Simulation Sunday: San Francisco 49ers vs. Minnesota Vikings on Madden 16

I see a lot of Madden simulations that are apparently supposed to be pretty accurate. While I won't agree or disagree, I figured that I may as well get with the times and do a Madden simulation of the game on Sunday. The roster is current as of the recent Madden update on Friday, September 11th. I stuck to 15 minute quarters and tried to watch everything that unfolded on the field. If this is any indication, I'm scared to watch on Monday.

First Quarter:

The game began with neither team's offense getting much of anything. The Vikings tried to stick to their passing game and couldn't move anything past their own 40 yard line. The Niners offense wasn't near as bad, although it wasn't great either. On their first possession they managed to take it to the Minnesota 30, but an interception by Colin Kaepernick in the endzone nullified the awesomeness of that.

The most interesting thing was on the next 49ers offensive possession, at 4th and 6 they ran a fake punt. They wound up only getting five yards and turning the ball over. Not a terrible call, but that early in the game was odd.

The third possession was the charm. The Niners deployed Carlos Hyde and Reggie Bush and took it all the way to the 12 yard line to close the quarter.

Defensively, the team was stout. Tank Carradine had a huge sack following the Kaepernick interception that resulted in a loss of 12 and a deficit that the Vikings offense couldn't recover from that hat series. Beyond that, nothing got past the 50 yard line.

Second Quarter:

The Niners continued their ground game and Bruce Miller punched in a touchdown at the 14:00 mark.

Score: 7-0, 49ers

The Vikings offense continued to struggle on their next possession, however the niners offense couldn't cross midfield either. After the niners punted, the Vikings managed a touchdown with their first play from scrimmage, an 80 yard run by Jarius Wright.

Score: 7-7, Tied

The Niners bounced back with their first play and Kaepernick hit a laser to Anquan Boldin for 30 yards, which he took for another 20 before being tackled. Unfortunately, the running game couldn't even get out of the backfield, getting knocked the next two plays before they could even cross the line of scrimmage. With the lack of yards, the 49ers had to take that awesome bomb and settle for a Phil Dawson field goal.

Score 10-7, 49ers

The Vikings offense began to move the ball again against the Niners, converting 4 3rd downs, however when they hit the niners 30 yard line, a sack from Tank Carradine ruined any chances of a 5th and the Vikings settled for a field goal.

Score 10-10, Tied

Both offenses closed out the quarter going nowhere. The 49ers run game only brought gains of 2 or 3 yards, and Kaepernick's passes were way of the mark. Alternatively, Minnesota's possession brought only one first down. A sack by Navarro Bowman ended any chance that they'd march down the field again.

Third Quarter:

The 49ers offense continued to struggle going 3 and out on their first possession. The Vikings offense, however, unleashed Adrian Peterson on the world and started slowly taking small bites of yards across the field. The drive ended in a short pass to Cordarelle Patterson in the endzone, the Vikings held the ball for nearly half the quarter.

Score 17-10, Vikings

The following possession, the Niners were able to drive down the field with the passing game alone. The running game couldn't do much of anything. The possession ended in a field goal

Score 17-13, Vikings

Once again, Minnesota's offense powered up and stormed down the field. That is, until Kyle Rudolph got injured. From there, Adrian Peterson reminded the stadium who he was, taking the ball down the field with carries of 7-8 yards until the Vikings landed on the 5 yard line. A pass to Julius Wright in the end zone ended that drive as well as the quarter.

Score 24-13, Vikings

4th Quarter:

The 49ers offense again stalled and went to a 3 and out. After a Quinton Patton catch on the line, I expected a conversion, however it was 4th and 1. The Niners didn't go for it.

The following possession by the Vikings sealed the game. A deep pass by Teddy Bridgewater to Charles Johnson resulted in shrugged tackles and another trip to the redzone. While the Vikings weren't able to punch it in with Adrian Peterson despite trying three straight times, the field goal was enough to put the game out of reach.

Score 27-13,  Vikings

The Niners offense failed to do anything on the following possession and after a sack to Kaepernick for a 10 yard loss, the Niners punted again.This resulted in another episode of the Teddy Bridgewater show where he slung the ball around the field to open receivers. Once they hit the 20 yard line, they called upon the running game again and it led to a A.J. McKinnon Touchdown.

Score 34-13, Vikings

Interestingly enough, Jarryd Hayne was replaced on kickoff returns by DeAndrew White. At this point, it's kind of interesting to see what the 49ers can do. Which really wasn't much. Kaepernick threw passes of four yards that were met with immediate tackles and led to a 4th and 2.

The Vikings took the following possession and gained only one 1st down, but that was enough to leave 12 seconds on the clock on the 4th down. San Francisco didn't even bother calling a timeout and Minnesota ran the clock down to the end.

Final Score 34-13, Vikings

Final Thoughts:

Wow. I didn't expect that score. There really wasn't much that stood out at all for the San Francisco side of the ball here. While Kaepernick showed flashes of nailing everything in site, he ultimately looked mediocre. On the other end, the defense looked really good in the first half, with Tank Carradine's pair of sacks to highlight the unit, but ultimately they looked like nothing more than a sheet of paper of the field. Not only could Teddy Bridgewater pass, he could pass to receivers that were wide open.

I really, really, really, don't think this score is going to be relative to what we see on Monday night. If it is however, this is going to be a long season.

So what do you guys think? How accurate do you think this score is?