The tweet posted by the official Madden NFL account was ostensibly an attempt to breathe life into and promote the match-up between the Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card Round of Madden 26, but in the end, the players’ feedback was completely the opposite and mostly negative. The gamers were venting their anger mainly through the replies, saying that the player ratings were not right, focusing on the rookie’s brilliant yet low overall score of 78 for CJ Stroud, and they expressed their great disappointment regarding the Franchise Mode being broken and not updated weeks after the start of the NFL playoffs. This incident illustrates that EA Sports has not realized the players’ current and very poor condition.
In a way, the Madden account just did its thing again, didn’t it? Clock emoji, stadium emoji, who is going to win the big playoff game question. The usual hyping stuff. But the picture they used was already the bad part, oh the picture! It presented the player matchup with ratings and there right above the whole thing was Houston Texans quarterback CJ Stroud the player who just had an amazing rookie season, won a playoff game, and all rated only 78. That is SEVENTY-EIGHT.
The replies did not even slow down and held back not one bit. It was as if the angry football gamers’ nest was stirred. “CJ STROUD A 78 OVERALL LMAOOO” was one player just outright laughing. Another player commented, “78 overall is crazy work.” The majority opinion was drawn instantly and very harshly: Stroud should be rated no less than 85. The people were tagging the account asking how come he is rated slower than Mac Jones, how the rating can be “generous,” and just doubting the logic of the Madden ratings team whole. One player put it succinctly: “So you guys greatly under rate CJ and then ask who’s gonna win based on those bullshit ratings? Get lost.”
But wait a minute, it gets even better or worse it all depends on your perspective. The protest over rating was only the starter. The main course was a mountain of pure and raw anger about Franchise Mode. It was not just a few complaints. These were the united voices of demand. A revolution.
Player after player took the hype tweet as an opportunity to get off their chests their most serious grievance. “Update your franchise” was the common and simple request. Some others were more specific: “Are y’all going to update franchise week…?. At all?” and “So are yall not going to update franchise like it’s getting ridiculous?” The frustration is high beyond any doubt. The NFL season is in the playoffs but in the Franchise Mode of Madden, the game world is apparently still weeks ago. Gamers investing their time in the franchises feel neglected.
And then there are the… more extreme cases. One user, Brandon Crotti, kept on replying to the original tweet with a story that sounds like from a nightmare. He claims the last update “deleted all of my franchises my kids my wife and mine” and his game is stuck at week 16. He accuses EA of turning a blind eye to the problem and not fixing it, and ends one of his tweets with, “fix it or I’m taking this shit seriously for deleting my shit last year and this year and getting refunded.” This is not just a matter of being annoyed, this is a player feeling that his time and money have been disrespected.
It is crazy to see a promotional post being completely drowned out in this manner. Instead of the Steelers’ defense or the Texans’ momentum, the whole discussion became a customer service forum. People were begging for the face scans to be updated (especially for Steelers’ TJ Watt who is a star; one person said “That is NOT TJ Watt” and another said he looks like “a dying aids patient” which is a little bit harsh). Users were asking about specific player upgrades for other teams. They were telling EA that Superstar Mode also needed fixing. One user very directly put it, “Madden is fkn trash 😂 ESPN NFL 2k5 stomps on your heads.” That must hurt.
It is all very clear. Gamers are not only frustrated about one low rating. They are sick and tired of what they perceive as a pattern of neglect towards their favorite modes, especially Franchise. They feel that the game is marketed and updated for its catchy, quick-play modes while the deep, long-term experience is left unbroken. The tweet was in the name of playoff excitement but it unintentionally became a flashlight on the game’s biggest problems.
Thus, what does this imply for Madden 26 and the EA guys? It indicates that the community is not going to be patient for much longer. Players do not complain in dedicated forums anymore; they now take over official marketing to get their voices heard. They want accurate depictions, they expect their long-term saves to work, and they are vocal on platforms like PlayStation and Xbox.
