Remember when Steelers coach Mike Tomlin promised to "unleash hell" after losing their fourth straight game? I can't imagine that a loss to the 1-11 Cleveland Browns factored in as part of the hell-unleashing. Yet that's what happened last night, and now the Steelers are in serious trouble. At 6-7, they are currently behind the Jaguars, Ravens, Dolphins and Jets for the final wildcard spot and will need to win their final three games and get some help from those teams to have any shot at all.
Madden Curse update: 1 down, 1 to go
In losing five straight games, the Steelers have tied the longest losing streak ever by a defending NFL champion -- the 1987 New York Giants, who were using replacement players due to a strike. Who could have imagined at the start of the season that the Steelers would lose five straight games, and that four of those opponents would be the Raiders, Chiefs, Bengals and Browns?
For those of you who believe in the Madden Curse, your beliefs are almost fully vindicated. Troy Polamalu, one half of the Madden cover, got injured on the first day of the year and has been off-and-on ever since. Meanwhile, the Steelers -- with pretty much the same roster from a year ago -- have completely fallen apart and might have the same record as the Titans (who started out 0-6) through 13 games.
As for the other person on the Madden cover, Larry Fitzgerald, we’re still in wait-and-see mode. Fitzgerald’s numbers are comprobable to last year’s, and his Arizona Cardinals are in such a pitiful division that there’s no chance of them missing the postseason. Still, if Arizona does lose in the playoffs, we can officially chock up another victim to the Madden Curse.
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