EA Sports has made public the new player rating changes for Madden 26 that reflect the performances of weeks 16 and 17 of the NFL season. The change, which was unveiled via the official EAMaddenNFL Twitter account, has already been implemented in the game and is meant to represent the latest player performances. However, the players’ low scores, which the community expressed through calling the game bugs and roster issues, became the main topic of the community’s reaction.
So, the Madden account tweeted all hyped like “Ratings adjustments are live! Who still needs a boost?” with the little chart going up emoji and everything. And one might think this could be a perfect time to see the players whose overall ratings have gone up, maybe even get into a friendly argument about whether Purdy deserves a speed boost or anything. But no. Instead, we have replies? Complete, unfiltered chaos. It looks like EA has opened the floodgates and complaints have come pouring in.
The first thing gamers do is have a conversation about the ratings. One gamer voices that it is ludicrous for ‘Drake Maye’ to be rated 94 and he/she should be around 87. A commentator named ‘Jeremy’ was so perplexed about the speed ratings that he simply wrote: “How is Mac jones speed an 84 and purdy a 78 lol”. It is indeed a very good question, Jeremy. It really does not make sense! And ‘Gabe Anderson’ just pops in with a super simple and needy question: “Purdy???” like he has been waiting for weeks and is dying for an answer. These are the calm, reasonable remarks, but unfortunately, they are not the norm.
The majority of response from gamers comes from people just yelling about the game’s features being busted and it is by no means close to being about ratings! The support forum has gone wild. ‘Contreras88’ almost begs, “Can you guys also fix the H2H rosters please!!! At least post you guys are working on it with constant update each time and can’t save rosters please fix!” One can really feel the frustration; it is like the controller is being squeezed.
Then ‘Lliam ✝️’ shows no mercy at all—he says: “Off topic but dead ssa about to crash out, the only mode I want to play is superstar but it keeps saying error. FIX THIS”. The vibe is just… hopeless. Users want to play the game, the specific modes for which they have paid, and they cannot. ‘Johnoo’ sums it up nicely in a very short, straightforward manner: “Fix the roster shit”. No extra words, just the core issue.
The threads of replies are also wild. Two gamers—’Ree Money’ and ‘Carl Brandon’—are arguing over Trevor Lawrence and Drake Maye with one calling the other insecure. This is completely off topic but that’s Twitter for you. Even the AI bot ‘Grok’ shows up when someone asks about Seahawks boosts, giving a standard non-answer about you having to check in-game. Thanks, Grok. Very useful.
And, hold on! What? I was saying? Oh yeah, the bugs. ‘Hugh Janus, JD’ (awesome name) is complaining about the offense of his linebacker superstar averaging 8 points a game. ‘Ree Money’ has trouble with the zone coverage that gets switched before the snap, thus the receivers are left open. ‘zapdeez’ is super upset because they have removed the retired players like Philip Rivers and Frank Ragnow, and that has made his franchise plans impossible. It is like the chaos of a whole dysfunctional orchestra playing together.
What could be even worse? The original tweet mentioned teams like the Colts, Chargers, Patriots, and 49ers. But it is not the players of these teams who are getting the boosts that are the subject of the talks. It is a different world altogether. EA tried to spark a conversation about performance and stats but unwittingly, the community reacted with a single cry about the game’s very foundation’s stability. The “boost” they require is not for their QB’s throw power but it’s just for the game to simply… work.
This whole saga is a very good reflection of the current state of affairs with Madden 26 from the viewpoint of a particular group of its players. Live service updates, weekly ratings adjustments—these are all intended to be the engaging, ever-changing content that keeps people hooked. However, if the primary experience is filled with bugs, if rosters are getting lost and modes are constantly giving errors, then who really cares whether Drake Maye is rated 94 or 87? You cannot use him properly even. The players’ standpoint is that the priorities are completely reversed. Gamers are not asking for more incremental number tweaks; they are begging for a polished, functional product, whether they play on PlayStation or Xbox.
