The team and player ratings for Madden 19 have been released in the past week, and they caused a ton of controversy on social media. The player ratings were even more alarming, but this focuses on the very bad team ratings that were put out.
Agree or disagree with these #Madden19 team ratings? pic.twitter.com/OuNTAUsjWw
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) June 18, 2018
The Eagles might have the best roster in the league (though a lot the players’ success has to do with head coach Doug Pederson and the tight-knit culture), but they probably shouldn’t be six points above the next team. EA Sports did say the ratings will be changing, however, so that’s potentially a good sign—but chances are, the ratings will still be bad given the quality of the game over the last decade. Anyway, this is how I believe the teams should be ranked in Madden 19.
Philadelphia Eagles: 91
91 overall is deserved for a team that just won the Super Bowl and still gets its quarterback, left tackle, a dynamic running back, and arguably its best defender back in the fold.
Los Angeles Rams: 90
So much for big-market bias, as the original ratings had the Rams at an 80 overall (and the Chargers at a ridiculous 77 overall). The NFC’s LA team added a ton of talent this offseason.
Minnesota Vikings: 89
The Vikings already had a ton of talent, and they added a new quarterback in Kirk Cousins along with another potent defensive player in Sheldon Richardson.
New England Patriots: 89
Coaching staffs are not taken into account for this, otherwise the Patriots would be in the top two if not number one. This team has underrated players, and they are led by huge difference-maker Tom Brady.
Los Angeles Chargers: 88
As noted earlier, EA had ridiculous ratings for the Los Angeles teams considering their talent level. The Chargers should easily be among the top handful of teams in the ratings.
Atlanta Falcons: 88
The Falcons have talented players on all levels on both sides of the ball, so I was pleasantly surprised to see EA actually had them third.
Pittsburgh Steelers: 87
The Steelers have both elite talent and a pretty deep roster. They always seem to be ranked in the high-80s.
Jacksonville Jaguars: 87
After a great breakout season in 2017, the Jags are poised to be among the top-ten teams in Madden 19.
New Orleans Saints: 86
The front seven might not be as strong as the other top teams, but Saints can beat you a lot of ways and should be a fun team to use this year.
Green Bay Packers: 85
If Green Bay’s rookie corners step up early this season, the team rating could shoot up to above 90.
Tennessee Titans: 85
Wide receiver is probably the weakest spot for the Titans, but they have young players with potential there. The rest of the team is strong, and EA got it right with them in the top third of the NFL.
Dallas Cowboys: 84
Similarly, the Cowboys have a strong roster from top to bottom, but they need the receivers to step up for Dak Prescott.
Kansas City Chiefs: 84
The Chiefs are a team that will be a lot of fun to use no matter their team overall. They should have a trio of receivers with 95+ speed, and Patrick Mahomes II is likely to have 97+ arm strength.
Carolina Panthers: 83
Their cornerbacks can be attacked in a game that is again likely to have bad defensive back play this year, but overall the Panthers should be somewhere in the middle for Madden 19 team ratings.
Houston Texans: 83
With Deshaun Watson at quarterback, the Texans are going to be a fun Madden team to use for a long time.
Arizona Cardinals: 82
It wasn’t long ago the Cardinals were among the NFC’s elite, and they still have that same type of talent on the current roster.
Detroit Lions: 82
The Lions might not be an exciting team to use in Madden, but they have difference-makers on both sides of the ball.
Oakland Raiders: 81
Jon Gruden brought some veteran players on board in his first season back in the NFL, but unfortunately those guys might not transition well to Madden. For example, Jordy Nelson (one of the game’s best deep threats) always has an extremely low speed rating. It’s not likely to be corrected after he had a down season last year.
Washington Redskins: 81
Nothing against Kirk Cousins, but Alex Smith is probably a better video-game quarterback because of his ability to run more zone-reads. The Redskins could become a popular Madden team in 2018.
Baltimore Ravens: 81
The Ravens still have plenty of talent on defense, which helps keep them in the 80s. I don’t see EA giving the revamped receiving corps much love.
Seattle Seahawks: 80
Russell Wilson will always make the Seahawks a dangerous team in Madden, but their rating this year could take a hit as the team got younger and less experienced.
Chicago Bears: 80
After they added weapons for Mitchell Trubisky this year, the Bears could get up into the top ten at some point. For now, 80 seems fair.
New York Giants: 80
Pat Shurmur’s offense could be exciting, but the questions on defense prevent the Giants from being rated higher than this.
Buffalo Bills: 80
Some key losses on the offensive line combined with a change at quarterback keep the Bills down at 80 despite making the postseason last season.
San Francisco 49ers: 79
I think the 49ers will be a stronger real-life team than Madden 19 team.
Cleveland Browns: 79
This might actually be too low, as the Browns have had a lot more talent than their record the past two years has indicated, and they added more this offseason. But they are coming off an 0-16 season and can’t be much higher than this.
Denver Broncos: 79
The Broncos should be a fun team to use with a couple of veteran receivers and a group of good pass rushers and corners on defense, but overall around a 79 team rating is fair for them.
Indianapolis Colts: 78
Clearly, the Colts need to add more talent to the roster. With Andrew Luck at quarterback, they’ll probably be better in real life than in Madden 19.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 77
The Bucs added some pass rushers this offseason, but EA doesn’t seem to put a big emphasis on them.
Cincinnati Bengals: 77
They might be better than bottom-three in reality, but the Bengals aren’t an exciting team to use in Madden.
Miami Dolphins: 76
I think the Dolphins should be ranked pretty low in their mini-rebuild under Adam Gase, but I think they’ll be a fun team to use with a good running back rotation and a solid group of receivers.
New York Jets: 76
Todd Bowles’ squad will compete in real life, but there will certainly be stronger options than them in Madden 19.
These would be pretty good but the real ratings are guaranteed to be trash.
100x better than what madden will come up with
They’ll go overboard and make them worse now lol.