There Is No Curse

Drew Brees – New Orleans Saints
#4 Seed in Right Bracket (Eliminated in Round Three)
Through nine games, Drew Brees has collected over 3,000 passing yards and is on pace to shatter Dan Marino’s single season yardage record.

Carlos Dunlap – Cincinnati Bengals
#15 Seed in Right Bracket (Eliminated in Round One)
When Carson Palmer “retired,” EA had to scramble to come up with a Bengals representative for the Madden cover tournament. Their choice, defenseive end Carlos Dunlap, seems to have been a good one. While he didn’t win the tournament (or even escape the first round), Dunlap and the Bengals defense have lead the team to a 6-2 record.

Larry Fitzgerald – Arizona Cardinals
#9 Seed in Left Bracket (Eliminated in Round One)
The Cardinals are 2-6, but that’s not Larry Fitzgerald’s fault. The former Madden NFL 10 cover athlete has hauled down 38 catches for an awesome 646 receiving yards. That’s 17 yards a catch, one of the best averages in the league.

Josh Freeman – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
#13 Seed in Right Bracket (Eliminated in Round One)
Quick, name the NFL’s elite quarterbacks. Was Josh Freeman on the list? I’m guessing not. But that doesn’t change the fact that Freeman had a phenomenal 2010 season and is off to another good start this year. He’s already thrown more interceptions through the first eight games of 2011 than he did all of last season, but he’s also averaging around 250 passing yards per game. And he’s thrown eight touchdowns. And the Bucs are 4-4.

Jordan Gross – Carloina Panthers
#15 Seed in Left Bracket (Eliminated in Round One)
Jordan Gross is an offensive tackle and as part of the human wall that protects quarterback Cam Newton, he doesn’t really have stats that can be effected by a curse. But Cam Newton is still alive and becoming a prodcutive player, so I think that’s enough to escape the curse.

Steve Johnson – Buffalo Bills
#13 Seed in Left Bracket (Eliminated in Round One)
The Buffalo Bills are 5-3 and currently sit atop the AFC East. Let me repeat that, the Buffalo Bills are 5-3 and currently sit atop the AFC East. And a big part of of the team’s success is due to Steve Johnson, who has remained Ryan Fitzpatrick’s favorite target in 2011 with 523 receiving yards and four touchdowns.

Maurice Jones-Drew – Jacksonville Jaguars
#3 Seed in Left Bracket (Eliminated in Round Two)
Maurice Jones-Drew got to relax this Sunday as the Jaguars were on a bye in week nine. It’s the first Sunday he’s had a chance to relax all season as the running back has racked up an awesome 740 rushing yards and three touchdowns in his first eight games.

Jake Long – Miami Dolphins
#12 Seed in Right Bracket (Eliminated in Round One)
Like Jordan Gross, Jake Long is an offensive tackle and the only way to curse one of these guys is if you’re the old gypsy from Stephen King’s Thinner.

Brian Orakpo – Washington Redskins
#12 Seed in Left Bracket (Eliminated in Round One)
With Rex Grossman and John Beck giving the Redskins defense a lot of time on the field, linebacker Brian Orakpo has used the first half of the 2011 season to put up some good numbers that are very similar to last year.

Julius Peppers – Chicago Bears
#8 Seed in Right Bracket (Eliminated in Round One)
Matt Forte is the best running back in the NFL right now, so EA’s selection of Julius Peppers left more than a few fans scratching their heads. But Peppers has anchored a good Bears defense and currently leads the team with four sacks. Matt Forte is having a career year, but Peppers is artfully avoiding the curse.

Ray Rice – Baltimore Ravens
#7 Seed in Left Bracket (Eliminated in Round One)
Officially, Ray Rice is a running back. But in 2011 he has pulled down nearly as many receiving yards as he has racked up in rushing yards (416 vs 532). He also has a total of eight touchdowns and has lead the Ravens to a 6-2 record.

Philip Rivers – San Diego Chargers
#1 Seed in Right Bracket (Eliminated in Round Two)
Philip Rivers has thrown a lot of interceptions this season (14) and the Chargers are only 4-4, but the young quarterback has also racked up 2,469 passing yards, which would be hugely impressive if not for even bigger seasons from Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, and Aaron Rodgers.

Matt Ryan – Atlanta Falcons
#2 Seed in Left Bracket (Eliminated in Round Two)
Like most of the quarterbacks in this tournament, Matt Ryan has thrown a lot of interceptions in 2011. But he’s also on pace to throw just as many touchdowns and rack up as many passing yards as he did in 2010.

Mark Sanchez – New York Jets
#5 Seed in Right Bracket (Eliminated in Round Two)
The Jets third-year QB continues to show flashes of brilliance mixed in with flashes of mediocrity. Sanchez has gone up and down all season, which is what he’s done for his entire career. He’s not the greatest quarterback in the Madden cover tournament, but he’s not cursed either.

Ndamukong Suh – Detroit Lions
#16 Seed in Left Bracket (Eliminated in Round One)
Three sacks, seventeen tackles, an imposing figure on the Lions defense. I don’t want to even attempt to pronounce his name, but Ndamukong Suh is doing all he can to instill fear into opponents (and play-by-play announcers) everywhere.

Tim Tebow – Denver Broncos
#11 Seed in Left Bracket (Eliminated in Round One)
Tim Tebow wasn’t even the starting quarterback when EA chose him to represent the Broncos in the Madden cover tournament. But now he’s leading the team and Kyle Orton is carrying the clipboard. How long will it last? Who knows. But with Tebow starting – where before he was just watching – he might qualify, he might qualify as the first benificiary of a Madden anti-curse.

Hines Ward – Pittsburgh Steelers
#2 Seed in Right Bracket (Eliminated in Round Two)
Hines Ward has played for 14 seasons, so it’s no surprise that his numbers are slipping a bit. Every wide receiver in the Madden cover tournament would consider themselves lucky to have a similar career.

DeMarcus Ware – Dallas Cowboys
#14 Seed in Right Bracket (Eliminated in Round One)
DeMarcus Ware has 12 sacks on the season, which is good for second place in the NFL. That’s more sacks than the entire Kansas City Chiefs defense.

Patrick Willis – San Francisco 49ers
#7 Seed in Right Bracket (Eliminated in Round Three)
It’s only week nine and the 49ers already look like they’ve got the NFC West locked up. And this defense, lead by linebacker Patrick Willis, is a big part of that.

The Final Four

Adrian Peterson – Minnesota Vikings
#9 Seed in Right Bracket
(Eliminated in Seminfinals)

Aaron Rodgers – Green Bay Packers
#1 Seed in Left Bracket
(Eliminated in Seminfinals)

Michael Vick – Philadelphia Eagles
#3 Seed in Right Bracket
(Eliminated in Finals)

Peterson, Rodgers, and Vick were all on the cusp of being selected as the Madden NFL 12 cover athlete. Yet, unlike Peyton Hillis, all of them have turned in phenomenonal seasons. Adrian Peterson is running over everyone, Aaron Rodgers has turned four Packer receivers into Pro Bowl material, and Vick threw for 416 yards against the 49ers. Curse? What curse?