The latest “Madden NFL 20” ratings have come out, and many were surprised that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was not the highest-rated signal-caller in the game made famous by EA Sports. Based on the ratings, Brady got a grade of 96, second-best among quarterbacks behind Kansas City Chiefs signal-caller Patrick Mahomes, who got the best quarterback rating at 97. The low rating of both Brady and Mahomes drew attention and criticism from fellow players, including Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu, who expressed his displeasure on his Twitter account.
Mathieu tweeted a shoutout to the Madden 99 club, but he questioned: “how in the hell isn’t Tom Brady & Pat Mahomes, not a 99.”
Only four players obtained a 99 rating in the latest version of the Madden game – Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald, Houston Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, Chicago Bears linebacker Khalil Mack and Seattle Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner. Among the quarterbacks, trailing Mahomes and Brady are Philip Rivers of the Los Angeles Chargers (94), Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints and Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts (92), Russell Wilson of the Seahawks (91), Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers (90), Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons (89), Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers (85) and Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers (84).
While Mahomes had the higher rating, a former NFL executive Mike Tannenbaum said Brady was the better quarterback last season.
Brady leads Patriots players in ratings
Brady and cornerback Stephon Gilmore were the only two Patriots players who obtained a 90-plus rating. Gilmore got a 94 while veteran wide receiver Julian Edelman obtained a rating of 89.
Free safety Devin McCourty got an 89, right guard Shaq Mason had an 88 while veteran linebacker Dont’a Hightower was given an 83 rating. Linebacker Kyle Van Noy was also surprised with his Madden rating despite being a key cog in the Patriots’ Super Bowl LIII run. Van Noy only got a 77, but he took it lightly, tweeting “Good thing I don’t play madden, or I’d be mad with my 77 rating”.
Van Noy can use his low Madden rating to step up his play in the 2019 season. Last season, Van Noy finished the 2018 regular season with 92 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and one interception. Van Noy further stepped up in the playoffs, recording ten tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble in the AFC Championship Game against the Chiefs and four tackles and one sack in Super Bowl LIII in their 13-3 win over the Los Angeles Rams.
Brady disputes low Madden speed rating
In terms of speed, Brady obtained a rating of 60, which he disputed using a video showing his “lightning speed.” Brady accompanied the video with a caption “Submitting new evidence to be considered for my @MaddenNFL speed rating. You can’t photoshop a video.” In the video, Brady showed his “speed,” recording a time of 0.63722 seconds.
For the record, the 41-year-old Brady recently improved his 5.28-second performance in the 40-yard dash during the 2000 NFL Combine before he was drafted 199th overall by the Patriots. In his latest 40-yard dash, Brady tallied 5.17 seconds.
