However, that’s not why I’m here to talk about.  Obviously the Madden Curse is something to be aware of, especially if you are Larry Fitzgerald who is the second person in the tandem that is on the cover.  Instead, I’m here to reveal to you a possibly new curse that many have not taken notice, but I have with my keen eyes.  I’ll dub it the EAS Myoplex Curse.

Granted those folks at EAS probably do not intend for such an even to happen, but nonetheless some odd occurrences have been observed.  Please take a look of the data for yourself thus far:

1. Brady Quinn:  First spokesman I noticed on these commercials.  It is reported in rumorville that he was more interested in becoming a male model over playing quarterback.  I do not know if it is true, but the commercials seem to validate that conjecture.  Couple that to his latest failures in running the Cleveland Browns offense, this might be the case.  Or is it the Myoplex curse?
2. Matt Hasselbeck:  Overall, a talented quarterback who runs the Seattle Seahawk offense to perfection.  Recently, Matt went down with an injury to his ribs against the 49ers which knocked him out a couple games.  That hurt the team as they fell to 2-3, but they should rebound with Matt back (not at full strength however).  Normal football injury or the result of promoting Myoplex?
3. Larry Fitzgerald:  Currently, Larry is doing just fine.  He’s the new guy on board to the EAS advertising gig.  So it is either the curse has yet to affect him or all this is a sham.  Maybe he should take out some insurance, especially considering its a double whammy for him:  being EAS spokesman and gracing the Madden cover.

So far, we have two known incidents of decline in football “playability.”  More data is needed, but even if Larry has a drop-off, we can not ascertain the true reason for his theorized failings.  That is because he’s on the Madden cover too, confounding our results.  Unless there are other spokespersons for EAS we can gather data from, we shall never know the true nature of this purported curse.

Extra note:  This curse applies to only football spokespersons because the careers of Jen Perez and Chase Utley seem to be unaffected by their duties as spokespersons.

Why such interest?

I think the answer is quite simple.  Its the same reason gadget plays (made famous by Ken Whisenhunt) work.  The answer is leverage.  If the defense does not know what the offense is going to do, the advantage defaults automatically to the offense which helps them score more points.  Unlike gadget plays which are used once or twice in a game, teams are using the wildcat more regularly.

Isn’t the wildcat a college play?

Sure, the wildcat is used more often in college and high school, because not every school has a capable quarterback that can throw the long ball. (Some NFL teams such as the 49ers or Lions should look into this).  With that said, the obvious question would be since this offense has been around for so long, wouldn’t coaches have a defensive scheme for it?  Yes and no.  The college game is different from the pros where defensive coordinators already have it on the books.  It was inconceivable that a college play such as the wildcat would have succeeded in the NFL that it was assumed unnecessary for defenses to plan for it.  However we know now how that turned out.  Some assumptions need to be tested and this passed with flying colors.

Significance of the wildcat

So what is the importance of this discussion anyhow?  The NFL has relied on the same number of plays over the years and the wildcat represents possibly a new revolution in scheming in the NFL.  New plays and formations may change the game, making it more exciting.  (Aside:  Dang, Roger Godell should hire me for my type of analysis!).  What if we line up with two quarterbacks or what if we only line up with 3 running backs?  Wouldn’t that be intersting?

This begs the following question:

Can the spread offense work in the NFL?