Do Colts have to win Super Bowl to get realistic ratings?

[CVELL]

Obviously I'm a Colt. Whenever I watch the Colts, I always catch myself wondering what the Madden Developers are watching that justifies the horrible ratings the Colts have on the game. Yes, they have an overall of 93, but that has to be a number just given to them, its not a result of the ratings.

The ratings guy actually lowered an offensive lineman, to raise the actual starter to a 66 overall. The best LB we have is a 83, then drops to a 71.

I can go on for hours, but let's get to the point.

It is obvious that Madden is set up to use SPEED as the defining attribute in the game. The teams that the Game Developers say are good, all have an abundance of speed that will make more of an impact than any other rating.

Percy Harvin has always been effective on the game because regardless of his Route Running or Catch ratings, he has always been fast.

It is also obvious to me that you use tackling as a way to translate "bad" defense. Why? Who thought that up? The Colts destroy Madden's predisposition philosophy. The Colt's may not do what the Cowboy's do to be successful on Defense, but they do what they do and that's tackle and use their SPPED to make up for being undersized.

Madden has the Colt's WAAAY too slow on Madden. I just heard Merrill Hodge say the Colt's have the fastest Defense left in the Play-offs. HMMMMM.

[ucas005]

While I agree the Colts are a tad bit underrated in the game without Peyton Manning (one of the greatest QBs of all-time) the Colts are just an above average team in real life. Peyton could turn the Bucs into a playoff team.

[KBLover]

Speed isn't the be all in this game.

The Ravens don't have a ton of speed on defense and they do just fine for me in stopping the run, and struggle in pass defense. A lot like real life.

Likewise with Mason - he was my leading receiver in my last franchise, he was #2 (behind Rice) in real life and still effective, and his speed is "slow" for a WR.

I started a Colts franchise, they have an 89 OVR (93 OFF, 84 DEF).

I sorted all their positions by SPD vs the whole NFL:

The only area the Colts lack above average speed is their LBs.

Your DEs were both #1
Sanders was #4
CB Jennings was high up. Rushing is above average, but not great.

I looked up the Colts on football reference.

Session was your leading solo tackler - and he's the fastest of your LBs. Brackett was #2 - not fast, but he has superior AWR and TAK. Bethea was next - is quick (91 ACC) and has solid AWR and TAK.

BTW, Profootballfocus.com rates the Colts as, overall, the 3rd WORST defense in the NFL. They are very bad against the run, solid at getting sacks, and a little below average at pass coverage (so pass rush is their best defense against the pass - which we all knew with Mathis and Freeney and probably Sanders on a blitz or two!)

Football Reference has the Colts at below average against the run (4.3 ypc and 126 ypg), and even that seemed inconsistent as the Colts allowed 200+ yds on the ground 3 times and over 130 a few more times.

So I then played a franchise game with the Colts. I would expect that my DL would struggle, except on at DE which should be getting constant pressure, especially against the pass. The DT didn't do much in reality so I don't expect much in-game. Bethea and Sanders should be huge for me, acting as much like LBs as Safeties.

I played the first half of a preseason game (until the backups came in).

I couldn't run for squat - it was against Minnesota, so that's part of it, but the blocks didn't seem to hold up. This was different from my Ravens franchise where the guys just missed assignments or couldn't get into position to make the blocks. These guys got their blocks...but couldn't sustain them.

Stopping Peterson was hard. I had a better time stopping Favre (picked him off on the first possession using a zone blitz and one of my "slow" LBs got the INT when Favre forced it to Kleinsasser). However, the tackles on AP were made...by Brackett. He and Sanders were always in on the "pro-tak" piles AP caused a lot.

Passing - geez, I could get spoiled with this guy. Threw any route with ease. Hit Wayne in the endzone after watching his "slow" self stutter step and then burn past the WR - I hit him in the hole - TD.

To me, the Colts played very much like their real selves. I was going up and down the field with Manning (complete with good protection as he tends to get in real life) and had a hard time getting the running game going and the pass defense was best with my splitting Freeney, Mathis wide and rushing wide to force the T to win 1-on-1, which was hard for them, just like real life.

[nighttrain32]

The Colts play good football but they're not the #1 defense. The Colts have had quite a few games where their defense can't get the other team off of the filed. An 84 not a bad defense.

[Lauxman]

Colts should get a running game and a run defense. Other teams smash my Jags, but the Colts total confusion on Run D has been historically the reason the AFC South is competitive. Even if the Colts usually win in the end.

[Meast21Forever]

Quote: Originally Posted by KBLover

Speed isn't the be all in this game. The Ravens don't have a ton of speed on defense and they do just fine for me in stopping the run, and struggle in pass defense. A lot like real life. Likewise with Mason - he was my leading receiver in my last franchise, he was #2 (behind Rice) in real life and still effective, and his speed is "slow" for a WR. I started a Colts franchise, they have an 89 OVR (93 OFF, 84 DEF). I sorted all their positions by SPD vs the whole NFL: The only area the Colts lack above average speed is their LBs. Your DEs were both #1 Sanders was #4 CB Jennings was high up. Rushing is above average, but not great. I looked up the Colts on football reference. Session was your leading solo tackler - and he's the fastest of your LBs. Brackett was #2 - not fast, but he has superior AWR and TAK. Bethea was next - is quick (91 ACC) and has solid AWR and TAK. BTW, Profootballfocus.com rates the Colts as, overall, the 3rd WORST defense in the NFL. They are very bad against the run, solid at getting sacks, and a little below average at pass coverage (so pass rush is their best defense against the pass - which we all knew with Mathis and Freeney and probably Sanders on a blitz or two!) Football Reference has the Colts at below average against the run (4.3 ypc and 126 ypg), and even that seemed inconsistent as the Colts allowed 200+ yds on the ground 3 times and over 130 a few more times. So I then played a franchise game with the Colts. I would expect that my DL would struggle, except on at DE which should be getting constant pressure, especially against the pass. The DT didn't do much in reality so I don't expect much in-game. Bethea and Sanders should be huge for me, acting as much like LBs as Safeties. I played the first half of a preseason game (until the backups came in). I couldn't run for squat - it was against Minnesota, so that's part of it, but the blocks didn't seem to hold up. This was different from my Ravens franchise where the guys just missed assignments or couldn't get into position to make the blocks. These guys got their blocks...but couldn't sustain them. Stopping Peterson was hard. I had a better time stopping Favre (picked him off on the first possession using a zone blitz and one of my "slow" LBs got the INT when Favre forced it to Kleinsasser). However, the tackles on AP were made...by Brackett. He and Sanders were always in on the "pro-tak" piles AP caused a lot. Passing - geez, I could get spoiled with this guy. Threw any route with ease. Hit Wayne in the endzone after watching his "slow" self stutter step and then burn past the WR - I hit him in the hole - TD. To me, the Colts played very much like their real selves. I was going up and down the field with Manning (complete with good protection as he tends to get in real life) and had a hard time getting the running game going and the pass defense was best with my splitting Freeney, Mathis wide and rushing wide to force the T to win 1-on-1, which was hard for them, just like real life.

great post man. i agree 100%. playing with manning is like a dream. i've done it two games and scored over 50 both times. his accuracy is amazing. i'm not used to playing with talent like that. and the speed thing didn't seem to be an issue when i played on defense. i usually control ends or the mlb, and with freeney i got 2 sacks, one with mathis and had double digit tackles with the mlb. covering teams tight ends with linebackers was my biggest defensive issue, but it is with most teams.

i think the colts are easily one of the best teams in the nfl and that's reflected in madden pretty accurately.

[NFCBeast55]

It's annoying how they're consistently average when I sim the 2009 season.

[sportyguyfl31]

There's nothing wrong with The Colts in this game.