Madden 09 Player Ratings: NFC East

The NFC East is the most competitive division in football. It seems that you can't see an NFC playoff picture without two teams from that division. Whenever I play a Madden Franchise, there are three NFC east teams in the playoff run. So, I have chosen this division to evaluate second.

Washington Redskins















I like that Todd Collins is better than Jason Campbell. Campbell has more upside, but Collins definitely has a better grasp of the game. Collins' awareness will be higher than Campbell, but Campbell will have the better passing stats. I think Portis deserves more especially considering he ran very well behind a second string line. If the Skins O-line is healthy they will be one of the better ones in Madden. Chris Cooley looks about right and I think Santana Moss and Antwaan Randle El look right if they are in the Skins system. However, with the addition of Thomas and Kelly, Randle El and Moss will greatly improve...as will Campbell. Everything on the defense looks pretty good. They will have to add Erasmus James and Stuart Schweigert, but other than that I would say the Skins' defense is pretty true to reality.

Philadelphia Eagles















I think that Mcnabb is justified at 92. I like him, but he does have trouble playing when hurt. I think he will come out and be a fantasy superstar and a great QB for Madden. Westbrook looks as if he will dominate, his receiver stats will dominate. Sadly enough the receiver corps looks true to life. Reggie Brown needs to step up and be a #1 for Mcnabb. That oline looks great considering they allowed 12 sacks in one game. The Philly front seven looks pretty rough, but their secondary with three corners over 90 and Dawkins will be tough to play against.

New York Giants















The Super Bowl Champions deserve this high a rating. They did what many other teams had failed to do...beat the Patriots. Some would say Eli Manning does not deserve that high a rating just based on his finish, but I think he does. Watching his games at the end almost all of his passes hit the target, but a ridiculous amount of them we dropped. Despite that Burress has a 96 rating...maybe a little high, but I feel he can live up to that rating. The Running Back corp looks pretty good and Shockey and Boss are justified at 94 and 80. We'll see if Strahan returns and Umenyoria looks as dominate as he is in real life. The rest of the defense isn't anything to ecstatic about, but they will get the job done. Overall the Super Bowl Champs look like they could do very well in Madden.

Dallas Cowboys















The Cowboys had more Pro Bowlers than the Patriots and it looks like they could be the dominant team in Madden this year. Romo is very good at throwing to TO...and vacationing before career defining games. Does he deserve a 94 after a poor playoff showing and five picks against a sub par Buffalo secondary? He did throw a lot of touchdowns in the regular season though so I'll begrudge the rating. TO, Witten, and Barber are justifiably awesome. The O-line looks good. The defense doesn't look to bad either. The addition of Zach Thomas makes the linebacker corps fierce. I'll be interested to see what ratings Pacman will receive (if he is even in the game). Overall the Cowboys will cap off a very competitive division with fierce talent.

Overall the NFC east looks very competitive, as it is in real-life. On-line franchise mode will only add to the fierce competition of this division. Redskins fans will be able to take on the role of GM and develop their own image of the Redskins ...one that will wreak havoc on division rivals. However, if the GMs decide to keep things as is, they will have very good teams. From the looks of it, the NFC east will dominate Madden franchise modes in Madden 09.

Madden 09 Player Ratings: AFC North

A link to the new Madden 09 Rankings have come out and I am intrigued by many of the ratings. Many are spot on and others are just...well not so on the spot. Here is a breakdown of some of the ratings. http://www.pastapadre.com/2645/madden-09-player-and-team-ratings

Pittsburgh Steelers














This may not be final, but I do like what I see here. Roethlisberger has a 95 overall and as long as he has good Throwing Power I will be happy. Considering that Willie Parker was the leading rusher until he got hurt I think he deserves a little better than a 93 overall. Ward and Holmes deserve higher ratings. Unfortunately the O-line looks about right, but so does Miller. I like that people are giving Aaron Smith the respect he deserves. Anthony Smith should be higher. He got picked on in the Pats game, but played well on many other occasions. He is largely responsible for the Bengals aerial attack not dominating the Steelers. Lamar Woodley looks about right, but he may get upgraded in an update. PS: Where is Lawrence Timmons?

Cleveland Browns















Derek Anderson may deserve a higher rating, not much higher, but still better than 88. Jamal Lewis is a 90 overall and while that seems low, his power running will be higher than most RBs. Stallworth deserves a higher rating, but Braylon Edwards is perfect. I think Winslow is right. The Offensive Line for Cleveland is phenomenal, as it is in real life. I will be interested to see in the next few days whether Bentley will deserve a higher rating. The defense looks about right. The safety corps could use some improvement, but overall the Cleveland Defense looks about right.

Baltimore Ravens















Troy Smith got screwed over in this projection. Troy Smith put on a decent showing at the end of the season that was a hell of a lot better than Kyle Boller. Also, he has proven he can play in the NFL unlike Brady Quinn who hasn't but has an 82 overall rating! Smith, who bested Quinn for the Heisman, deserves better. The rest of the offense looks about right. We'll see if Ogden stays around another year however. The Ravens Defense looks fearsome as ever, but justifiably so. Overall Baltimore looks about right, minus Troy Smith who got egregiously wronged.

Cincinnati Bengals















Carson Palmer is a good QB. He leaves his receivers out to dry and I, and statistics, say that Roethlisberger is a better QB. I don't think Palmer deserves that high a rating. Rudi Johnson had a bad year and did not deserve to drop that much in his overall rating. The receiver corp is just right. Utecht might deserve a higher rating and the oline looks about right. Unfortunately the Bengal defense is pretty close to reality. Leon Hall may deserve a little higher rating, but overall I think EA got it right.

The AFC North is going to have a rough season with their ridiculously difficult schedules. I think that they can handle it, I only hope that the difficulty of the year does not hurt their ratings in Madden 10. However, in Madden things will be interesting. User skills can make up for poor rankings. Any player can make any team dominant, it is just a matter of will power...and careful use of the precision passing.