Madden 12: We May Have Underestimated Cam Newton

[TylerDurden]

http://www.wcnc.com/sports/football/Madden-12-We-may-have-underestimated-Cam-Newton-129680748.html

His rating is to go up from 77 to an 81 overall. LOL. Awesome, I'm loving this...

Hope he doesn't have too many rough spots this year as they update it each week based on the prior week's performance.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Cam Newton played a great game Sunday afternoon. Not exactly

great, but still great.

Newton, Carolina’s rookie quarterback, threw for 422 yards in his first NFL regular season game, breaking a record set by Otto Graham in 1950. His stock may have gone up in the eyes of Panthers fans, but his rating will also go up in a more tangible way: from 77 to 81 on Madden NFL ’12.

In that video game, players are rated on a scale of 0 to 100. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, for example, is a 99. Rookies are rated lower than veterans simply because they’re unproven, says Donny Moore, EA Sports’ Madden NFL Ratings Czar (he has that on his business card).

Newton, the number one overall pick, didn’t exactly have the Czar’s toes a’tapping at first. Cam didn’t crack Madden’s list of the top ten rookies. As we’ve learned from Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, people who come up with ratings don’t always get it right.

Before this week, Newton’s best attribute, according to Madden ’12, was his throwing power (94). His weakest was awareness (49). Yesterday, Newton won rave reviews for his poise. He hit his targets consistently, completing 24 of 37 passes. Moore says Newton’s accuracy rating will go up across the board. Madden ’12 will now consider him to be a better quarterback than Donovan McNabb.

All of this surprised the Czar and EA Sports’ team of guys who sit around, week after week, digesting statistics and watching football to diagnose how good NFL players really are.

“I think people were expecting [Newton’s] ground game to lead the way,” said Moore. “And then we all went 'whoa,' this guy is looking like a legit passing quarterback.”

Moore calls Newton’s four-point jump “significant.”

He’s not the only guy whose ratings went up. Steve Smith, who caught two touchdown passes and picked up 178 yards on Sunday, will go from 89 to 91. Wide receiver Brandon LaFell’s rating will increase from 71 to 73. The biggest ratings jumps tend to go to unproven players who prove themselves. Houston’s Arian Foster was a fourth-string running back last year before he exploded on to the scene. Over the course of the season, his Madden rating went from a 67 to a 92.

[brandon_87]

lol bought it the day it came out but was waiting for final rosters to play it... should be fun

[Jrock88]

nice, but I read further down and it says DWill is going DOWN! After one down game? He's already underrated...

[Cyclonus]

Cam is the only reason I'm gonna go buy it........when I can get it used for cheap!

[TylerDurden]

lol bought it the day it came out but was waiting for final rosters to play it... should be fun

Yeah, I'm excited for the ratings boost. I was a top player a couple years back (like top 500) and I barely played it... I've been playing an offline franchise, then played my first online games the other night... Lost the first one thanks to 3 fumbles. Beat the second guy 42-14 with us, he was using the Pats, and I was only awarded 12 skill points, lol.

I was pissed and didn't know if I wanted to play online anymore.

Now I do, lol. Can't wait to see them add guys like Tutu, Butler, and Thomas Williams too.

[brandon_87]

Yeah, I'm excited for the ratings boost. I was a top player a couple years back (like top 500) and I barely played it... I've been playing an offline franchise, then played my first online games the other night... Lost the first one thanks to 3 fumbles. Beat the second guy 42-14 with us, he was using the Pats, and I was only awarded 12 skill points, lol.

I was pissed and didn't know if I wanted to play online anymore.

Now I do, lol. Can't wait to see them add guys like Tutu, Butler, and Thomas Williams too.

lol madden 09 i was top 25, madden 10...top 100, madden 11, i played 4 games online and said this game sucks and never played it again.....

they changed the way the game was played and now its lame

[PantherPhann89]

I like it, I like it. Better QB play on the field and in Madden.

[Gipetto]

2k sports would have gotten it right the first time

[KaseKlosed]

You guys played on xbox? or PS3?? I destroy people on PS3 with the panthers...I make people disconnect their systems lol

[CatMan72]

Now if they could just get rid of his mustache in the game...

[ItsPantone278]

The roster update this past Friday had everyone but hangman on it.

[ItsPantone278]

Oh yeah, there was no butler, but they did remove AE's dreads and made him like 50x blacker. Dude looks like a god now.

[chef17]

You guys played on xbox? or PS3?? I destroy people on PS3 with the panthers...I make people disconnect their systems lol

People get pissed and quit or disconnect when they can't stop the sorry Panthers :lol:

[adub2b23]

I play on the ps3, my psn is adub2b23 or adub2b23-, forget which one it is..