The PFF team breaks down the ratings for NFC players in Madden 2011:
ARIZONA CARDINALS
Reggie Wells was maybe the NFL's worst starting guard in terms of balanced awfulness. He was 81st of 84 in pass blocking and 71st of 84 in run blocking. Yet he's rated the Cards' second-best lineman with a decent overall rating of 80 — 11 points behind Alan Faneca (91), who still gets elite grades despite an obvious decline. Madden gives Faneca a preposterous 94 in run blocking, not bad for a guy who was 76th out of 84 on our list in 2009.
On defense, DE Calais Campbell gets a good-not-great score of 86 despite outplaying teammate Darnell Dockett (94) last year.
And new acquisition Joey Porter, who has had six positive games to 20 negative ones since the start of 2008, still gets a solid 86 despite his clearly eroded skills.
ATLANTA FALCONS
Not a bad job here. The Falcons were a solid team last year, good at just about everything, and their ratings reflect that — Atlanta has 15 players rated 81-90 but no one at 91+.
CAROLINA PANTHERS
At tight end, Jeff King (73) is rated at the top despite backup Gary Barnridge (71) outplaying him a year ago. The Maddenators just won't rate a backup higher than a starter, it seems, even if the facts support it.
We're not sure why people seem so high on Chris Gamble (91); he wasn't appreciably better than the other Panther cornerbacks in pass coverage in 2009.
CHICAGO BEARS
Madden did a nice job with the Bears' offensive players (fittingly, no one scored higher than 86), but on defense they failed to recognize some extremely good efforts by some lesser-known defensive stars.
Nick Roach (70) was good in the pass rush and against the run last year, yet he comes in behind Hunter Hillenmeyer (73), who was a liability in both. And poor Israel Idonije, he of the legendary kick-blocking abilities, graded at No. 6 among pass-rushing defensive tackles a year ago but is saddled with a 65 in Madden.
DALLAS COWBOYS
RB Felix Jones (83) is similarly underrated — he's been brilliant every time he's been on the field for the Cowboys, and his ranking a pip behind the inferior Marion Barber (84) goes with the general idea that Madden is reluctant to “show up” an NFL team by rating a backup above a starter.
On D, the fantastic Anthony Spencer was one of the top outside linebackerss in the league last year but gets just an 84 — he deserves to be elite. And backup defensive end Stephen Bowen played excellent football in 2009 but gets tagged with a 58 rating.
DETROIT LIONS
Not surprisingly, there aren't a lot of overrated Lions, although second-year TE Brandon Pettigrew did little to suggest an 82 rating.
Running back Kevin Smith (80) is better than his grade thanks to excellence as a pass-blocker and receiver — he manages to get the worst grade among the Lions RBs for “Catching” despite a PFF rank of 10th among 63 qualifying backs in the pass game last year.
GREEN BAY PACKERS
Why are Greg Jennings (90) and Donald Driver (89) in the same ballpark? Jennings has been clearly superior two years running and is on the upside, while Driver is on the downside.
Defensively, middle linebacker Nick Barnett has grounds for a lawsuit. A rating of 87 is too low — he was a monster in the Packers' new 3-4 last year, just a shade behind Ray Lewis and Patrick Willis. OK, maybe not a lawsuit. But at the very least, hard feelings.
MINNESOTA VIKINGS
Jim Kleinsasser, the best run-blocking TE in the business, gets an overall rating of 74. Considering the fact that blocking is his main job and he does it with excellence, how about a little love for the big fella?
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
With two excellent years back-to-back (and a Super Bowl ring), RB Pierre Thomas deserves better than an 84. He was fifth in our tailback rankings last year.
On defense, the Saints probably have the deepest Madden secondary with all four starters at 80+ and three reserves over 75. This is in keeping with reality — they ranked a solid fifth in pass coverage last year.
The special teams ratings are a bit random — Thomas Morstead was a big plus in kickoffs and punts, and rates just a 75. And kicker Garrett Hartley certainly deserves better than a 50 for toughness (at least mental) after drilling three 40+ yard field goals in the Super Bowl.
NEW YORK GIANTS
On defense, the corners and safeties that made a hash of the Giants' season all seem to be a bit high, while effective players like OLB Chase Blackburn (64) and CB Terrell Thomas (77) are clearly too low.
P.S. to the Madden animators: Can you please try to make a version of Tom Coughlin that is even in the ballpark? Last year's version looked like a sea captain/stone crab hybrid.
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
On defense, DE Trent Cole gets a 95 but might deserve the maximum; he plays every down and is the most well-balanced and most consistent 4-3 DE in the league.
ST. LOUIS RAMS
We understand that the Rams were a terrible team last year, and their overall ratings need to reflect that, but that doesn't mean individuals that performed well should be completely discounted.
LB David Vobora was extremely effective a year ago, especially against the run … and gets a 68? Awful. He's ranked behind Bobby Carpenter (70)! Madden usually loves big-name players, but despite solid development from DE Chris Long last year saddles the former No. 2 overall pick with a 75 rating.
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
Other than handing Vernon Davis a 96 despite his laundry list of negatives, the Niners are looking pretty good.
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
Tight end John Carlson was subpar in all three facets of his job — run blocking, pass blocking and pass catching all in the red — but came out with an 84.
Overall, the Madden ratings for Seattle are pretty accurate, not good news for new coach Pete Carroll. The Seahawks are one of a handful of teams with no one rated 90+, just as they were one of a few without a player that PFF graded over +15 in 2009.
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
Guard Davin Joseph (88) has been below average for two seasons running, and certainly doesn't deserve a sub-elite rating. MLB Barrett Ruud (91) is a solid player, but nothing more. Meanwhile, our man Stylez G. White (in addition to having the smoothest NFL name since White Shoes Johnson) gets a 73 rating despite a great 2009.
WASHINGTON REDSKINS
The Madden raters nicely captured the poor quality of the Skins' offensive line — not a single ‘Skins lineman ranks over 80, except for newly acquired Jammal Brown (91). Unfortunately, Brown doesn't remotely deserve that rating after a subpar 2008 and a 2009 lost to injury.
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