Madden ’11 Rates the Chicago Bears
By DeCon
It is almost time for the second Christmas Eve in my world and that is the night before Madden ’11 is released!!! Now, I don’t go and wait in lines at midnight and take the whole next day off to play the game. I do have a day job. However, on my way home from work on August 14, I will make a stop to pick up the latest installment of the greatest video game franchise of ALL TIME!!!
So, how do the Bears rate??? In a word…SHITTY!!! I guess the Bears will have some work to do to improve their ratings when updated rosters and ratings are released during the season. Here are some highlights after the jump:
QB – Jay Cutler checks in with a respectable overall rating of 83. His toughness is rated at 85 which is 3 points lower than rookie QB Dan LeFevour. This makes NO SENSE. Apparently, the Madden geniuses weren’t watching JC take a freakin’ beating last year due to inept OL play for most of the season. One thing you can say about JC is he can take a lick. LeFevour is a rookie who hasn’t taken a shot in the NFL yet and let’s hope we don’t need to test his toughness during the 2010 campaign. Caleb Hanie, the Bears backup QB actually rated 2 points lower than LeFevour in his overall rating (66 vs 64). I repeat, let’s hope we don’t need to see if the Madden geniuses were right about this either.
WR – Devin Hester and Johnny Knox check in at 78 and 75, respectively for overall ratings, but their speed is right on at 98 and 97, respectively which is lights out speed in the game. I, for one, expect their overall scores to be adjusted upwards when rosters and ratings are updated during the season. Let’s face it, for the Bears to have a shot this season, those ratings better go up!
RB – Matt Forte and Chester Taylor are rated at 86 and 79 overall, respectively. Not bad ratings. In fact Forte’s rating is higher this year than last year. I hope the Madden guys know something we don’t, because Forte’s sophomore season left a little to be desired. I think he will bounce back, but I won’t be drafting him on any of my fantasy teams this year. He killed me last year.
Defense – Free agent stud, Julius Peppers has an overall rating of 95, which seems about right. At least it better be for the paper Pepp scored in the offseason. At LB, Lance Briggs has surpassed Brian Urlacher at his overall rating of 92 compared to Urlacher’s 90. Although Urlacher’s toughness rating of 97 seems high considering he missed all but 2 quarters of last season. Briggs has a toughness rating of 92, even though he has been a stalwart on defense for the last few seasons. Our SLB position seems to be one the Madden guys don’t like as the 2 likely candidates to start at that position, Pisa Tinoisamoa and Nick Roach have subpar overall ratings of 73 and 70, respectively. If the Bears D is going to get back to form, we need production from whomever starts at SLB. Charles Tillman and Chris Harris are the only 2 DBs to have ratings in the 80’s at 85 and 81, respectively. For a team that prides itself on takeaways, we need these guys to play WAY above these ratings for the D to succeed.
Special Teams – Robbie Gould has an outstanding overall rating of 95 and this one seems nuts on. Solid Gould is the most accurate kicker in NFL history and this season should do nothing but cement that achievement.
Overall the Bears rank as the 20th best team in the video game which would likely put them out of the playoffs if you ran a season on autopilot. Fortunately for the Bears, the season is not decided while I waste time and brain cells playing the game and there is time for them to improve ratings in the game and change the minds of the many pundits who think the Bears will finish no better than third in the division. You can check out all the ratings HERE.
CAN I GET AN AMEN!?!?!?!?
The DeCon has spoken, so let it be written, so let it be done!!!
Hit me with your comments or send me an e-mail at beargoggles.decon@gmail.com or at Twitter @decon76.
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