Every year, Madden players fire up Franchise mode and immediately get hit with a harsh reality: The game has its favorites and its doormats. The highest-rated squads will, more often than not, dominate the lower-rated ones over the course of a full season. But every now and then, the algorithm decides to throw a curveball, and suddenly a team destined for irrelevance in real life finds itself battling for playoff contention in the virtual world.
Using ESPN’s Power Rankings for the 2025 NFL season, we ran a sim in Madden 26 Franchise mode to see which teams could overperform this year. And here were the results. Mind you, we only ran one simulation of the 2025 NFL season just to see what kind of one-time chaos the game could provide.
Tennessee Titans Shock The World
ESPN Power Ranking: 32
Franchise Mode record in 2025: 10-7
Almost every professional pundit, when it comes to the NFL, thinks that the Titans will be hot garbage this year. And, to be fair, Madden 26 is of the same mind, as the Titans have the lowest overall of any team in the game. However, in one Franchise mode season, Tennessee shocked the world and posted a respectable 10-7 record, won the admittedly weak AFC South, and made the playoffs.
How the Titans became this formidable is beyond me. In total, they amassed only 5,092 yards on offense, the fourth-worst total in the league. Cam Ward had a solid first season, but nothing worth writing home about. Their defense was solid, allowing the tenth-fewest yards in the league. So maybe that was the secret sauce.
And in the playoffs, the Titans continued to shock.
In the Wild Card round, they squeaked out a 21-17 win over another shock participant (we’ll talk about that in a second). Eventually, they came across the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round, who did win, but not by much — the final was 30-27.
New England Patriots Take Advantage Of A Weak AFC
ESPN Power Ranking: 23
Franchise Mode Record in 2025: 10-7
The Patriots post-Tom Brady have been perpetually bad, and most don’t expect that to change this season. However, in the power vacuum that is the tightly contested AFC, Madden 26 does seem to think that certain undervalued teams can sneak into playoff contention. And the Patriots are among them.
Like the Titans, the Pats posted a respectable 10-7 record, which was good enough for a Wild Card playoff berth. They didn’t make it far, losing 21-17 to the aforementioned Titans in the first round, but playoff football is always something that will be celebrated, especially from fans of a team that hasn’t been there in a hot minute.
The key to New England’s success in our save was the brilliant quarterback play from the second-year starter Drake Maye. Over the course of 2025, Maye threw for 3,228 yards, 30 touchdowns, and completed 67% of his 445 attempts. He was also incredibly efficient with the ball, throwing only 8 interceptions all season. Defensively, they were 16th in the NFL in terms of yards given up, but that kind of middle-of-the-pack performance held up enough for an offense that lacked in sizzle but made up for it in steak.
The Carolina Panthers Are Best Of The Worst
ESPN Power Ranking: 27
Franchise Mode Record in 2025: 10-7
As of right now, the Panthers are considered by ESPN to be among the worst teams in the NFL this year. But nobody told that to the Panthers in Madden 26.
Despite two straight topsy-turvy years to start his young career, this Franchise mode save saw Bryce Young put up some respectable numbers in 2025. His TD-to-INT ratio was 25-7, an extremely efficient showing. Yardage-wise, it wasn’t anything special, with Young only throwing for 3,446 on the season, but it was good enough. Chuba Hubbard also carried the running game, rushing for 1,292 yards on 290 carries (a 4.5 AVG) and getting into the endzone 8 times.
It was on defense where Carolina truly shone, though. When it came to total yards given up, the Panthers finished third-best in the NFL. They also gave up the sixth-fewest amount of points.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to keep them in the playoffs for long. In the Wild Card round, Carolina was decimated by a score of 35-13 by the San Francisco 49ers. But there were plenty of positives to take away.
The Chicago Bears Finally Catch A Break
ESPN Power Ranking: 21
Franchise Mode Record in 2025: 9-8
The Bears have pretty much fumbled the bag each step of the way in this half-decade-long rebuild they’ve been in the midst of. A huge part of that is because they have failed to develop their young QBs. Justin Fields was ousted after having very little in the way of chances or the infrastructure to succeed. And now, Caleb Williams seems to be the most recent case study.
But in Madden 26 Franchise mode, the Bears (and Williams) finally caught a break.
While they were far from MVP numbers, Williams did his job under center, throwing 25 touchdowns to 10 interceptions, completing 69% of his 422 attempts, and amassing 3,282 yards. On the ground, the Bears finished sixth-best in the NFL by compiling 1,915 yards on the ground. And on defense, they finished seventh-best in terms of yards given up. Their pass defense was especially potent, snagging 13 INTs on the year.
Overall, it was good enough to get them to 9-8 on the season and qualify for the playoffs through a Wild Card berth. But the dream came to a crushing end when they were blown out of the water 37-16 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The New York Jets Somehow Get Into The Playoffs
ESPN Power Ranking: 28
Franchise Mode Record in 2025: 9-8
How the Jets managed to squeak into the playoffs in this Franchise mode save is beyond me. Offensively, they finished 21st in the league. Defensively, they weren’t much better, finishing 20th. So I dove into the stats.
Quarterback Justin Fields had a respectable season when throwing the ball, finishing with 27 touchdowns to 11 interceptions, 3,632 yards, and also rushed for 335 yards and 3 touchdowns. Running back Breece Hall was also able to put together a solid season, amassing 1,028 yards and 12 TDs. So offensively, it definitely seemed to be a situation where the whole was better than the sum of its parts.
By the end of the regular season, the Jets finished 9-8 and grabbed the last available Wild Card spot in the AFC. The playoff dream would be crushed pretty quickly when a visit to Buffalo resulted in a 34-21 loss, but nobody had Gang Green making the playoffs to begin with, so small moral victories, I guess…
Which teams in your Madden 26 Franchise mode saves are overperforming? Let us know in the comments!
