The 2008 Lions are arguably one of the worst teams in NFL history. People can counter with the 1976 Buccaneers, which went 0-14, or even the 1942 Lions, which went 0-11. But arguing which is the worst NFL team of all-time got me to thinking, will the Lions be the worst rated team in Madden history when the new version of the game is released on August 14?

Well after some research, it appears the Lions will become the second worst rated team in video game's history when Madden 10 is released. The Lions overall rating is a 65, two points lower than Madden 09's worst rated team, the Dolphins.

 

The worst team of all-time distinction goes to the Houston Texans, who were rated a 44 in Madden 02. The Texans were added to the game, which was released in 2001, before they began play in 2002. The Texans were rated 65 in Madden 03. The folks at IGN wrote an article about the 10 worst Madden teams of all-time back in 2008, which can be viewed here.

IGN’s second worst team of all-time was the 1994 Bears, which were rated poor in seven of nine categories in Madden 95 before overall ratings were used.

The actual Lions team that went 0-16 was actually rated pretty good by Electronic Arts. The Lions had an overall rating of 78 in Madden 09, with seven teams being rated lower. But we know how things panned out.

As for the Lions’ quarterback debate, according to the new version of Madden, Matthew Stafford (overall rating 79) should get the nod over Daunte Culpepper (72 rating). Stafford has a throw power of 97 and throw accuracy of 80, while Culpepper has a throw power of 90 and throw accuracy of 80.

The highest rated Lion is Jason Hanson (95), followed by Calvin Johnson (92) and Julian Peterson (90). To view the complete Lions roster and how it's rated visit the EA website.