With one week of NFL action in the books, the first round of Madden Ultimate Team players has arrived for Madden 26 online players to enjoy. With these powerful cards come some powerful real-world performances, too, so we’re taking a look at the real-world performances last week that earned players their special versions. Here are five players who balled out in Week 1, and one who can feel hard done by to have not found a spot on the team.
Josh Allen Shines In Primetime
The number of marquee games that deliver can’t-miss action is a lot smaller relative to the number of marquee games on paper than fans would like, so it’s always a delight for football fans when the week’s big game is even better than advertised. While the Baltimore Ravens, Madden’s prohibitive Super Bowl favorites, appeared set to start the year off by validating the hype with a big win over one of the league’s other elite teams, Josh Allen and company had other plans.
While it’s fair to say that Lamar Jackson did not deserve to lose the game, with 209 yards and two scores through the air and 70 yards and another touchdown on the ground, Allen sure deserved to win it. The Bills’ signal caller went off for a league-best 394 yards through the air and two scores of his own, along with another 30 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, as the Bills capitalized on a late Derrick Henry fumble to stun the Ravens and overcome a 15 point deficit in the game’s final four minutes, cementing Allen as the most no-brainer selection this week.
Harold Landry III Dominant Despite Patriots Loss
While it’s always harder to make it onto performance-based team lists like Team of the Week in a losing effort, Harold Landry III made it hard to overlook him, even if his efforts came in a season-opening 20-13 defeat to Las Vegas for his New England Patriots. He was a constant presence in the Raiders’ backfield throughout the week, racking up four quarterback hits and three tackles for loss against Vegas.
He made five tackles on the day, four of them solo and one assisted, but the headline stat was in the big number that any rusher gets judged on: sacks. With 2.5 sacks on Geno Smith, Landry III ends Week 1 with sole possession of the NFL’s sack leader crown, and he’ll look to keep building on it in the weeks to come. Not a bad way to introduce yourself to a new fanbase for Landry III, who joined the Pats after seven seasons in Tennessee.
Nate Landman Adds Madden TotW to NFC DPotW
Speaking of good ways to introduce yourself to a new fanbase, Nate Landman wasted no time in ensuring that the Los Angeles faithful are glad to have him in blue and gold this season. In a game that lived up to the hype as one not for those fans who are more offensively inclined, it’s no surprise that the standout performer was on the defensive side of the ball.
Landman was colossal all day for the Rams, registering ten tackles in his debut for the team, six of them unassisted. While his day was impressive enough on basic counting stats alone, Landman saved the best and biggest for last. With Houston in possession of the ball and trailing by just five, a touchdown drive could have stolen the win for the Texas side, but Landman put a stop to that with one right cross to the ball as Dare Ogunbowale made a catch across the middle, punching the ball free for a game-winning turnover.
A Healthy Christian McCaffrey Is Still A Nightmare
Christian McCaffrey has been a player with question marks hanging over him pretty much since he first arrived in the NFL. What those questions have never been about, however, is what he can do on the field when healthy, as the San Francisco back has proven time and time again that he’s on the short list for any conversation about the most dangerous offensive weapons in the league when he can suit up.
His numbers on the ground were nothing spectacular, with just 3.1 yards per carry, even if 69 yards was still enough to have him near the top of the rushing charts after a quiet week on the ground around the NFL. What makes McCaffrey such a threat, as any fantasy player can tell you, is his ability to contribute through the air, too, and it was another classic McCaffrey showing on that front, with nine grabs on ten target for 73 yards. Add it together and you get a more McCaffrey-like line of 31 touches for 142 yards for a more impressive 4.6 yards per opportunity.
Keenan Allen Is Happy Back Home
Keenan Allen moving to the Bears last season was seen as a bit of a coup by Chicago, getting a proven veteran weapon to pair with rookie quarterback Caleb Williams. Unfortunately for Allen, the Bears, and fans of good football in general, that’s not how things went, with Allen held to just 744 yards in 15 games. That led to a quick return to the Chargers organization, where he had spent the prior 11 seasons of his career.
In seven seasons in Los Angeles, after the team moved from San Diego in 2017, Allen has never failed to top 1,000 yards in a season where he played the full slate of games. Through one week back in powder blue, he’s on pace again, having posted 68 yards and a score on his comeback re-debut.
One They Missed: Travis Etienne Jr. (RB – JAX)
Just three running backs posted 100-yard games in Week 1, and while it would be churlish to pretend Derrick Henry was not still the standout of the week with 169 yards, three big runs, and two scores, he also had the crucial fumble that enabled the Bills’ shocking comeback. That left Travis Etienne Jr. as a strong candidate for Team of the Week as the top rusher who didn’t also have one of the most consequential errors we’re likely to see all season.
Etienne ran all over the Carolina Panthers all day long. The highlight of the day was a 71-yard jaunt in the second quarter that would have seen him end the week joint-fifth in rushing yards alongside the Colts’ Jonathan Taylor. Even without that run, however, Etienne’s other carries would have seen him claim fifth by himself while still posting a respectable 4.8 yards per carry despite removing his best run from the equation. He can feel quite aggrieved about being deemed unworthy of a spot on the Team of the Week this time around.
The Full MUT Week One Team Of The Week
Here is everyone who made the team this week for the MUT Team of the Week:
88 OVR Tier
- Harald Landry III (LEDG – NE)
- Josh Allen (QB – BUF)
87 OVR Tier
- Isaiah Pola-Mao (SS – LV)
- Nate Landman (MIKE – LAR)
- Christian McCaffrey (HB – SF)
84 OVR Tier
- Evan Williams (FS – GB)
- RJ Harvey (HB – DEN)
- Roger McCreary (CB – TEN)
- Keenan Allen (WR – LAC)
- Jourdan Lewis (CB – JAX)
- B.J. Hill (DT – CIN)
- Michael Pittman (WR – IND)
Those are some of the best performances from around the NFL in Week 1, but what did you think of this week’s Team of the Week? Did EA get it right, or is there someone they missed who also deserved a shout-out?
