In what feels like a blink of an eye, we have arrived at Super Bowl LVIII. As you might imagine, the anticipation for this showdown between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs from Las Vegas is ramping up to historic levels. Patrick Mahomes‘ team is looking to win its third title in the last five years, while the Niners are hoping to get some revenge on K.C. for their loss in Super Bowl LIV and win the franchise’s first championship since 1994.
As we sit here waiting for that game to kick off, let’s get our football fix in by dipping into the virtual world in the form of CBS Sports’ annual Madden NFL 24 Super Bowl simulation. If you’ve followed us over the last few years, you’ve come to know that these simulations are not to be slept on. Over the past three Super Bowls, this simulation is a perfect 3-0 picking the Chiefs, Rams and Buccaneers when the dust settled.
This summer, we also conducted and full-season simulation for 2023 for the first time. While some oddities didn’t come to fruition (the Panthers making the playoffs?!?), that simulation did get several things eerily correct. That included the Packers upsetting the Cowboys in the playoffs, the Eagles being one-and-done in the postseason, and the Chiefs reaching the Super Bowl.
However, this is where that simulation and this latest — and I’d argue official — Super Bowl simulation differ. While Kansas City was hoisting the Lombardi Trophy at the end of that initial simulation of the entire year, this newest one has the San Francisco 49ers winning it all in a 10-6 grudge match in Las Vegas.
The Niners got the ball to begin the game and drove down the field until Brock Purdy connected with wideout Brandon Aiyuk for an 18-yard touchdown, which ultimately proved to be the only time we’d see either of these offenses get into the end zone in this matchup.
For Kansas City, it was rough-sledding offensively against this 49ers defense throughout the game. Even as the Chiefs moved into the red zone on their first possession, the Niners clamped down to force a Harrison Butker field goal to make it a 7-3 game. Fred Warner nearly picked off Mahomes in the end zone on second down.
Then, Dre Greenlaw batted down a pass short of the goal-line to force the field goal attempt.
Those two drives chewed up a majority of the clock in the first half, but San Francisco did have enough time to run a…
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