The annual release of the ‘Madden’ franchise is creeping closer and as a part of the annual cycle, the game developer responsible, EA Sports, has conducted a steady drip campaign on player rankings over the course of the last several weeks to help draw interest and attention to the game. And they just dropped one of their biggest draws: the team overall rankings.
Where do the Miami Dolphins stack up in the first release of this year’s game?
If you were hoping for Miami to be a juggernaut team, we’ve got bad news for you. EA Sports has the Dolphins ranked as a 79 overall; a figure that is tied for 22nd best in the NFL. The Super Bowl champion Buccaneers top out this year’s rankings with a 92 overall and the Dolphins’ AFC East rival, the New York Jets, bottom out this year’s team rankings with a 72 overall.
The Dolphins’ defense is also give a score of 79 out of 100, although that ranking is better relative to the rest of the NFL. A 79 overall defense is good for T-18th in the game. Offensively? Look away, Dolphins fans. EA Sports ranks Miami’s offense a 70; the second-worst score given out in all of football and only one point better than the New York Jets.
Provided Miami’s early training camp performance of explosive plays carries over the the real games, we probably won’t see Miami sitting with the second-worst offense in all of football this upcoming year for very long. But until the Dolphins apply their abilities in such a setting, it seems as though the doubt will be ever present; even among the game developers at EA Sports.
