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Every year the makers of the popular football video game Madden NFL do a simulation between the 2 teams matched up in the Super Bowl to predict who will win. This years game between the New York Giants and New England Patriots was an incredibly close game according to the simulation with the Giants squeezing out a last second victory on a Lawrence Tynes field goal. You can watch the video below that includes the highlights, scoring breakdown, and celebration.
The quarterback position has always been one of the most important positions in Madden. If you are stuck with a bad qb, your chances of winning drop significantly. There are 3 quarterbacks who stand above the rest
The quarterback position has always been one of the most important positions in Madden. If you are stuck with a bad qb, your chances of winning drop significantly. There are 3 quarterbacks who stand above the rest when it comes to causing their teams trouble and frustration.
3. Christian Ponder – At 74 overall you really can’t do too much with Ponder. Luckily for Vikings fans, he is only a rookie and has plenty of time to grow. He also has weapons such as Percy Harvin and Adrian Peterson to throw to when he gets in trouble. With the defense committing to the run, you don’t need a great quarterback but Christian Ponder does not get the job done.
2. Rex Grossman – There is really nothing positive about Rex Grossman in Madden 12 other than his 90 throw power. Unfortunately throw power is useless unless you have throw accuracy to accompany it. His 60 speed keeps him in the pocket without the ability to evade pressure. It doesn’t help that he has no real weapons at running back or wide receiver.
1. Blaine Gabbert – 70 overall is the worst rating for a starting quarterback in recent memory. Luckily for Jaguar fans, Maurice Jones-Drew is a stud in Madden 12. Blaine Gabbert has decent speed to at least avoid some pressure but his throw accuracy is the worst of all the starting quarterbacks in the game. It is nearly impossible to complete any route over 20 yards with him. It doesn’t help that the Jaguars also have the worst receivers in the game.
What quarterbacks did we leave off this list? Which quarterbacks play the worst for you?
Tight formations have been popular in football video games since Madden 05. They are just as effective in Madden 12 so we decided to breakdown a great play to call out of the singleback tight slots formation when you need a few yards.
Play: PA Slot Drag
Setup:
Reads:
Now I want to get into reading the defense as it relates to this play.
You can see that the cornerback covering your wide receiver is on the right side of him. This instantly signals that you should look to your square/X receiver because when this receiver breaks to the sideline, he will be covered.
You can see that the square/X receiver on the slant towards the sideline is wide open. The receiver running the drag route takes the defenders in shallow zones, while your L1/LB receiver on the streak route takes the deep zones downfield.
Now let’s run this play another time. Now the defense is in a different coverage. In this play, you can see that the defender covering our circle/B receiver is on the left side of him. This should instantly signal to you that once your wide receiver makes his break to the sideline, you should throw it to him with precision pass to the right.
If anything is unclear drop a note in the comments section, and I will get back to you.
The most important positions for a dominant madden defense have always been cornerbacks and safeties. Today we are going to take a look at the 5 best secondaries in Madden 12 and the reasons why they are so effective.
The most important positions for a dominant madden defense have always been cornerbacks and safeties. Today we are going to take a look at the 5 best secondaries in Madden 12 and the reasons why they are so effective.
5. Jets – Antonio Cromartie and Darrelle Revis are an incredibly dangerous cornerback tandem. Cromartie has the height/speed/catch combination that makes him play much higher than his 86 overall rating. Darrelle Revis is the prototypical shutdown corner and plays that way in Madden 12. When you pair them with Kyle Wilson, a serviceable nickel corner, you have a great group of corners. The weakness in the Jets secondary is their poor safeties. Jim Leonhard is a good strong safety but his 84 speed rating really hurts him. The free safeties, Brodney Pool and Eric Smith, are very weak but that shouldn’t matter much when you factor in the other members of the secondary.
4. Eagles – If we had released this list when the NFL season started, the Eagles would be #1. Unfortunately for their fans they have since seen some ratings drops. Nonetheless, Nnamdi Asomucha, Asante Samuel, and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie form the best Madden cornerback group over the last 10 years. 3 of the top 10 corners in Madden 12 are on the same team which makes the Eagles scary. DRC is only an 82 overall but his 98 speed and 6’2″ frame make him a top 5 cornerback. Again the big weakness comes from their safeties. If you have good user skills, you can sub in Tom Nelson with 92 speed into one of the safety spots or you can move one of your cornerbacks to safety, but you are still left with 1 weak position.
3. Raiders- When you have 7 members of a secondary with 93 speed or more you can put the fear of God into your opponent. Stanford Routt is the leader of the secondary because of his 90 overall rating and 95 speed attribute. When you factor in Chris Johnson, Demarcus Van Dyke, Chidi Chekwa, and Bryan McCann you can come out in quarters or a 46 speed package and turn the Raiders defense into the fastest defense in Madden 12. Michael Huff and Tyvon Branch have the speed to cover wide receivers, tight ends and running backs which allows you to cook up heavy blitzes any time you want.
2. Packers – The Packers secondary is just plain scary. Charles Woodson and Tramon Williams are both 90+ overall with big play ability. Morgan Burnett is a rising star that can help in run support and coverage. Nick Collins is an elite free safety that covers the entire field in large part because of his 92 speed. We haven’t even mentioned Sam Shields yet who could be the best player in that group. By putting Sam Shields on the field, you don’t have to worry about getting beat deep by the likes of Devin Hester and other speedsters at wide receiver.
1. Redskins – If the Redskins had any sort of offense, you would see much more of them online. The Redskins top 3 cornerbacks have 95 speed or more and they are all young and can cover receiver you throw at them. The real strength of that secondary comes from their 2 safeties O.J. Atogwe and Laron Landry at 91 and 90 overall respectively. Laron Landry is the perfect Madden safety with 92 speed and 80 strength. You can play him in run defense, drop him back in a zone, man him up against any receiver on the field, and you can even bring him on a blitz. O.J. Atogwe is an ideal ballhawk with his 78 catch rating and 89 speed. Although the Redskins are rarely ever used, their secondary is the best in Madden 12.
Did we leave out a team you think deserves to be on this list? Do you think the order is wrong? Let us know what you think in the comments secton below.
The divisional round of the NFL playoffs have led to some pretty significant roster updates for the teams that participated. Rob Gronkowski who, based on this season’s performance, deserves to be a 99 overall more than anyone received a 2 point increase and is now sitting at 98. Lardarius Webb finally got a 3 point increase after his performance last week vs. the Texans. Tim Tebow continued his roller coaster of weekly roster updates and dropped 2 points to a 77 overall. The 49ers players netted a +14 point increase while the Broncos and the Packers were the big losers losing -8 points each.
This roster update will go live Friday, January 20th on the PlayStation 3 and the XBOX 360. You can take a look at the full breakdown below:
| Brandon Williams | LB | ARZ | Signs |
| Isaiah Williams | WR | ARZ | Signs |
| Dannell Ellerbe | LB | BAL | Decrease, from 71 to 70OVR |
| Ed Dickson | TE | BAL | Decrease, from 76 to 75OVR |
| Jameel McClain | LB | BAL | Decrease, from 81 to 80OVR |
| Michael Oher | OL | BAL | Decrease, from 86 to 84OVR |
| Marshal Yanda | OL | BAL | Decrease, from 93 to 92OVR |
| Pernell McPhee | DL | BAL | Increase, from 74 to 76OVR |
| Bryant McKinnie | OL | BAL | Increase, from 84 to 86OVR |
| Lardarius Webb | CB | BAL | Increase, from 84 to 87OVR |
| Joe Flacco | QB | BAL | Increase, from 87 to 88OVR |
| Anquan Boldin | WR | BAL | Increase, from 88 to 89OVR |
| Sam Koch | P | BAL | Increase, from 95 to 96OVR |
| Vonta Leach | FB | BAL | Increase, from 95 to 97OVR |
| Ed Reed | S | BAL | Increase, from 97 to 98OVR |
| Ray Lewis | LB | BAL | Increase, from 97 to 98OVR |
| Cecil Newton | OL | BAL | Signs |
| Jonathan Haggerty | WR | CHI | Signs |
| Kevin Jurovich | WR | CHI | Signs |
| Joshua Moore | CB | CHI | Signs |
| Buster Skrine | CB | CLE | Increased, from 65 to 68OVR |
| David Sims | S | CLE | Signs |
| Jon Kitna | QB | DAL | Removed from depth chart (retired) |
| Chris Greisen | QB | DAL | Signs |
| Baraka Atkins | LB | DAL | Signs |
| Brashton Satele | LB | DAL | Signs |
| C.J. Wilson | CB | DAL | Signs |
| Daniel Fells | TE | DEN | Decrease, from 69 to 68OVR |
| Lance Ball | HB | DEN | Decrease, from 71 to 69OVR |
| Chris Harris | CB | DEN | Decrease, from 71 to 70OVR |
| Rahim Moore | S | DEN | Decrease, from 73 to 71OVR |
| Russ Hochstein | OL | DEN | Decrease, from 75 to 74OVR |
| Zane Beadles | OL | DEN | Decrease, from 77 to 76OVR |
| Tim Tebow | QB | DEN | Decrease, from 79 to 77OVR |
| Joe Mays | LB | DEN | Decrease, from 80 to 78OVR |
| Andre Goodman | CB | DEN | Decrease, from 82 to 80OVR |
| Elvis Dumervil | DL | DEN | Decrease, from 91 to 89OVR |
| Brodrick Bunkley | DL | DEN | Increase, from 86 to 87OVR |
| Ryan Clady | OL | DEN | Increase, from 89 to 91OVR |
| Brian Iwuh | LB | DEN | Signs |
| Cornelius Ingram | TE | DEN | Signs |
| Xavier Omon | HB | DEN | Signs |
| David Binn | LS | DEN | Signs |
| Ugo Chinasa | DL | DET | Signs |
| Slade Norris | LB | DET | Signs |
| Jarrett Bush | CB | GB | Decrease, from 65 to 64OVR |
| Tim Masthay | P | GB | Decrease, from 78 to 76OVR |
| Ryan Grant | HB | GB | Decrease, from 80 to 79OVR |
| Charlie Peprah | S | GB | Decrease, from 81 to 80OVR |
| B.J. Raji | DL | GB | Decrease, from 85 to 84OVR |
| Scott Wells | OL | GB | Decrease, from 86 to 85OVR |
| Chad Clifton | OL | GB | Decrease, from 87 to 85OVR |
| Jordy Nelson | WR | GB | Decrease, from 89 to 88OVR |
| Tramon Williams | CB | GB | Decrease, from 91 to 90OVR |
| Charles Woodson | CB | GB | Decrease, from 94 to 93OVR |
| Clay Matthews | LB | GB | Decrease, from 95 to 94OVR |
| Greg Jennings | WR | GB | Decrease, from 96 to 95OVR |
| C.J. Wilson | DL | GB | Increase, from 66 to 68OVR |
| D.J. Smith | LB | GB | Increase, from 67 to 69OVR |
| Frank Zombo | LB | GB | Increase, from 70 to 71OVR |
| Brad Jones | LB | GB | Increase, from 74 to 75OVR |
| Ryan Pickett | DL | GB | Increase, from 84 to 85OVR |
| Desmond Bishop | LB | GB | Increase, from 86 to 88OVR |
| Jacoby Jones | WR | HOU | Carry decrease, from 76 to 68CAR |
| Quintin Demps | S | HOU | Decrease, from 70 to 69OVR |
| T.J. Yates | QB | HOU | Decrease, from 74 to 73OVR |
| Jacoby Jones | WR | HOU | Decrease, from 75 to 73OVR |
| Mike Brisiel | OL | HOU | Decrease, from 75 to 74OVR |
| Kevin Walter | WR | HOU | Decrease, from 76 to 75OVR |
| Connor Barwin | LB | HOU | Decrease, from 84 to 83OVR |
| Antonio Smith | DL | HOU | Decrease, from 87 to 86OVR |
| DeMeco Ryans | LB | HOU | Decrease, from 87 to 86OVR |
| Owen Daniels | TE | HOU | Decrease, from 87 to 86OVR |
| Eric Winston | OL | HOU | Decrease, from 91 to 90OVR |
| Tim Dobbins | LB | HOU | Increase, from 66 to 69OVR |
| Brooks Reed | LB | HOU | Increase, from 75 to 78OVR |
| Danieal Manning | S | HOU | Increase, from 78 to 80OVR |
| Duane Brown | OL | HOU | Increase, from 86 to 88OVR |
| J.J. Watt | DL | HOU | Increase, from 86 to 88OVR |
| Chris Myers | OL | HOU | Increase, from 91 to 92OVR |
| Johnathan Joseph | CB | HOU | Increase, from 92 to 93OVR |
| Arian Foster | HB | HOU | Increase, from 95 to 96OVR |
| Juaquin Iglesias | WR | HOU | Signs |
| Patrick Carter | WR | MIA | Signs |
| Mark Anderson | DL | NE | Decrease, from 77 to 76OVR |
| Ryan Wendell | OL | NE | Increase, from 63 to 67OVR |
| Sterling Moore | S | NE | Increase, from 64 to 67OVR |
| James Ihedigbo | S | NE | Increase, from 70 to 71OVR |
| Kyle Love | DL | NE | Increase, from 75 to 77OVR |
| Gerard Warren | DL | NE | Increase, from 76 to 78OVR |
| Rob Ninkovich | LB | NE | Increase, from 79 to 81OVR |
| Nate Solder | OL | NE | Increase, from 81 to 83OVR |
| Brian Waters | OL | NE | Increase, from 90 to 92OVR |
| Jerod Mayo | LB | NE | Increase, from 91 to 92OVR |
| Logan Mankins | OL | NE | Increase, from 94 to 96OVR |
| Rob Gronkowski | TE | NE | Increase, from 96 to 98OVR |
| Garrett Mills | FB | NE | Released |
| Lousaka Polite | FB | NE | Signs |
| Dorin Dickerson | WR | NE | Signs |
| Scott Shanle | LB | NO | Decrease, from 76 to 75OVR |
| Patrick Robinson | CB | NO | Decrease, from 77 to 76OVR |
| Brian De La Puente | OL | NO | Decrease, from 78 to 77OVR |
| Tracy Porter | CB | NO | Decrease, from 81 to 80OVR |
| Pierre Thomas | HB | NO | Decrease, from 82 to 81OVR |
| Jermon Bushrod | OL | NO | Decrease, from 83 to 82OVR |
| Malcolm Jenkins | S | NO | Decrease, from 83 to 82OVR |
| Jonathan Vilma | LB | NO | Decrease, from 85 to 84OVR |
| Sedrick Ellis | DL | NO | Decrease, from 85 to 84OVR |
| Aubrayo Franklin | DL | NO | Decrease, from 87 to 86OVR |
| Will Smith | HB | NO | Decrease, from 88 to 87OVR |
| Jahri Evans | OL | NO | Decrease, from 98 to 96OVR |
| Martez Wilson | LB | NO | Increase, from 70 to 71OVR |
| Cameron Jordan | DL | NO | Increase, from 77 to 79OVR |
| Zach Strief | OL | NO | Increase, from 80 to 81OVR |
| Shaun Rogers | DL | NO | Increase, from 82 to 83OVR |
| Darren Sproles | HB | NO | Increase, from 87 to 88OVR |
| Jimmy Graham | TE | NO | Increase, from 94 to 95OVR |
| Kevin Boothe | OL | NYG | Decrease, from 73 to 72OVR |
| Mathias Kiwanuka | LB | NYG | Decrease, from 78 to 77OVR |
| Chris Canty | DL | NYG | Decrease, from 83 to 82OVR |
| David Baas | OL | NYG | Increase, from 70 to 72OVR |
| Chase Blackburn | LB | NYG | Increase, from 72 to 73OVR |
| Linval Joseph | DL | NYG | Increase, from 75 to 77OVR |
| Mario Manningham | WR | NYG | Increase, from 78 to 79OVR |
| Michael Boley | LB | NYG | Increase, from 81 to 82OVR |
| Victor Cruz | WR | NYG | Increase, from 87 to 88OVR |
| Osi Umenyiora | DL | NYG | Increase, from 91 to 92OVR |
| Hakeem Nicks | WR | NYG | Increase, from 91 to 93OVR |
| Justin Tuck | DL | NYG | Increase, from 92 to 93OVR |
| Eli Manning | QB | NYG | Increase, from 93 to 94OVR |
| Nate Triplett | LB | SD | Signs |
| Donte Whitner | S | SF | Decrease, from 87 to 86OVR |
| Colin Jones | S | SF | Increase, from 63 to 64OVR |
| Justin Peelle | TE | SF | Increase, from 66 to 68OVR |
| Ricky Jean Francois | DL | SF | Increase, from 70 to 72OVR |
| Bruce Miller | FB | SF | Increase, from 75 to 76OVR |
| Tarell Brown | CB | SF | Increase, from 80 to 81OVR |
| Ahmad Brooks | LB | SF | Increase, from 81 to 82OVR |
| Dashon Goldson | S | SF | Increase, from 83 to 84OVR |
| Parys Haralson | LB | SF | Increase, from 84 to 85OVR |
| Alex Smith | QB | SF | Increase, from 85 to 86OVR |
| Joe Staley | OL | SF | Increase, from 87 to 88OVR |
| Aldon Smith | LB | SF | Increase, from 87 to 88OVR |
| Carlos Rogers | CB | SF | Increase, from 89 to 90OVR |
| Mike Iupati | OL | SF | Increase, from 89 to 91OVR |
| Vernon Davis | TE | SF | Increase, from 94 to 96OVR |
| Justin Smith | DL | SF | Increase, from 98 to 99OVR |
| Mike McNeill | TE | STL | Signs |
| Kendric Burney | CB | STL | Signs |
Every year there are a handful of teams that you never see played with. In Madden 12 there are 4 teams that stand out as completely unusable. The only way you will ever see these teams online is if you are playing a hardcore fan or an amazing player testing his skill by using the worst teams.
4. Bills – If you put aside the Bills running backs Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller you are left with really no usable talent in madden 12. Steve Johnson, while a good NFL receiver when he is not blaming God for his drops, does not translate well to madden. It is hard to put Brad Smith at QB unless you want to pick a wildcat play which really limits the Bills offense. Slow linebackers and safeties leave the defense vulnerable to big plays.On the bright side, you can use Brian Moorman and his 89 speed for some nifty fake punts.
3. Buccaneers – Josh Freeman and LeGarrette Blount suffered big ratings drops this year. The top offensive skill player other than Kellen Winslow is only an 80 overall. The Bucs don’t have a running back or wide receiver with any speed which limits their explosiveness on offense. Their best linebacker is a 77 overall which leaves a huge hole in the middle of the defense. While the corners are decent, the safeties are too slow and the defensive line isn’t anything special. The one bright spot is the backup quarterback Josh Johnson.
2. Rams – Steven Jackson and Brandon Lloyd are the only good players on the Rams offense. However, neither of them have the attributes that translates into dominant madden players which leaves the Rams in a tough spot. Sam Bradford is stuck at 80 overall and they have no decent tight ends to help him. On defense, you are limit to just Chris Long and James Laurinaitis but they have 75 and 76 speed respectively which really hurts. If you play with the Rams you will have a hard time beating anyone.
1. Browns – Taking the Browns to the Super Bowl is harder than ever. Joe Thomas is a stud but left tacklers don’t matter much in Madden. Peyton Hillis’ ratings have dropped like a rock since the season started. Joe Haden is a solid lockdown cornerback, but you can pick on every other member of the secondary. The Browns best chance of scoring is to line Josh Cribbs up 30 yards behind the line of scrimmage, snap the ball and throw it to him to set up a punt return look.
Are their any other teams that you never see played with? What teams do you refuse to use? Let us know by leaving a response in our comments section.