So Lets look and this season Lions are 2-4 and CJ has been pretty well kept in check by defenses.

Now lets look at some others who i think are being retroactivly affected.

'12- Peyton Hillis is stuck with a floundering Chiefs team.

'11- Drew Brees isn't playing well without his coach Saints are 1-4.

'10- Fitz is doing ok but Palamalu has had a nagging injury Steelers have had a few really bad games.

'08- Vince Young cut by Bills, may not get the chance to play again.

'05- Ray Lewis Torn Triceps done for season may retire.

'04 Michael Vick More turnovers already this year than last years whole season.

At this point I wouldn't want the cover if I were any NFL Player.

I think it's kind of ridiculous to expect any football player to be doing well after playing for over 5 or 6 years.

I always thought the Madden curse thing was just sort of a silly joke and not to be taken serious. Do you actually believe because they're on the cover it gives them a "curse" and makes their career worse?

Wait, what exactly do you mean by retroactively in this case? Wouldn't a 'retroactive curse' mean it was cursing them before they were on the cover? Couldn't that just be viewed as the marketing team making poor decisions in who to promote?

I also believe that happens when people knee you in the head for three months of the year.

@BD_Mr_Bubbles said:

'11- Drew Brees isn't playing well without his coach Saints are 1-4.

I call bullshit on that one. Then again, I'm a Saints fan.

@YetiAntics: No, your right. Still, I agree with the curse being true.

Eh, it's a sport where 300 lbs men tackle other men half their size. People are going to get hurt all the time.

Also:

@Red said:

I think it's kind of ridiculous to expect any football player to be doing well after playing for over 5 or 6 years.

Putting flavour of the month players like VY and Hillis on the cover was stupid, but most of the people on this list are doing fine. The Lions have played some pretty tough defences so far this year, and the one bad defence they played - Tennessee - Johnson had 164 yards receiving. Also Stafford is struggling much more than Johnson is. Fitzgerald is still a beast, but he has had very little help from his quarterbacks; Kolb continues to be infuriating. Lewis is a massive bummer - especially since I got to hear him give a motivational speech this year and was blown away by it - and yeah maybe his great career is over, but Lewis was on the cover athlete for the 2004 season's game and was first-team All-Pro that year. Same applies to Polamalu; we may never see him play at a high level again, but the year after he was on the cover he was the Defensive Player of the Year. Brees isn't the problem in New Orleans, except as regards him holding out for more money resulting in them losing players to free agency. And Michael Vick...yeah I can't defend that one.

The thing about the NFL is that if you have a stellar season, every coach on the other 31 teams will spend their offseason working out exactly how to stop you. Look at how Cam Newton has struggled in Carolina after tearing shit up as a rookie; there's a lot of film out on him now, and teams are prepared for him. When a guy raises the bar, it's not long before everyone catches up and even surpasses them. The exception is guys like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady that always seem to be one or two steps ahead of the rest of the game, but those are special players and are few and far between.

I still think they should've put Justin Smith on the cover. He's still the best player on one of the league's best defences.

And I'm calling it right now; 99.8% chance that RGIII is on the cover next year.

I always refer to the argument that football players hot enough to be on the Madden cover are either rapidly approaching or passing their peak.

Dont forget about Shaun Alexander. Went from MVP to injured and basically out of the league in two years

Oh you are talking about this season specifically, nvm and can't delete my post from my phone

@Atlas: The players they lost, minus Meachem, were not that good anyway. The problem in New Orleans is the defense. Their new scheme requires skilled pass-rushing d-linemen that they don't have.

@YetiAntics said:

@BD_Mr_Bubbles said:

'11- Drew Brees isn't playing well without his coach Saints are 1-4.

I call bullshit on that one. Then again, I'm a Saints fan.

Look at his stats from a year ago at the same point in the season and compare them to now.

@BD_Mr_Bubbles said:

@YetiAntics said:

@BD_Mr_Bubbles said:

'11- Drew Brees isn't playing well without his coach Saints are 1-4.

I call bullshit on that one. Then again, I'm a Saints fan.

Look at his stats from a year ago at the same point in the season and compare them to now.

He had one of the greatest seasons in NFL history, plus defenses were struggling due to the lockout. That is an impossible standard to live up to.

@YetiAntics said:

@BD_Mr_Bubbles said:

'11- Drew Brees isn't playing well without his coach Saints are 1-4.

I call bullshit on that one. Then again, I'm a Saints fan.

I call bullshit as well, as does Johnny Unitas' recently broken record.

@jimjimman said:

@BD_Mr_Bubbles said:

@YetiAntics said:

@BD_Mr_Bubbles said:

'11- Drew Brees isn't playing well without his coach Saints are 1-4.

I call bullshit on that one. Then again, I'm a Saints fan.

Look at his stats from a year ago at the same point in the season and compare them to now.

He had one of the greatest seasons in NFL history, plus defenses were struggling due to the lockout. That is an impossible standard to live up to.

I understand that, but even for a normal non record setting season his numbers are down from years past, I realize the Saints major problem is defense but Brees used to be able to pull them out of holes score wise and so far he's only done that once this year, in their one win.

@ThePickle said:

@YetiAntics said:

@BD_Mr_Bubbles said:

'11- Drew Brees isn't playing well without his coach Saints are 1-4.

I call bullshit on that one. Then again, I'm a Saints fan.

I call bullshit as well, as does Johnny Unitas' recently broken record.

That record is a career record he did that over time i'm refering to this season only he would have broken that record even if they hadn't won.

cj is averaging the second most yards per game, not sure that's keeping him in check

@csx009 said:

cj is averaging the second most yards per game, not sure that's keeping him in check

In check enough for them to be last in the division.