
Originally Posted by
FOXHOUND
There's little reason to counter that a 97 rating for Eli going into the 2012 season is more than accurate, if anything it's low based on Madden's previous ratings.
The final roster update in Madden 12 had Eli at a 98 overall, so really they've dropped him a point from where he was last rated. Why did they do this? What's the reasoning? Did he get worse since the Super Bowl? Madden was more than fair with that move, although coming off another SB win and another SB MVP where he outplayed Brady and the favored Pats has him more than proven by anyone but an idiot.
But why should Eli get a slight drop and not these other quarterbacks? Rodgers was upset in his first game, a game where he and his offense played incredibly sloppy. No loss points for that? Really?
Brady played well in the SB overall, but his INT to Blackburn was horrible, he started the first passing play of the game by holding onto the ball too long in his own endzone and ending up with a safety and as mentioned he missed a wide open Wes Welker on a throw that would have all but guaranteed a victory. That doesn't warrant a drop by a point or two like Eli got? Why, because his most recent SB ring was won SEVEN years ago?
Brees had an incredible season, really he did. But let's not pretend like we aren't aware of his advantages in that dome, and how much better he and his offense are there. The Saints also had an incredibly easy away schedule, @GB on 9/8 (before it gets cold too), @Jac, @Car, @TB, @STL (DOME BONUS), @ATL (DOME BONUS), @Ten and @MIN (DOME BONUS). That's quite a lot of dome games, 11, and quite a lot of god awful pass defenses for those road games. Also, great weather games all around. His season, as amazing as it was, came as a perfect storm. A ton of dome games, an incredibly easy schedule and a lockout season that saw passing numbers inflated across the board.
Personally, I would rate them going into the season (key detail),
Rodgers 98
Brady 97
Eli 97
Brees 97
Rodgers will always have his leg advantage over these QBs, so he should always be a notch ahead.
Brady is still arguably the best QB in the game, I don't think he got enough overall credit for what he did with that roster. With Lloyd joining them I expect Brady to regain his best QB crown this season.
Eli coming off an incredible season with arguably the best clutch season in NFL history between tying the 4th quarter TD record and having another 4QC in the Super Bowl. Played an extremely tough schedule with a team ravaged by injury, went through as tough a playoff run as you can expect, and still came out on top.
Brees is a passing machine, regardless of dome/schedule assistance. However, he did get out dueled a bit by Alex Smith in that playoff game, although it wasn't for lack of effort on his part.
Start them out relatively the same, let their play this year separate the group.