falcons would ensure they can avoid the Colts in the Wild Card round, while a loss paired with an expected Ravens win over the Bengals would setup a Colts vs Dolphins Wild Card Matchup that neither of those teams would be looking forward to.  

Predictions - Panthers 28 Bills 10                                  Dolphins 21 Falcons 17