Bengals vs Vikings: Madden simulation

The Bengals need to continue to evaluate their young talent the remainder of the season. The Vikings are a good team so it would be great to see our young players play against them. William Jackson has been playing at an elite level so far this year, and the Bengals have other young corners they need to see more in KeiVarae Russell, Darqueze Dennard and Tony McRae . The Vikings elite wide receiver duo made up of Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs will provide a very interesting matchup for the Bengals’ secondary.

The Vikings received the ball to start the game, and the Bengals special teams tackled them short of the 20 yard line. The Vikings start to march down the field using a combination of run and pass plays, and the Bengals looked lost trying to stop them. Cincinnati is unable to stop the run no matter which running back the Vikings use. When Minnesota gets into the redzone, the Bengals are finally able to lock down and stop them thanks to a dropped pass by Diggs. The Vikings are forced to take the field goal and the three point lead.

The Bengals receive the ball and start to move down the field with very few designed runs. Andy Dalton has all the time in the world in the pocket, but no one is getting open. On three or four plays Dalton is forced to run out of the pocket and take what the Vikings defense gives him. Eventually Dalton is able to hit A.J. Green way down the field for a deep completion to get them in field goal range. The drive stalls and the Bengals are forced to take a field goal.

The Bengals kick the ball off to the Vikings who on third down take a shot down the field that is picked off by George Iloka. The Bengals then drive down the field once again with a plethora of runs by Dalton, and the drive culminates in the Bengals taking a field goal.

The Bengals kick off to the Vikings who return the ball almost to the 25. On the first play of the drive the ball is handed off to Latavius Murray who bounces it outside and takes it 77 yards for a touchdown. The Vikings make the extra point and take the 10-6 lead. Minnesota kicked off to Cincinnati with roughly two minutes left in the second quarter.

The Bengals take the ball and march down the field. Dalton is precise hitting a big gain down the seam to Tyler Kroft. Giovani Bernard also had a couple big runs to help get the Bengals down the field. With 23 seconds left in the half, Dalton rolls out of the pocket and hits Tyler Kroft for the touchdown. The Bengals hit the extra point to take the three point lead.

The Vikings receive the ball and get a good kick return to the forty. The Vikings hit on two deep passes and stop the clock using timeouts. With eight seconds left, the Vikings take one shot towards the endzone, and when that doesn’t work, they settle for the field goal and the tie.

The third quarter starts off with a long series of failed drives by both teams. With around two minutes left in the third quarter, the Vikings are finally able to start to sustain a drive. The Bengals defense is tiring and the Vikings are able to get some pretty big gains. Eventually the Vikings defense gets into the redzone and on second-and-eight Jerick McKinnon runs the ball into the endzone to give the Vikings a 20-13 lead.

The Bengals receive the ball and are able to get a quick first down with a strike to Green before the drive stalls out, and they are forced to punt. The Vikings receive the ball and also very quickly go three and out and have to punt again. The Bengals receive the ball and on first down give up a sack to make it a long second down. They try a slip screen, but Dalton doesn’t get rid of the ball quick enough and is sacked for a safety.

The Bengals have to punt the ball to the Vikings, and Minnesota is able to sustain the drive through a series of runs, and the Bengals never get the ball back. The Vikings kneel the ball and the clock runs out. The Vikings win 22-13 in a game where the Bengals once again failed to score in the second half.