Madden 17: Teams with Most Dominant Rosters and Player Ratings

The arrival of Madden 17 means players have a few new favorite teams to dislike.

Folks who play sports games know the drill—it's fun to load up a franchise mode or a competitive match against another player, only to see the New England Patriots. Or the Golden State Warriors. It goes on and on.

This year's edition of Madden has a few of those teams that players of the game will hate to see. While some teams might not have the highest overall rating (a full list of player ratings is available at EA Sports), the proliferation of elite players on the roster makes for a video game nightmare the horror genre couldn't do better.

Here's a look at the most dominant rosters and teams in Madden 17. Watch out for these—or use them.

Teams with Most Dominant Rosters

New England Patriots

Player	Pos	Rating
Rob Gronkowski	TE	99
Tom Brady	QB	94
Devin McCourty	S	91
Dont'a Hightower	LB	90
Julian Edelman	WR	89

Sorry, folks, the Patriots aren't going anywhere.

The above table says it all. When lining up on the virtual field against the Patriots, folks have to deal with Tom Brady and Julian Edelman, not to mention the 99-rated Rob Gronkowski. Oh, and just for good measure, the Patriots added tight end Martellus Bennett this offseason—and he comes in at 85.

Defending those two-tight end sets will be just as difficult as moving the ball against New England. Safeties Devin McCourty (91) and Patrick Chung (86) patrol deep, while Malcolm Butler (85) works on the edges. Want to run the ball? Dont'a Hightower (90), Jamie Collins (88) and Jabaal Sheard (88) will stuff you.

This shouldn't be so surprising considering the game's cover boy:

Seeing the Patriots come up on the screen as an opponent is like the modern-day equivalent of a cheat code. Other teams can keep pace in the right user's hands, but it's going to take a heck of a lot more effort than it should.

But so it goes, with the best football sim on the planet mimicking the sport quite well.

Oakland Raiders

Player	Pos	Rating
Khalil Mack	LB	94
Kelechi Osemele	OG	88
Sean Smith	CB	88
Dan Williams	DT	88
Reggie Nelson	S	87

Say hello to one of the scariest defenses in Madden 17.

The Oakland Raiders aren't one of the first teams to come to mind when one thinks about dominant Madden teams this year, but the virtual defense is good enough to shut down any offense. 

Khalil Mack (94) and Aldon Smith (85) rush off the edges. Sean Smith (88) shuts down his side of the field. David Amerson (84) does well on his side. Reggie Nelson (87) plays deep center. Dan Williams (88) not only clogs the middle, but also provides a push.

And this is a unit that lost Charles Woodson over the offseason, remember? 

Indeed, Oakland is stacked alongside the giants, as Pasta Padre's Bryan Wiedey pointed out:

Anyone notice we haven't talked about the offense yet?

Derek Carr (83) leads the way and is quite mobile for a quarterback (82 speed). He has a pair of quality wideouts in Amari Cooper (83) and Michael Crabtree (83), and Latavius Murray (81) is one of the faster running backs in the game (92 speed). Heck, every starting offensive lineman is rated 80 or higher.

A wildly fast offense and an even faster defense have the Raiders looking like one of the scarier teams in the game.

Dallas Cowboys

Player	Pos	Rating
Tyron Smith	LT	97
Zack Martin	RG	92
Travis Frederick	C	91
Dez Bryant	WR	90
Sean Lee	LB	89

See why there is so much hype around Dallas Cowboys rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott?

The table above does all the talking. Sure, Elliott rushed for more than 1,800 yards in back-to-back seasons at Ohio State. But he has Tyron Smith (97), Zack Martin (92) and Travis Frederick (91) plowing the way for him, while defenses have to worry about an elite passing game.

Said elite passing game might not stay healthy in real life, but on the virtual field, Tony Romo (86) will get the ball off to Dez Bryant (90) and Jason Witten (87) with ease.

The defense isn't a slouch like it has been in recent years, either. Sean Lee is still an elite linebacker (89), and Orlando Scandrick (87) has made a name for himself at cornerback. He's flanked by promising second-year defensive back Byron Jones (81). In fact, seven players on the defensive side of the ball sit with a ranking of 80 or better.

Even if an opponent's offense gets the better of the Dallas defense, a user can lean on the Cowboys offense to play ball control and snowball a game. Just like in real life, few virtual defensive backs can stop Bryant, which opens things up more for Witten. Ditto for Elliott, whose monstrous offensive line will resemble a bulldozer against virtual defenses that can't help but anticipate the pass.

Long story short, Dallas once again has one of the better-constructed Madden teams, even if the real-life counterpart has had its share of hiccups over the years. 

Team	Overall Rating
Carolina Panthers	87
Seattle Seahawks	85
Arizona Cardinals	84