Detroit Lions: Would Team Fall Apart If Calvin Johnson Gets the Madden Curse?

Detroit Lions fans have to be cringing at the thought of the “Madden Curse” hampering their superstar wide receiver, Calvin Johnson. Without Megatron, the Lions would have no shot at improving on their 10-6 record from a year ago.

The NFC North is arguably the best division in the NFL, and Detroit will need to have another prolific offense to compete in the division.

The Lions will play explosive conference rivals like the Green Bay Packers and the newly revamped Chicago Bears offense that just added Brandon Marshall.

Also, the Lions schedule doesn’t do them any favors. Aside from the brutal NFC North schedule, Detroit will have to face the San Francisco 49ers, Philladelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons, and Houston Texans.

Of their entire 2012 schedule, only four teams had a below .500 winning percentage last season: the St. Louis Rams, Minnesota Vikings, Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars.

Without Johnson there is no way that quarterback Matthew Stafford has another 5,000 yard season. Of his 421 completions in 2011, nearly a fourth of those (96) were with Megatron.

Losing the star receiver on the outside would also hurt the production of both Nate Burleson and Brandon Pettigrew. Without Johnson distracting defenses, they would no longer have the luxury of one-on-one coverage.

Another aspect of the offense that would suffer even more would be the run game. The opposing safeties wouldn’t have to be worried about stopping Johnson, and instead would be able to come into the box and stop the run.

For Detroit, that isn’t a good thing, particularly for a squad that had just seven total rushing touchdowns last season. Their leading rusher was Jahvid Best with just 390 yards, and it remains to be seen how healthy he will be moving forward, due to his consistent concussion issues.

The Lions' rushing attack ranked 29th in the NFL a year ago, and without a star WR on the outside keeping the defense honest, those numbers could be even worse in 2012.

The Madden Curse has hurt many players over the years for a multitude of different reasons for a little more than a decade.

Don’t believe me?

How about last year, when Peyton Hillis was coming off of a career-year to have a complete clunker in 2011, rushing for under 600 yards on the ground and missing several games.

In 2010, Troy Polamalu shared the cover with  standout WR Larry Fitzgerald. Although Fitzgerald had a solid season, Polamalu wasn’t as lucky.

The ball hawking safety was ravaged by injuries and appeared in only five games, and the Steelers missed the playoffs just one season after winning the Super Bowl.

In 2008 it was Vince Young on the cover, and he has seen a rather bizarre downfall in his career, as he was let go by Tennessee and now is no more than a backup.

In 2006 the curse hit Donovan McNabb who missed several games with a sports hernia, and after a solid 2005 season, he watched his career take steps back each year following making the cover.

The list of athletes who had horrible seasons following being named the cover of the popular video game is staggering. From Marshall Faulk to Michael Vick and Shaun Alexander, the list goes on and on.

Will the curse hit Johnson?

If you’re a Detroit Lions fan you'd better hope not, because if something were to happen to the superstar, the 2012 season would be a disaster. Not only is he a great athlete on the field, he provides great leadership in the locker room, which is invaluable, particularly with this team.

Detroit has had a rough offseason with off-field issues such as Titus Young punching a teammate and Nick Fairley being arrested not once, but twice.

The loss of Johnson would doom the 2012 season before it even starts, and the team would fall apart at the seams.