Madden Madness, a Stupid Simulation: Week 2 (Ravens @ Raiders)

This is the second of a sixteen-part series in which I simulate the Ravens 2015-16 season in Madden '15. The difficulty is All-Pro, the rosters are accurate, and the stadium/time are the same as real life. Let's get to it.

The Setting

A beautiful Northern California afternoon is the perfect weather for this West Coast showdown. The Ravens are playing at O.co Coliseum this week, in Oakland, Calif. It is their second back-to-back West Coast game. These two teams haven't met since the 2012 season, where the Ravens pulverized the Raiders 55-20 at M&T Bank Stadium.

The Strategy

I don't have a specific strategy going into this game. I'm rolling with a balanced attack, nothing fancy. Although I would like to try to get the ball to Maxx Williams, who I think can stretch the Raiders secondary horizontally.

First Quarter

This quarter was awfully boring, and disappointing. Many expected the Ravens to obliterate a weak Raiders defense, but they hold, allowing zero points in the quarter, and picking off Flacco once. The Ravens defense on the other hand, does its job and doesn't allow Cooper & Carr to score.

Raiders 0 - Ravens 0

Daryl Smith on the hit

Second Quarter

Things got more interesting here. The Ravens got the ball to start the quarter, and on a streak route, Breshad Perriman found open field. He broke away from his man early, and with a flick of the wrist, Flacco lofted a pass over the safety to Perriman, who was about 25 yards from the line of scrimmage. It was a race to the end zone, and Breshad won. Following a dud of a Raiders procession, the Ravens received the ball with around two minutes to go. Flacco drove the team down the field, and with about 20 seconds on the clock, Flacco found a wide-open Marlon Brown on a beautiful fade route for what looked like a TD. After close review however, it was found he had just stepped out of the end zone. The Ravens had to settle for a FG.

Halftime

The Ravens have been executing well on both sides of the ball, they looked to extend the lead in the third quarter.

Raiders 0 - Ravens 10

Third & Fourth Quarter

I'm going to be honest with you, this game was really boring. All that happened from halftime on was three FGs from Justin Tucker, most of it was just running out the clock. The Raiders offense couldn't get anything done, and the Ravens offense was simply getting Field Goals. There were a few noteworthy highlights however.

Maxx Williams Athleticism

Look familiar?

Jimmy Smith also showed off his skills by getting the only pick of the day.

Final Score

It was a very boring afternoon in Oakland, but the Ravens got it done. They improve to 2-0 on the year, and get to come home and play their opener in Baltimore vs. the Bengals. This one should be good, as divisional battles always are.

Stats

Last week, I stupidly forgot to record stats. This week I didn't. I'll combine them all at the end of this series.

J. Flacco: 11/23, 201 YDS, 47% COMP, 1 TD, 1 INT, 8.7 YPT

J. Forsett: 14 CAR, 74 YDS, 5.2 YPC, 2 REC, 10 YDS

M. Williams: 5 REC, 57 YDS

S. Smith: 2 REC, 29 YDS

C. Gillmore: 1 REC, 34 YDS

B. Perriman 1 REC, 71 YDS, 1 TD

Suggs: 7 TKL, 3 TFL, 3 SCK

Dumervil: 4 TKL, 1 TFL

Mosley: 3 TKL, 1 TFL, 1 SCK

Smith: 3 TKL

Hill: 2 TKL

Jernigan: 2 TKL, 2 TFL, 2 SCK

J. Smith: 2 TKL, 1 INT.

Arrington: 2 TKL

J. Tucker: 4/4 FG