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That prediction is that the Minnesota Vikings with out Brett Favre or a Pro Bowl type QB will now slip into mediocrity. I questioned the move of signing Favre last year and if he doesn’t stay this question comes up yet again. What was the point? Favre comes in and plays a beautiful season and does exactly what I figured he would do and that’s blow it in the NFC Championship game. As I watched the game and saw how close it was I told the people with me, Favre will start throwing picks the 2nd half and blow it. BINGO! So now if Favre doesn’t come back the Minnesota Vikings have to rely on Tavaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels, yeah ok. I would have the relied on John David Booty before these two. If Favre finally retires expect nothing more that a 8-8 season or even a 9-7 season next year. Of course if there is no salary cap next year they might even get a QB for some astronomical price and shock even me.

The good thing that comes out of this is that a lot of teams got to see what a player Sidney Rice is and the potential he possesses. He will have a hell of foundation to stand on in his next contract negotiations. Congrats though to Minnesota for making it as far as they did, too bad the buck stops here.

Arizona vs. New Orleans

* Boldin is still on the roster for these games and Warner should have probably been bumped after his wildcard game. We also think the Cardinals secondary and defense was suspect against the Packers and probably should have seen some decrease.

Game 1

New Orleans 51
Arizona 45

The game had insane numbers from both teams.

Game 2

New Orleans 20
Arizona 25

This game was close. Brees drove down the field in the final minute and hit his WR in the back of the end zone but was not in bounds.

Game 3

New Orleans 59
Arizona 38

This game was a complete blow out. I was shocked Arizona even got 38.

Actual Outcome

New Orleans 45
Arizona 14

Looks like Madden got this one right even with Boldin in the game. New Orleans took 2 out 3 games.

Indianapolis vs. Baltimore

* Not sure if updating the rosters would have mattered much on this game.

Game 1

Indy 31
Baltimore 17

The things that hurt Baltimore in this game and hurts them as well in the following games is not having a great WR. The passing game from Baltimore is lacking.

Game 2

Balt 34
Indy 17

Was actually shocked Baltimore won but they did it on the ground.

Game 3

Indy 28
Balt 21

Final game and Madden got this one right as well.

Actual Outcome

Indy 20
Balt 3

Dallas vs. Minnesota

Dallas was a hot team coming into the playoff weekend but Minnesota had rest on there side and a great defensive line.

Game 1

Minn 16
Dallas 14

Game 2

Minn 27
Dallas 24

Game 3

Dallas 27
Minn 24

Madden saw all these games as tight games but the outcome was much different.

Actual Outcome

Minn 34
Dallas 3

San Diego vs. NY Jets

Personally I think both of these teams should have had roster updates. The Jets playbook on defense has also changed a great deal with Rex Ryan in the mix. This was the only experiment that was the opposite of the actual outcome of the game.

Game 1

San Diego 41
NY Jets 38

San Diego 22
NY Jets 19

San Diego 28
NY Jets 21

All the games were settled by less than a TD.

Actual Outcome

NY Jets 17
San Diego 14

Madden was wrong all the way around of on this one. The one thing Madden doesn’t account for is how hungry a team is for a win and the Jets were hungry.

All in all in the end 75% isn’t bad. It was interesting to see how this all played out and for the most part Madden is right on when predicting games. I was shocked however the Jets didn’t at least pick up one game. We are going to run the again for the divisional playoffs and see what we get so come back next week.

You can read more on Tim Tebow and how experts are saying he will do on draft day.

Its crazy to see how the NFL has changed so much in just 2 year’s time. Seeing this immediate change in culture makes you wonder. What happened to the running quarterbacks? A few events, some related some unrelated all happening simultaneously. The biggest factor that led to the extinction of the running QB is injuries. After Carson Palmer, and most notably Tom Brady have suffered from season ending injuries. As a result players around the league seemed less willing to run for a first down and put their bodies at risk as a result. And the loss of Vick to jail hurt the popularity of the NFL to casual fans. other major factors helped contribute as well.

The media played a major role in the change of culture too. Analysts and announcers for years have helped generate much of the buzz that these QB’s received but also were highly critical of them in bad situations. (Interceptions, fumbles, etc.) Announcers imparticular would highly praise their speed and athleticism but would criticize their mechanics and compare them to the league’s best pocket passers. In doing this, they inadvertently would make fans pick sides. Most people I’ve met either like running QB’s or prefer pocket passers. What I’ve noticed is that many (not all) quarterbacks with great running skills don’t have great mechanics. However, in their defense many of them have mediocre offensive lines and receiving corps. Therefore their legs become the first (and usually best) option for scramblers.

For example, during Michael Vick’s tenor with the Atlanta Falcons they led the league in drops during the 2004 and 2005 seasons and their offensive line was a run blocking line. Therefore he transformed himself into the most exciting athlete the NFL had ever seen. Most notably in 2006 Vick set an NFL Milestone by rushing for over 1,000 yards in a season.Many have criticized Vick for being a great runner. Called him such things as a “Running Back playing QB”, a gimmick, etc. Other contributions deserve their acknowledgment as well.

Numerous offensive and defensive innovations have also led to the extinction of the runner. For instance the emergence of the Wildcat formation, (which employs the QB at reciever) and the remergence of running back and reciever screens have compensated for the loss of those critical short plays scramblers would make. And defensively the infamous Tampa 2 defense almost perfectly contains running quarterbacks. Because of these innovations, teams have steered their QB’s from running the ball and have advised them to checkdown recievers or throw the ball away.
Its really an amazing feat that these factors have manged to eliminate one of the most exciting new trends in the NFL. While I enjoy watching the Peyton Manning’s and Drew Brees of the world be great pocket passers, I miss the days of dual threat QB’s that defenses would spend weeks preparing for. Why can’t the running QB and the pocket passer coexist? If winning is in question, it shouldn’t be. Vick went to the NFC Championship game and lost to Donnovan McNabb (another scarmbler) who made it to the Super Bowl. If there was one formula for winning, every team would win Super Bowls.

The real credit I give to EA is their excellent marketing skills. I’ve seen more Madden 10 commercials in the last 6 months than in the last 6 years. Celebrity football games, website ads, and TV spots equal marketing giant. To step away from marketing for a moment, the game in my opinion dosent get enough recognition for its great (but not perfect) gameplay. As I said before, over the years the EA Sports team, has slashed many of their own alterations to the game. Suprisingly Madden 10’s gameplay has been balanced because of the scale back. now the preplay offensive and defensive options are no longer overcrowded with tools, only hardcore players would use. Now due to the balance and easy accessability, many new casual Madden players have emerged as a result. Granted, no sports game will ever sell a freakish number of units like Uncharted 2, or Modern Warfare 2, but in a struggling economy with layoffs all around you have to respect EA for the great product they’ve managed to create.

The end of the regular season in the NFL is coming to close and we look back on the Madden Curse and how its effected previous years and this year. Madden NFL started putting players on the cover in 1999 and since then most of these players have gone down hill once on the cover. We will start from the beginning.

1999 – Garrison Hearst was on select covers of Madden. Hearst rushed for 1,570 yards for the San Francisco 49ers setting a franchise record previously held by Roger Craig. That same year in the divisional playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons, Hearst broke his ankle on the first play from scrimmage. Hearst was told by doctors he may never play football again. Hearst ran into complications following his surgery and missed the next two seasons.

2000 – This was the last year John Madden was ever on the cover of the game. The cover included Barry Sanders in the background. Barry Sanders retired before the season ever started and its cursed the Lions since.

2000 PAL Edition – Dorsey Levens had a great year and is never mentioned in Madden Curce lore.

2001 – Eddie George was on the cover of Madden in 2001. George had rushed for 1,509 yds and 14 TD’s, but a costly fumble in the playoffs in 2000, the year he was on the cover, lost the Titans the game. Eddie George never had a very high yards per carry average in his career. Many people will say his lack of production the next year was attributed to the curse. I would say it was more along his number of carries were almost 100 less than the previous year. This is about the only year I really haven’t seen the ‘Madden Curse’ pop up its head in full force.

2002 – Daunte Culpepper takes the cover this year .In 2001 Culpepper threw for 2,612 yds, 14 TD, 13 Int. He played in only 11 games that season. The next year he was injured late in the season and Minnesota finished 5-11. Just for note Culpepper had 3,400 plus yard the next 3 seasons including his 2004 season which was his best.

2003 – Marshall Faulk shows up on the cover after gaining 2147 combined yards (both rushing and receiving) in the 2001 season. In 2002 he ends up with 212 Rush, 953 Yds, 8 TD. The Rams has key players injured that year including QB Kurt Warner and key linemen Orlando Pace and Tom Nutten. These injuries played a role for Marshall Faulk’s decline.

2004 – This is the year of Michael Vick. Michael Vick broke his leg in a preseason game after appearing on the cover and things have only got worse since then. One of the most over rated players to ever appear on the cover of Madden and play in the NFL. Never had a completion rating over 60% for a season in his pro career and a convict. Need we say more?

2005 – The first defensive player to appear on the cover was Ray Lewis. Lewis had six interceptions in 2003 and not a single one in 2004. He missed the last two games due to injury. Despite all that this was one of his best seasons recorded and was named to both the AFC Pro Bowl team and a first-team All-Pro.

2006 – Donovan McNabb makes his appearance this year. He led the Eagles to a Super Bowl the 2004 season. In 2005 his season ends with a sports hernia and the Eagles finish 6-10.

2007 – This was the player the so called Madden Curse hit the most. Shaun Alexander graces the cover after having an astonishing 1880 yards and setting an NFL record for TDs with 28 in 2005. In 2006 Alexander broke his foot, missed six games and his TD record was broken. Now out of the NFL.

2008 – VY made the cover after an incredible rookie year. He missed one game in 2007 and then had a mental breakdown in 2008 and was benched until the seventh game of the 2009 season after the Titans started 0-6. Since Vince started this year the Titans have gone 7-2. Not bad for a guy that looked like his career was over last year.

2009 – After retiring Brett Favre was put on the cover of Madden. He then comes out of retirement and joins the Jets. Word was EA thought about taking him off the cover. Brett starts out great with the Jets but dives in December and finishes 9-7 missing the playoffs after starting 8-3.

2010 – Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu both were on the Madden 10 cover. Larry has had a decent year and is over 1,00 yards receiving with 12 TD through 15 games. Polamalu on the other hand has missed 6 games and looks like he will missing his 7th and last game of the regular season with a knee injury.

It’s certain that it really depends how you look at each individual year after the cover if there is really a curse. Some of these players had great years even after being on the cover. I am sure it will continue to be a great debate in years to come.

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Season 1 for Madden USFL (PS3) has come to an end. We would like to congratulate coflboomersooner for his Super Bowl victory and he will be taking home the Sony PSP 3000. Overall this was a very successful season for Madden USFL. We thank all the owners who participated so far. Season 2 will be starting soon. Good luck to everyone.