Madden 12 Ratings: 5 Teams You Should Avoid Playing as in the New Madden

The newest edition of the world's most successful football franchise comes out today, as Madden NFL 12 hits the shelves at retailers around the country. 

For the majority of Madden buyers, the game is so appealing for its franchise feature, which allows armchair GMs from coast to coast to digitally manage their favorite NFL teams. 

But there are also some who like to actually play the games. It's a novel concept, I know. Buying a football game to actually play football? Crazy. 

If you fit that group, here are five teams you should avoid playing with if you're challenging your buddy to a game. My sincerest apologies to all five virtual football teams and their fans. 

Cleveland Browns

Madden rating: 74 Overall

Wait, the Browns have Peyton Hillis, the game's cover player, and you should avoid playing as them? 

Yes. 

The Browns have a quarterback in Colt McCoy (77 overall) that doesn't do anything well in the game, and his group of receivers is one of the worst in Madden 12. 

The backfield (with Hillis at 91 and Lawrence Vickers at 90) should be good, but the Browns have lacking areas throughout their roster. Their own defensive line will get pushed around, and their secondary should scare no one. 

The Browns also lack team speed, which is one of the most important attributes in Madden games. Avoid the Hillis and the Browns when you're choosing teams.  

San Francisco 49ers

Madden rating: 77 Overall

The 49ers have three quarterbacks over 70 overall, but none who you'd want to start right away.

Alex Smith (75 overall) is the starter, but he is fantastically average in almost every passing attribute. That's exactly what you'd expect from virtual Alex Smith, however.

Both Troy Smith (73) and Colin Kaepernick (70) have speed ratings over 80, but each will struggle to complete passes with accuracy ratings in the low 70s. That simply won't get it done in Madden games.

The 49ers secondary is also filled with holes, which could make the two most important aspect of winning virtual football games—passing and stopping the pass—tough chores for San Francisco on Madden.  

Miami Dolphins

Madden rating: 78 Overall

How are the virtual Dolphins going to score any points? 

Chad Henne comes in at 77 overall, which is where he should be based on his career with Miami thus far. He'll struggle in Madden. 

But the Dolphins also have very little in the running game, where Daniel Thomas (70 overall) and Reggie Bush will be the primary ball carriers. 

Miami is also lacking in the defensive secondary, with no player above 87 overall and two starters 81 or below. You should be able to score on that unit, but I don't think the Dolphins have the firepower to catch up if they get behind. 

Denver Broncos

Madden rating: 74 Overall

This isn't a bash on Tim Tebow, I promise. 

The Broncos just aren't very good. Starting quarterback Kyle Orton is just 82 overall, which I think is underrating him a tad. Outside of Brandon Lloyd, the receivers are just average. And in the backfield, the Broncos likely have the slowest running backs in the NFL.

The defense should be decent, with D.J. Williams, Elvis Dumervil and Champ Bailey all above-average players. Von Miller is underrated at 79 overall. 

But I just don't think that offense will be good or fun to play with in Madden. Of course, I'm sure plenty of players will throw Tebow (77 overall) in there, but his 76 accuracy should scare that off. 

Buffalo Bills

Madden rating: 73 overall

I'm not going to lie, the Bills new jerseys look good whether it's virtual or real-life football. But who the Bills put into those jerseys in Madden is the scary part.

Buffalo has just two players 89 overall or above, and one happens to be their starting punter, Brian Moorman. Ouch.

The offense is horrifically bad, with their best player (receiver Stevie Johnson) checking in at 86 overall. The offensive line will get absolutely man-handled. C.J. Spiller's 95 speed is nice, but no running back scares you.

The defense is better, but the linebackers have no playmakers even with Shawne Merriman on the roster.

Despite the good-looking unis, avoid the Bills at all costs.