How many touchdowns will be scored between the Bengals and Chargers? Madden predicts zero

With a record of 9-3, the Chargers are not only one of the better teams in the NFL, they’ve yet to reach the point in the season where they inevitably collapse on themselves.

That point has been reached when it comes to the Bengals, who are coming into their matchup with the Chargers as beat up as possible. Both Andy Dalton and A.J. Green are out for the season and it looks like Cordy Glenn will be out again, making a hard task of winning on the road even harder for Jeff Driskel. The Bengals are still technically able to contend for a playoff spot, but with the team beat up and on a four game losing streak it seems far more likely that the Bengals will lose out rather than finish at 9-7 with four consecutive wins.

Now, let’s take a look at the Bengals at Chargers Madden simulation to try and predict how the real life version of this game will turn out.

The Bengals start off with the ball and get a good long drive going down the field. Driskel is able to hit Tyler Boyd for a good gain to get them inside the ten-yard line. However, the Bengals aren’t able to drive it home and are forced to settle for a field goal.

3-0, Bengals

The Chargers get the ball and get a similarly long drive going dicing up the Bengals’ linebackers. running back Austin Ekeler gets stopped on the five yard line by Jessie Bates on a long broken down play. The Bengals get the goal line stop and force the Chargers to take the short field goal.

3-3, Tied

Neither team is able to score again for the rest of the half and the Chargers receive the ball after halftime. The Chargers drive down the field, but after they cross the fifty, Darqueze Dennard intercepts Philip Rivers giving the Bengals the ball in good field position. The Bengals don’t manage to score a touchdown, but they make another field goal to take the lead.

6-3, Bengals

The Chargers get the ball back and start driving down the field. Keenan Allen toasts Dre Kirkpatrick on a go route and is barely tackled inside the ten yard line. Once again the Bengals red zone defense stands strong and the Chargers are forced to take a field goal to tie things up.

6-6, Tied

Neither team is able to get much going for the next couple drives, but then around the two minute warning the Bengals are finally able to get something going. They drive down the field easily and get inside the ten-yard line. On third-and-short though, Jeff Driskel is sacked forcing the Bengals to take the field goal and another three-point lead.

9-6, Bengals

With just over a minute left the Chargers start driving down the field and are able to string together a succession of plays taking them out of bounds. However, when they pass midfield, the Bengals are able to hold the Chargers to fourth down. The Chargers try for the long field goal, but it ends up short. the Bengals run out the clock and take home the low scoring win.

The odds of this score happening seems about as likely as Jeff Driskel leading the Bengals to the Super Bowl. Stranger things have happened, but at least one of these two teams will score a touchdown.

2018 Madden prediction record accuracy: 6-6