SmashMouth

For the fifth year in a row, Yahoo Sports is simulating an entire NFL season in "Madden." While there have been some dubious results in the past — Nick Foles leading the Bears to the Super Bowl and Urban Meyer winning coach of the year — this practice has produced an accurate champion way back in 2019.

This time around, things only slightly go astray, so let’s jump right in.

Division winners: Jets, Browns*, Colts, Chiefs, Cowboys, Packers, Bucs, Cardinals
Apparently Zach Wilson does have that dog in him, as the New York Jets somehow managed to finish 11-6 and win the AFC East for the first time since 2002, when Wilson was 3 years old. The second-year pro, whose current status for Week 1 is in question due to injury, had arguably the worst year of all the other 2021 first-round QBs (more on this later), but racked up 3,183 yards and 28 touchdowns while limiting his interceptions to just four on the season.

Outside of that, the rest of the division winners seem entirely in the realm of possibility. The Indianapolis Colts were by far the league’s most dominant team, going 16-1, followed by the Kansas City Chiefs (13-4) and Dallas Cowboys (12-5).

Note: Due to constraints, we were unable to simulate the 11-game suspension for Deshaun Watson.

Wild-card teams: Titans, Ravens, Bills, Saints, Panthers, Eagles
Nothing too surprising to report with the simulation’s wild-card teams, all of whom finished either 11-6 or 10-7. The most notable takeaway is the NFC South being the most competitive division in the league, landing three playoff teams and the Atlanta Falcons, who just missed out, finishing at 8-9.

read more here