Madden 16 Simulation: The NFL Playoffs

The Super Bowl

Denver Broncos (22) vs. Seattle Seahawks (29)

This is a rematch of Super Bowl 48, where the Seahawks ran up the score on an injured and undermanned Denver team. The Broncos are healthy this time and hoping for a better result.

The Seahawks got off to a good start, taking their opening drive in for a touchdown. It was a long drive that ate the clock and featured three third-down conversions.

After trading punts, Denver answered with a long drive of their own. It was capped off by short field goal to cut the lead to 7-3.

Seattle answered with another long drive. This one ending in TD grab by TE Luke Willson. The big play was a 16-yard Russell Wilson scramble on 3rd and 11 to get the drive started.

The Broncos marched right down the field after that, but a sack by Cliff Avril at the Seattle 41 ended a promising drive. Denver elected to punt and pin Seattle deep instead of trying a 58-yard field goal.

The decision paid off. Seattle wasn’t able to move the ball off of their own goal line, and Denver got the ball back with great field position and enough time left for Manning to get Denver into the end zone.

Denver was down 14-10 at halftime, and would get the first possession of the second half. It looked like perfect setup for them to take their first lead of the game.

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After a promising start to another drive, Manning was picked off by Seattle’s Earl Thomas. Three plays later, Marshawn Lynch was dancing in the end zone with Seattle up 21-10.

Just before the end of the third quarter, the Denver offense came back to life. A quick six-play, 64 yard TD drive got them back to within five, but a failed two-point conversion left them down 21-16.

Now it was Seattle’s turn to have their offense stall. Back to back three-and-outs gave Denver a chance, and Manning threw a brilliant TD pass to Emanuel Sanders that gave Denver their first lead.

Seattle answered with a long TD drive of their own. Marshawn Lynch rumbled in from five yards out put Seattle back on top. A pass to Luke Willson on the two-point try was good, and Seattle was up seven with 1:01 remaining.

After three big competitions for the Broncos to the Seattle 38, Jeremy Lane intercepted Manning with 18 seconds left to seal the win for Seattle.

And that is how the 2015 NFL season comes to a close. The Seattle Seahawks overcome being the #6 seed in the NFC to earn their second Super Bowl Championship in the last three seasons.

Editor’s Note: The original version of this article contained a seeding error in the AFC. The games were re-simmed with the correct seeding, and the text updated to match the new results. We’re sorry for any confusion.