The curse lives! After a stellar 2004 campaign in which he led the Eagles to the Super Bowl, passed for 31 scores and earned a 104.7 passer rating, Donovan McNabb's cover season was a catastrophe. He elected to play through a debilitating sports hernia injury and managed 2,500 yards and 16 passing TDs.
Meanwhile, a feud between McNabb and the ever-volatile Terrell Owens strained the Eagles' team chemistry and tested the patience of both McNabb and head coach Andy Reid. Owens was later suspended for disparaging comments, while McNabb cut the year short after nine games for season-ending surgery (the first surgery of his athletic career). The Eagles finished 6-10 and the Madden Cover Curse was firmly cemented in the annals of sports superstition alongside a billy goat and the great Bambino.