Madden Curse Talk to Commence

by pastapadre
Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 11:34 am

It now looks like the Jets will miss the playoffs after having surged to an 8-3 record only to lose three of their last four games. Along with that Brett Favre has been terrible throwing only a single TD to six INTs. It is only a matter of time before media outlets start chalking up the poor performance of the team and Favre to the Madden curse. The fascination around the supposed curse will now continue as there isn’t much room to argue that Favre broke it this year.

Now everything will be scrutinized. From the circus that surrounded his will he or won’t he return. To asking for a trade and accepting one to the Jets. And now to his late season struggles. The downward spiral of the team and his performance will have gone to show that even a legend can’t overcome the “curse” that is attached to gracing the cover of Madden. He leads the league in INTs yet somehow made the Pro Bowl and has been overshadowed by what Chad Pennington has been able to do with the Dolphins.

Surely all of this will be attributed to the Madden curse. Rather than take into account that the cover was held by a 39 year old QB clearly on the downside of his career learning a brand new system with all new teammates it is much more convenient to ignore all that. Not to mention that probably three quarters of the players in the league would be considered cursed if they had been on the cover with the seasons they are having.

So the Madden curse will continue to be talked about. Not just next year, but prepare for an onslaught of mentions relating to Favre in the near future. Do you believe Favre’s year was affected at all by being on the cover? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

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adam wilson

not all the jets linemen are bad but some leave something to be desired

adam

of course it was the coach come on they have almost no playmakers n the 1 they do have they barely ever play they gave him like 3 plays it's crazy everyone knows favre played banged up anyway and if some of his o-line didnt suck so much it wouldnt be so hard for him to throw a good ball anybody could see he was in pain

Geroge

Jets linemen are NOT THAT BAD this year. Alan Feneca(LG) is going to probowl and they are all pretty good pass blocker. i think the curse got him this year. brett favre and the team couldve gone to playoff, but favre's crucial mistakes were keep showing through the season

Sammy

this guy is not a legend, he is an overrated media darling. too bad the 'curse' got him this year, of course people will point the blame at the coach, too scared to man up and say that farve ha lost the Jets crucial games this year.

StoneCold

I thought Vince Young already sort of broke the curse in 2007? He had a bit of a sophmore slump, but he did lead his team to the playoffs, and he did it without runningback Travis Henry, who at times carried the team in 2006, and without his number 1 reciever Drew Bennet.

adam

Jenkins is the “straw that stirs the drink” of this defense, and was a huge part of the 8-3 start. After hurting his hip in San Francisco, he has played like a journeyman nose tackle, and this has impacted the entire defense.

And while on the topic of the Front Seven, the lack of a consistent pass rush is a huge problem. The Seattle Seahawks are starting five backup offensive linemen and the Jets had no sacks. That is quite an indictment of the pass rush.

Calvin Pace is a rock solid player, but he needs to be teamed with a scary edge pass rusher on the other side. Pace is a 7-8 sack guy.

great article i found on the jets

adam

Maybe this even impacts the coaches. You might have forgotten this, but Bryan Cox is on the Jets staff. It seems like Mangini has been able to do what no other coach was ever able to do – silence Bryan Cox.

Maybe it’s time for Mangini to unleash Cox, let him be his old firebrand self. Let him address the team once in a while. The Jets have their own Porter/Lewis type personality, why don’t they use him more? Give him more power – a more important position than assistant defensive line coach.

Another problem is that Mangini and Mike Tannenbaum are too tightly wound, and this trickles down to the team. Eric and Mike have tremendous work ethics. They are working their tails off trying to build a championship team, but they have to mellow out a little. Their up-tight demeanors and myriad of rules are impacting the whole building in Florham Park. People walk around on egg shells.

Getting back to personnel, another huge issue is that Kris Jenkins is playing hurt. His hip is worse than we realize. The last two weeks a pair of backup centers won their battles with him. A healthy Jenkins dominates these two cats.

adam

But with that being the case, he needs to have more fiery assistants (like Rob Ryan), and a few Joey Porter/Ray Lewis type leaders to make up for this.

Sometimes you get the feeling that Mangini has so many rules, that players are afraid to be animated, be themselves, perhaps thinking they might get fined for some kind of violation.

adam

the jets losses don't end with brett favre yes he has been bad recently but let's face it he knows how to win a game he does some special things. they have alot of issues other than favre like bad coaching,But there are a lot more problems aside from Favre’s inconsistent play. Don’t make him the scapegoat.

Hey, that deep post he threw to Laveranues Coles late in the game was an amazing pass. The receiver couldn’t come down with it.

There have been a lot of great plays from Favre mixed in with throws he would want back.

You know what I think the biggest Jets problem is – a dead sideline, a team devoid of emotion.

Every time I look through my binoculars from the press box to the Jets sidelines, it looks like a wake.

And this never seems to change.

The coach is a stoic gum-chewing statue, and his demeanor seems to set the tone for the entire sideline - there is no energy, no fire.

Mangini can’t change who is he is. He’s a low-key coach, who isn’t going to deliver fire-and-brimstone speeches.

Dominic

If it was a real Madden Curse Farve would be injured and his streek would be over too

fatdave

no curse, end of story.

Mike

So, you're criticizing that media will jump on this.. so you thought you'd beat them too it, and jump on it?

They report on this because people want to read it, and it's easy to convince stupid people of anything. Which is just fine, but don't pretend you're above it, Pasta.

pastapadre

I know...I replied to a comment earlier stating I realize it is somewhat hypocritical :) Still thought it was worth throwing out there.

Smokez4Dayz

In two months, as a jets fan, I'll be happy with the season. But at the current situation, this losing streak, the passing game's slump, I can't believe we lost to the raiders and the seahawks! As for the Packers, be careful what you wish for. I'm not blaming Aaron Rodgers, but there's got to be some drop off from losing a legend to a first time starter.

James

theres no madden curse this year... its not like the jets were a playoff team to begin with even with farve, they went from a losing team to a winning team, just because they didnt make the playoffs means the madden curse got them

corn

maybe it will happen next year. Nothing really happened to vince young but this year vince young lost his starting job to kerry collins and he was all depressed and stuff like that

Thedudething

I have never been a superstitious person until this curse started fucking with people's careers. I think the one on Brett is working in a different way. Brett was in a Packers uniform on the cover and now the Packers have gone from a 13-3 team to a team about to finish 2nd worst in it's division (thank god for the Lions). The Jets aren't cursed, they were turned around. Brett was not cursed, the Packers were, hopefully next year Aaron Rodgers can show he can replace Brett.

LoneWolf32

If you ask me The Packers got the bad end of this deal, sure the Jets miss the playoffs but one of the North's elite teams is 5-10.

KramerK04

The only thing the curse has to offer is entertainment value. Anybody that puts true stock into it... well, needs their head examined.

LorenzoAC7

There are no such thing as luck, curses, or destiny.

thnom

You also fail to miss the cover of the NFL Tour. Shawn Merriman on the cover and went down for the year very early! That has been missed by the mainstream quite regularly :)

KCdaGR8

This guy curse 2 teams in one year Packers and Jets lol

billy

the curse started when favre went to the jets.. thats a curse itself

Kevin

The curse doesn't exist. Favre just isnt what it is.

Kevin

I mean what HE used to be... lol

pat

im so pissed....but not suprised being a long time jet fan im used to these dissapointing seasons and god damn how much i miss chad i remember when i heard about favre i was thinking about chad and how he got screwed by our front office

Dee

well there is more proof that the madden curse is real. just think the last 4-5 years.

2003-marshall faulk ankle injury (he never again rushed for 1000 yards)
2004-Michael Vick- fractured his leg, and now is in jail for dogfighting, his career is done.
07-shaun alexander , we all know what happened to his career.
08-vince young- his career is down the drain as of now.

Cincinnati kid

After Favre's jackassery to the Packers this past offseason he gets what he deserves, curse or not.

BigLamb

Jets had there best chance with Favre, This doesn't fall in the Madden curse category at all, rubbish

Atom1

J-E-T-S Jets-Jets-Jets-Jets-Jets!

Lets go Jets & Jaguars, Make my Holiday!

Rob

Face it everybody, Brett Favre has sucked for years now. He's all washed up, I don't need a fake madden curse to tell me he played poorly. Just retire already, make the hall of fame, and get off my TV lol.

Doctor Monkey

I was expecting the Madden Curse to injure Favre, make Aaron Rodgers stink, and send both the Jets and Packers to 4-12 records. Since Favre was actually pretty decent over the course of the year, and the Jets are clearly improved from last year (plus Rodgers looks like a solid to great 10 year starter), I would say that the Madden Curse did not apply this year.

Tom

So Favre is struggling and is throwing a lot of INTs??? Where exactly is the news in all this?

lukum58

madden curse destroys seasons.no can escape...the madden curse...no one.and apparently the madden curse affects LT because EA was hoping ton have him as the cover athlete and he declined so all that talk about LT made him have a bad season but LT and the chargers still have a chance to make the playoffs because of phillip rivers

Eric

yes this was the madden curse the whole offseason and now is the madden curse. and even if he didnt play he probably would have broken his leg in mississippi in a JEans commercial

Sean

LOL, the curse lives on! It really does too because the Jets will not make the playoffs and the Dolphins or Patriots will. Favre played terrible when it mattered most and so did the whole team.

LOL, Favre in a Packers uniform is the cover/ Favre's team no playoffs and Packers no playoffs.

Chris

That's pretty much how it is. Favre fails when it matters the most (see last season). Living in Green Bay, people have been praising this guy since '96 when they won the Super Bowl. Remember, that was 12 years ago!

matt

pasta is there going to be a roster update b4 christmas or will it come out friday?

pastapadre

I'm not sure if there will be another update until early January. I haven't heard anything though, I'll ask around but most people are already out of the office for the holidays. I'm not sure if that includes the roster update guy or not.

Christian Drappi

Good sir Pasta, can you please tell me how you get these updates? I'm just wondering, does EA send them to you/do you work closely with EA?

Thank you.

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