“Curses” aren’t what has been holding this team back

I’m not at all a superstitious person so I don’t believe in curses. Sure it would be great if the 28 year drought we‘ve had was all about Jerry not putting Jimmy in the ROH. But unfortunately our playoff drought is really more about roster building, decision making, culture, toughness, habits, and sadly not playing our best football during the playoffs. JJ and SJ of course are at the center of all that.

In fairness, Jerry and Stephen have certainly done some good things for which credit is due:

• The elevation of Will McClay a few years ago has made our drafts so much better and delivered a major influx of talent.
• The hiring of Mike McCarthy (who is light years better than Garrett), has so far delivered back to back 12 win seasons and playoff appearances, which hadn’t happened since the 90s.
• The team finally won a road playoff game for the first time in 30 years.

Those are all good and all worthy of the almighty “credit” JJ so desperately craves.

But the next hurdle this team has to clear isn’t about some mysterious curse. It’s about playing great against the better teams in the playoffs. For a multitude of reasons, we have not played our best football when it mattered most. Until THAT changes, we won’t be rescued by a ROH induction, although I’m certainly glad to see it finally happen.

The breaking of curses are fun to talk about in sports. But in reality, winning playoff games is 100% dependent on the team’s ability to play its best when the stakes are at its highest.