Bullet point summary by AI
- Caleb Williams is rumored for the Madden 27 cover. While the curse historically plagues quarterbacks, recent stats show stars are successfully breaking it.
- Past cover QBs saw passing touchdowns drop 25% and picks rise 45%. However, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen recently posted MVP-caliber seasons despite it.
- Williams already broke the Bears’ century-long quarterback curse. Backed by coach Ben Johnson and a loaded offense, he is primed to defy the video game jinx.
The 2025 Chicago Bears made it as far as they had in a season since 2010, but head coach Ben Johnson believes the best is yet to come, saying, per the Chicago Sun-Times, “Everyone knows what the expectations are in the building, what meetings look like. There’s just a different level of, I don’t want to say comfort, but they know.”
Johnson knows expectations are remarkably high for the Bears in the 2026 season, yet he believes the team is primed to take another step forward. For them to do so, though, they might have to overcome the Madden cover curse.
Caleb Williams’ rumored Madden cover puts Ben Johnson’s gaudy goals in jeopardy
In most cases, a player on your favorite team being on the cover of a video game is nothing but really cool to see. The Madden cover is no ordinary cover, though. It feels like whenever a player is chosen to be on the cover, particularly a quarterback, bad things happen. The stats back it up, too.
The Madden 27 cover leaked with Caleb Williams as the featured athlete 👀
There have been 12 other QBs featured on the cover of Madden.
On average, compared to the year prior, their…
– Passing yards dropped by 10.9%
– Passing TDs fell by 25.3%
– Interceptions rose by 45.5% pic.twitter.com/UmY4a0QUMa— Underdog (@Underdog) May 30, 2026
From Daunte Cullpepper to Michael Vick to Donovan McNabb, we’ve seen several quarterbacks struggle to stay on the field and/or be productive in the year they grace the Madden cover. The statistical dropoff is just jarring and something the Bears can ill-afford.
As daunting as this looks, there are a couple of reasons, even beyond Johnson’s hype, to believe that Williams can overcome the curse.
Quarterbacks have broken Madden cover curse in recent years
Josh Allen is the most recent quarterback to be on a cover, and you tell me if his stats from his cover season suggest a curse is in place:
- 4,306 passing yards, 524 rushing yards, 44 total touchdowns, 66.5 percent completion
Allen was as advertised, totaling nearly 5,000 yards and over 40 touchdowns. He couldn’t get the Buffalo Bills over the hump in the playoffs and threw more interceptions than you’d like, but other than that, what about his play suggests he was cursed in any way? He was fifth in the MVP balloting, after all.
Even beyond Allen, other quarterbacks have played well despite being on the cover. Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady shared the cover in 2022, with the former leading the Chiefs to the AFC Championship Game and the latter throwing for over 5,000 yards. The 2021 cover featured Lamar Jackson, who rushed for over 1,000 yards and went 11-4. Mahomes had the cover to himself the year prior and won the Super Bowl.
Players at other positions haven’t quite overcome this, and I’m not saying Williams is Allen or any of these other future Hall of Fame quarterbacks by any means, but it feels like the curse isn’t in place, at least for quarterbacks.
Caleb Williams has already broken longstanding Bears franchise curse
The Bears have been a franchise for over 100 years, yet it feels like they’ve never had a franchise quarterback. Guys like Jay Cutler, Sid Luckman and Jim McMahon had good moments, but only Luckman even played for more than 10 years, and Williams might be the most talented quarterback to ever wear a Bears jersey.
If Williams wasn’t fazed by the Bears’ laughably bad quarterback history, why would the “curse” of a video game cover get in his way? He’s already proven he belongs in this league, and with Johnson, an improved offensive line and a talented receiver corps for Williams to work with, a big year could be in store for the 24-year-old gunslinger even if he’s on the Madden cover.
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