Written by Glenn | 08 February 2011

The New York Times posted a few graphics about usage in Madden 11, and the overwhelming choice was the Philadelphia Eagles once Michael Vick was implemented as the starter.

The Times made note of how team usage reflected what happened during the actual NFL season. The Eagles and Minnesota Vikings were two golden examples of this. The Eagles never really took off -- literally and in the game -- until Vick replaced the injured and ineffective Kevin Kolb. The Vikings were one of the top teams early in the season and usage spiked once Randy Moss joined the team. But when Moss was traded, usage spiked back down.

I'm surprised that the Baltimore Ravens were third, but it could be because of a decent offense and a great in-game defense. Cincinnati was the fourth most-popular team to start the season, but they ended up being the fifth least-popular team.

Hit the jump for more analysis ...



The Times focused mostly on the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers, the two Super Bowl XLV participants. Here's a graphic of how they did in the Madden realm ... 

 Here's how the Times broke down the stats:

Gamers followed those headlines, which shaped how they played Madden NFL 11, the most popular football video game. Since the preseason, gamers started more than 290 million games of Madden, or about 1,200 every minute.

Those game logs, analyzed by The New York Times, strongly indicate that gamers took their cues from the fortunes of teams and players. (When users start a game, they choose a team with all its current players.)

The top five teams according to the Times:

1. Philadelphia 
2. Minnesota
3. Baltimore
4. Dallas
5. New Orleans

The bottom five teams according to the Times:

28. Carolina
29. Tampa Bay
30. Jacksonville
31. Seattle 
32. Arizona