The Carolina Panthers and New England Patriots will enter the 2016 season as the best teams in the NFL, according to Madden NFL 17. EA Sports has revealed the Overall Ratings for all 32 teams, as well as how they stack up on both offense and defense.
The best offensive team in the league is the Pittsburgh Steelers, who in real life would feature an incredibly potent attack if their players could keep from getting suspended. In the video game, they're all on the base roster, so the suspensions are not factors in the ratings. Defensively, the Kansas City Chiefs rate the highest, rather than the Broncos or Seahawks.
The Super Bowl Champs may feel slighted by the way EA Sports evaluated their team. The loss of Peyton Manning, who had an awful season but was still rated highly by the video game, from an already lethargic offensive attack resulted in the Broncos having an offense worse than all teams in the league besides the Bears.
MORE MADDEN RATINGS: QBs | WRs | RBs | TEs | LBs | Rookies
Broncos are tied with Titans rated 82 in Madden NFL 17. Wonder if defending champs have ever started rated the same as a 3-13 team before
— Bryan Wiedey (@pastapadre) August 4, 2016
Overall
New England Patriots (87)
Carolina Panthers (87)
Green Bay Packers (85)
Seattle Seahawks (85)
Kansas City Chiefs (85)
Pittsburgh Steelers (85)
Arizona Cardinals (84)
Dallas Cowboys (84)
Cincinnati Bengals (84)
Oakland Raiders (84)
Baltimore Ravens (83)
Denver Broncos (82)
Tennessee Titans (82)
Minnesota Vikings (81)
Buffalo Bills (81)
Atlanta Falcons (81)
Houston Texans (81)
San Diego Chargers (81)
New York Giants (80)
Philadelphia Eagles (80)
Detroit Lions (80)
New Orleans Saints (80)
Washington Redskins (79)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (79)
Jacksonville Jaguars (78)
Los Angeles Rams (78)
Indianapolis Colts (78)
Miami Dolphins (77)
New York Jets (77)
San Francisco 49ers (75)
Chicago Bears (74)
Cleveland Browns (73)
Another way to evaluate the teams is to look at which rosters have the most/least players rated 90+ and 80+ in the league. The Patriots, Seahawks and Cowboys shape up the strongest, while the 49ers, Bears and Chargers have the least talented rosters.
MORE: Winners and losers of Madden 17 player ratings
Offense
Pittsburgh Steelers (93)
Carolina Panthers (91)
Arizona Cardinals (91)
Green Bay Packers (89)
New England Patriots (89)
Dallas Cowboys (89)
Atlanta Falcons (89)
Oakland Raiders (89)
Cincinnati Bengals (87)
Baltimore Ravens (85)
Tennessee Titans (85)
Seattle Seahawks (83)
San Diego Chargers (83)
Buffalo Bills (83)
New York Giants (83)
Washington Redskins (83)
Philadelphia Eagles (83)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (83)
New Orleans Saints (83)
Houston Texans (81)
Detroit Lions (81)
Kansas City Chiefs (81)
Minnesota Vikings (81)
Jacksonville Jaguars (81)
Indianapolis Colts (81)
Miami Dolphins (81)
Los Angeles Rams (79)
New York Jets (77)
Cleveland Browns (75)
San Francisco 49ers (75)
Denver Broncos (75)
Chicago Bears (73)
Defense
Kansas City Chiefs (93)
Denver Broncos (91)
New England Patriots (91)
Seattle Seahawks (89)
Cincinnati Bengals (87)
Minnesota Vikings (87)
Carolina Panthers (87)
Oakland Raiders (85)
Green Bay Packers (85)
San Diego Chargers (85)
Houston Texans (85)
Tennessee Titans (85)
Buffalo Bills (83)
New York Jets (83)
Dallas Cowboys (83)
New York Giants (83)
Philadelphia Eagles (83)
Detroit Lions (83)
Baltimore Ravens (83)
Pittsburgh Steelers (81)
Arizona Cardinals (81)
Washington Redskins (81)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (81)
Jacksonville Jagaurs (81)
Miami Dolphins (81)
Los Angeles Rams (81)
Atlanta Falcons (79)
New Orleans Saints (79)
San Francisco 49ers (79)
Indianapolis Colts (79)
Chicago Bears (77)
Cleveland Browns (77)
"Madden NFL 17" features a brand new commentary team, new special moves for ball-carriers, considerable improvements to AI on defense and lots of overdue work to special teams. Rob Gronkowski is on the cover of the game releasing Aug. 23. Amazon Prime members get 20 percent off pre-orders for both the Standard and Deluxe editions.
Bryan Wiedey posts sports gaming news and analysis daily at Pastapadre.com, is co-founder of the sports gaming site HitThePass.com, hosts the Press Row Podcast, and be reached on Twitter @Pastapadre.