The "Manning Cast" curse is undefeated.
So far, six active NFL players have joined Peyton and Eli Manning for their revolutionary "Monday Night Football" broadcast on ESPN2 this season: Travis Kelce, Russell Wilson, Rob Gronkowski, Matthew Stafford, and last week, Josh Allen.
All six stars have lost their next games.
Allen continued the trend on Sunday, putting up a wretched 31-of-47 stat line for 264 yards and two interception in the Buffalo Bills' shocking 9-6 loss to the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars.
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Jaguars pass rusher Josh Allen dominated the game, picking off the Bills quarterback, registering a sack and recovering a decisive football in the fourth quarter.
Buffalo’s Allen, meanwhile, looked uncharacteristically lost.
Sunday was the second-straight subpar performance for Allen, though he picked himself up and led a charged come-from-behind victory against the Miami Dolphins last week. That did not happen in Jacksonville.
Allen, who was under pressure all day, never seemed comfortable. Late in the game, it seemed like he was seeing ghosts.
The weirdest component of the "Manning Cast" curse is that it’s affected Pro Bowl, if not Hall of Fame-caliber players who are on good teams. As The Ringer’s Rodger Sherman points out, the odds of a completely average team losing six-straight games are 1-in-64, and thus, even lower for quality clubs. The Kansas City Chiefs, Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Los Angeles Rams and the Bills are a combined 26-11 in games not impacted by the "Manning Cast" curse.
The Bills can redeem themselves next week with a victory over the moribund New York Jets. Just keep Allen away from the Manning brothers — words that nobody thought would ever be typed.
