Madden NFL 12 Blog
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Madden NFL Ratings Report Card: Wild Cards
Posted by Aaron Boulding at 09:42AM on Tuesday, January, 10, 2012
Madden NFL Ratings Report Card: Wild Cards
These Wild Card Weekend games reminded everybody why this time of year is so special. The truth comes out. Pretenders are exposed, contenders are confirmed and miracles happen in the playoffs. That’s just how it is. While this coming weekend represents the last Saturday-Sunday pair of doubleheaders the storylines are irresistible.
For now it’s time to jump into the Madden Ratings Debate’s first foray into the playoffs. We’ve said the playoffs only intensify the scrutiny, where big plays are huge and miscues are crippling and Wild Card weekend didn’t let us down. Even with Tim Tebow’s heroics in Denver, I found Calvin Johnson’s performance against New Orleans most interesting. Coming into the game, I thought Calvin Johnson’s the one guy that can singlehandedly match the Saint’s firepower if he plays his best game. Yet his herculean effort turned out to be a footnote in New Orleans’ 45 point explosion. A 211 yard day by Megatron is supposed to be dominant enough to open up opportunities for other weapons in that Lions offense but it wasn’t. At least we know what Detroit needs to address in the offseason. We’re still in the postseason here though, so let the Madden Ratings Debate continue
CATCH AND RUN: Demaryious Thomas holds Tim Tebow’s future as Broncos quarterback in his hands. Late in Denver’s thrilling 29-23 OT Wild Card win over PIT, I made the observation that a receiver can be open but in DEN they have to be “Tebow Open” if they want to see the ball. If Thomas can continue to get Tebow Open and hang onto the ball, the Broncos will have no choice but to keep these two together while building up the rest of that team. Thomas’ 80 yard gut-punch to Steelers nation on the first play of overtime is already legendary and the second year Georgia Tech wideout showed outstanding run-after-the-catch ability that a guy like Tim Tebow needs to keep Denver’s passing game respectable. The Broncos aren’t the only team designing plays to get their playmakers in space with the ball, yet their offense is totally dependent on it. Demaryious Thomas needs a huge boost to his awareness after stepping into the clutch situation and pushing his team to a rematch against the Patriots. It’s hard to do anything with his other receiver ratings since he’s still so inconsistent and his athleticism (ACC, AGI and SPD) are all about where they’re supposed to be. However Thomas’ intangibles are on the rise.
QUIET STRENGTH: The entire defensive front for the New York Giants was dominant in their 24-2 home winover Atlanta, but I kept seeing defensive tackle collapsing the Falcons’ line of scrimmage on nearly every play. It doesn’t take a spectacular stat line from Joseph for him to be effective, just check what the playmakers around him were doing. Jason Pierre-Paul and young Giants linebackers were extremely effective containing Michael Turner and eventually freeing up Osi Umenyiora and company for pressure on Matt Ryan. Joseph is one of the more unheralded players in the Giants’ defensive line rotation but the second year player was huge in this playoff game. The Giants play around the line of scrimmage carried them to an unlikely Super Bowl win over the undefeated Patriots four years ago and they seem to be following the same gameplan this season. A more mature Eli Manning and the development of players like Linval Joseph into disruptive forces on defense could be another winning formula. Joseph needs a boost to his strength, power moves and block shedding ratings for doing it on the biggest stage of his young career. Justin Tuck, Pierre-Paul and Umenyiora are still the stars on that defense and Joseph is just one more weapon they can throw at the mighty Green Bay Packers in the next round.
ROOKIE REASON: In the Playoff Rookie QB Bowl TJ Yates and the Houston Texans took down Andy Dalton and the Cincinnati Bengals in what still felt like an upset even though Houston was at home and a higher seed. As hard as I am on game managers, Yates took that job seriously and didn’t make the back breaking mistakes that could’ve killed his team’s chances. Dalton had a handful and in the playoffs one turnover at the wrong time might as well be two. His lazy attempt to throw a ball away early in the second half instead became his second interception of the game and the kind of play that you expect from rookies….even if it’s one that had avoided them all season. Yates went for 159 yards and a touchdown to the still ailing Andre Johnson and definitely deserves a small bump to his AWR. His awareness started off so low that he deserves points for merely taking snaps. In the playoffs, one snap might as well equal two.
SMALL STEPS: During the game I said Arian Foster is the kind of guy who can make himself a household name by carrying his team deep into the playoffs. Heavy users of the NFL know this guy, but it’s still significant when a wider audience full of more people who don’t get a chance to see the Texans are introduced to one of the top running backs in the league in one of his better performances. The 153 rushing yards and two touchdowns to go with his 29 yard receiving yards are typical day the stadium for Foster. Now everybody knows it. Big day in a playoff game that your team wins? Foster might make me second guess my assertion that Maurice Jones Drew should be the new standard at running back. A couple more 1500 rushing yard, 50-catch seasons from Foster and he may become the guy. For now his intangibles as a running back all need to see a small boost. Ball carrier vision, elusiveness, awareness and carry rating all need to improve.
MEGATRON LIVES: He’s already the standard at wide receiver in my book and now Calvin Johnson just showed America that I’m right. Detroit’s defense was no match for New Orleans’ lethal air attack in that 45-28 Saints victory. Johnson, though, went for 211 receiving yards and made Matt Stafford look like he put up a good fight against Drew Brees and Robert Meachem. Upon further examination though, it was clear that Johnson was focused and well-prepared for his moment on the playoff stage right from the start. Stafford was throwing to Johnson with confidence even though Johnson appeared to be well covered. And that continued throughout the game. Stafford’s lasers would still be ascending by the time they got to Johnson downfield with a hapless defensive back draped all over him. None of this mattered though as Johnson snagged 12 catches on the day and two touchdowns. Larry Fitzgerald ascended to the top of the WR heap after his Cardinals nearly won the Super Bowl a couple of years ago and his heroics in the playoffs helped push him over the top and guys like Randy Moss to the side. The way I see it, even in a loss, Calvin Johnson just did the same thing. He’s the best WR in the game so let’s see him “99’d” up.
The Madden Ratings Debate is an evolving concept and we want to engage all of you on all of our platforms. The discussion keeps going on Facebook, Twitter (#MaddenRatingsDebate) and the Madden NFL forums. We want to give you all a bit of insight and peak behind the curtain to see how the ratings process work now that the playoffs are giving us some of the best football of the season. The bright lights are on, everybody’s watching and somebody has to sort this stuff out.
The Facebook Discussion generates a lot of heat each week throughout the season as fans like you make the case for their favorite players. Donny Moore tells us all the time he is paying attention to all of our conversations on all of our platforms so let your voice be heard. This week’s Madden NFL 12 podcast should be interesting. The ratings debate is happening all the time in living rooms, locker rooms and centers of football activity everywhere; we’re glad you’re joining us here to contribute.
Be sure to check in with me on Twitter (@aboulding) throughout the week as well because we’ve got a lot of playoff football left.
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Previously by This Author
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Aaron Boulding
Posted at 08:52AM on Tuesday, February, 07, 2012
Madden Ratings Debate: The Meaning of Clutch
Now that he’s done it on the biggest stage, the entire television-watching planet saw it and we’re clear on just what it means, somebody would need to tell us why Eli Manning does NOT deserve the Clutch trait. Right now, he’s the definition of the clutch QB. With that 88-yard game-winning drive where he connected on the biggest play of a surprisingly strong defensive battle (Mario Manningham’s 38 yarder) and went 4-5 the rest of the way, Manning made it look easy.
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Aaron Boulding
Posted at 06:48AM on Tuesday, January, 31, 2012
Madden Ratings Debate: Being Super
Because of the names on each iteration of the game, the season it represents and the dynamic ratings update system, it’s easy to underestimate the impact of a Super Bowl berth on player ratings. A clear example comes from last year when Pittsburgh and Green Bay’s defenses were rated coming into Madden NFL 12. As we entered the 2011 NFL season, Madden NFL 12’s player ratings at launch (late August) were based on 2010 NFL season performances.
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Aaron Boulding
Posted at 07:20AM on Tuesday, January, 17, 2012
Madden Ratings Debate: Championship Week
The Divisional round of the NFL playoffs didn’t disappoint, unless you’re a Saints, Texans, Broncos or Packers fan. San Francisco-New Orleans proved to be an all-time classic and just the kind of thrilling game we needed on Saturday since Denver-New England ended up being far less competitive than anybody expected. That the Texans-Ravens game was in doubt later than the Giants-Packers matchup has to be considered mildly surprising given that Green Bay was being discussed as a potentially undefeated team as late as Thanksgiving.
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