Why Bills QB Josh Allen could buck the 'Madden curse'

Buffalo fans might be worried about the so-called "Madden curse," but that is largely overblown.

While it's true most quarterbacks were less successful in the season they appeared on the cover than the one directly preceding it, it isn't as if those QBs fell off completely.

Since 2000, Daunte Culpepper, Michael Vick, Donovan McNabb, Vince Young, Brett Favre, Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson have appeared on the cover, with Brady and Mahomes appearing twice. The averages for their seasons on the cover on Madden were 308-of-473 (65.1 percent) for 3,442 yards, 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. 

The 12 quarterbacks who've appeared on the cover (including Allen) were a combined 140-39-1 (.778) in the season before appearing on the cover. In the 11 seasons completed by quarterbacks after being on the cover of "Madden," they were a combined 100-50 (.667).

The curse appeared a lot more realistic after Culpepper, Vick and McNabb missed a combined 23 games after gracing the cover of "Madden." But it began to lift later in the 2000s.

McNabb was the last quarterback to have a losing record in his season as a Madden cover star, going 4-5 in nine starts in 2005. Young (2007) was the last QB to have a negative touchdown-to-interception ratio, Favre (2008) was the last to fail to reach the postseason and Brees (2010) was the last to throw 20 or more interceptions.

Brees appeared on the cover following the Saints' Super Bowl XLIV win and, like Brady seven years later, failed to repeat as champions.

In 2016, the year before he covered "Madden 18," Brady led the Patriots to the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history against Atlanta in Super Bowl LI. That regular season featured Brady on his revenge tour after serving a four-game suspension in the "Deflategate" scandal when he went 11-1 in 12 starts and threw 28 touchdowns to two interceptions.

Anything Brady did in 2017 was likely going to be a downgrade from his remarkable 2016, hardly a sign that he was cursed by being on the cover.

Mahomes was the first quarterback to win a Super Bowl the same season he appeared on the cover of Madden, doing so in 2019. His numbers were down from when he won his first MVP award the previous year, however. He threw for 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns in 2018 and threw for fewer yards (4,031) and touchdowns (26) in 2019.

Buffalo went 13-3 a year ago and lost in the divisional round. The Bills play in arguably the toughest division in what is undoubtedly the best conference in football. If Buffalo fails to meet its 2022 win total, it will have nothing to do with Allen appearing on the cover of "Madden 24."