Madden 18 simulation: 49ers-Washington

After the loss last week in real life, I looked at the San Francisco 49ers schedule and wondered if there was anyone else they had a chance of beating after the Indianapolis Colts. I really couldn’t find any other teams. They have Washington this week, and that’s a game no one should feel good about. The question isn’t if the 49ers can beat them, it’s going to be by how much they lose by.

So let’s dial up Madden and see how the 49ers do in another sim.

Notable inactives for 49ers: FB Kyle Juszczyk, [Note: Navarro Bowman was removed from the 49ers roster]
Notable inactives for Washington: RB Rob Kelly, CB Josh Norman, OT Trent Williams
Quarter Length: 6:00
Games Simulated: 3

49ers in it until the end:

Besides one game in which the 49ers won, the 49ers were within seven points until the ending minutes of the 3rd quarter. In the game the 49ers won, it turned into a 30-13 drubbing before the end of the first half. That game was very balanced with two receivers (Garcon and Taylor) getting over 80 yards and Carlos Hyde coming just shy of 100 yards and Matt Breida getting over 50. While Brian Hoyer didn’t crack 300 yards in this game passing, the balanced offensive approach was somethign to hope for the future.

Jonathan Allen is a problem:

The Washington defensive player averaged two sacks a game. Most of this was by a nice 4-sack game where he also managed to knock Brian Hoyer off his feet several times right after the ball came out. The other games he had no problem shedding blocks and getting to the ball carrier.

Brian Hoyer bounces back:

While nothing to really write home about, the 49ers signal caller had a much better outing this time around, recording a single interception in only one game. While his numbers won’t be anything to write home about; an average of 216 yards and an average of 62 percent; he manages to at least not do anything that puts the 49ers defense in a position to be on the field for long stretches of time.

Average Score: 23-22, Washington:

It’s another heartbreaker this looks like. The 49ers are due to lose this one by one point. These scores are slightly inflated due to the 30-13 win they had in the second game, but this would be a final score that at least would be on the upside. As disheartening as it is that the 49ers are losing games, losing games like this is infinitely better than getting blown out by the end of the 1st half. If the 49ers can continue to stay in games against contenders it signals nothing but improvement from what was displayed in seasons past.

[Note: In re-simming the game to get an adequate screenshot for the front page, the 49ers won 34-27]