Madden 12 Player Ratings: 4 Chicago Bears Guaranteed to Crush the Opposition

With the release of Madden '12, we've gone inside the ratings to let you know which members of the Chicago Bears you can rely on to smoke your competition.

The Bears made it all the way to the NFC Championship Game last year, losing to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers. That playoff run has helped boost the ratings of a few of the team's stars and put them into an elite category.

Here are the guys you can rely on when using the Bears in this year's version of Madden.

Julius Peppers

When they signed Julius Peppers last offseason, the Bears thought they were getting an impact player. They were right. In 2010, he had eight sacks, three forced fumbles and two interceptions to go along with his 54 tackles. He did all that while facing near-constant double-teams.

Peppers is the highest rated Bear in Madden '12, checking in with a 95 overall mark. His 85 speed, 96 acceleration, 88 agility and 85 strength make him perfect to be the player you control rushing off the edge. He only has an average tackle rating (76), but his solid awareness (86), pursuit (87) and great power moves (86) and finesse moves (96) ratings put him in an elite class.

He also has 95 stamina, which means you can leave him on the field all the time and he'll almost never get tired.

Brian Urlacher

The 33-year-old Urlacher had a bit of a reemergence last year, as he was injured for almost all of 2009 and was sub-par in 2008. He finished the 2010 season with 125 tackles, four sacks, two forced fumbles, two fumbles recovered and an interception.

He was rewarded for his great 2010 showing with a 94 overall rating in Madden 12.

A major aspect of Urlacher's game has always been his speed, and it's no different in Madden. He has an 84 speed rating to go along with 89 acceleration and 86 agility. Those numbers are great, but what sets him apart are his awareness (95), tackling (96), stamina (98) and his toughness (97). His pursuit (97), play recognition (98) and hitting power (91) numbers only further cement him as one of the elite linebackers in the game.

Lance Briggs

It seems like Lance Briggs always wants a new contract, and he's currently asking the Bears for one. But Briggs is also a very reliable linebacker who, along with Urlacher, forms one of the best tandems in the league.

He had a bit of a down year in 2010, as he only made 89 tackles, had two sacks, forced two fumbles, recovered one and had two interceptions. Still, the Madden people still value Briggs highly, as he was given a 93 overall rating.

Briggs has decent speed (78), acceleration (84) and agility (82), and his pursuit rating (90) is respectable. What separates him from average linebackers is his awareness (91), tackling (95), block shedding (95), play recognition (95), stamina (92) and toughness (90). Throw in an 86 on hit power and you've got one of the NFL's elite linebackers.

With Urlacher and Briggs, you'll have a pair of intimidating linebackers staring down your opponent when he's on offense.

Matt Forte

Say what you want about Matt Forte's production as an NFL player, but last year he seemed to break out a bit. He finished the 2010 season with 1,069 yards and six touchdowns, while averaging 4.5 yards per carry. On top of that, he caught 51 passes (three for touchdowns) out of the backfield.

The Madden '12 team rewarded Forte with an 89 overall rating, making him the best player on the Bears' offense in the game. If you play as Chicago, be prepared to feed Forte the ball consistently.

Forte gets high marks for his speed (91), acceleration (89), agility (88) and awareness (87). He also has solid catch (83) and carry (98) ratings. Where he gets a big boost compared to other backs is with his stamina (99), vision (96) and toughness (85).

With a very weak offense, expect to use Forte a lot if you want to be successful with the Bears.