Get Football Picks, College Football Picks, NFL Picks, Pro Football Picks and play Free Fantasy Football and more at PicksPal.

NEW YORK--Jets quarterback Chad Pennington, who has struggled this preseason to the tune of a 51.6 QB rating, blamed his problems on the fabled Madden cover jinx that. Though Pennington has never actually graced the cover of the popular video game, he believes that the curse has befallen him “by accident.”

“It just hasn’t been a good preseason for me,” Pennington said after a 20-12 victory over the Giants. “I’m not getting into any kind of rhythm, my passes are off the mark, and my confidence is starting to suffer a little. I know it sounds weird, but I’m pretty sure I’m a victim of the Madden Curse. What else could it be? I ended last season on such a strong note and now I can barely get out of my own way. And this new kid, Kellen, looks like Johnny Unitas. What's next? Is a safe going to fall on my head?”

Pennington threw two interceptions in a Week 2 game against the Vikings and hoped to improve on that performance against the Giants. Unfortunately, after an early touchdown toss to Leon Washington, it was all downhill for the Jets QB.

To add insult to injury, Clemens performed very well in back up duty.

“It’s rough to see the backup come in and outplay you,” Pennington said. “Kellen is just some nobody from nowhere and now he's challenging me for the starting job. Oh, and Vince Young, Mr. Madden Cover Boy, looked pretty good this week. So you tell me: has the Madden curse been transferred somehow to me? Obviously. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out. But you won’t hear anyone in the mainstream media reporting on that. No, they’ll just talk about how my numbers are bad and I don’t have a very strong arm in general.”

The one positive for Pennington? It’s only the preseason.

“Perhaps this jinx or whatever is only a temporary preseason thing,” he said. “All I know is that there’s one game left, so we’ll all get another chance to see Kellen Montana zipping the ball through the air like the Hall of Fame quarterback that he is. But then, when the season starts? It’s Chad time. Yea! My passes may not have much on them, but they get there before the defender sometimes.”

After last season, Pennington’s grip on the starting job seemed secure. But with Clemens’ strong, accurate passes and Pennington’s uninspired performance, some see the makings of a QB controversy.

Not so, says coach Eric Mangini.

“There’s no controversy. Why would there be a controversy?” he asked. “We have a starting quarterback and his name is Chad Pennington. Chad is a good quarterback. He’s talented. I’m not worried about how he has performed in these meaningless games. Don’t you people remember that we finished strong last season? We finished strong last season! Any team who finishes strong one season is a shoe-in for the Super Bowl the next season. Just ask the 2005 Dolphins.”

Mangini also dismissed any talk of a jinx or a curse on his starting quarterback.

“There are no curses on my starting quarterback,” he said. “He wasn't even on the cover of Madden. How could he be victimized by the curse? It doesn’t just get people who play it, does it? If that’s the case, even I could be susceptible because I play the shit out of that game, and I always use Chad as my quarterback. Needless to say I’m getting very good at running the ball.”

Copyright 2007, The Brushback - Do not reprint without permission. This article is satire and is not intended as actual news.