The Kirk Cousins Curse Could Give Chiefs Edge Over Eagles in Super Bowl

What's become known as the "Kirk Cousins curse" doesn't bode well for the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX.

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

It remains to be seen if Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins receives another chance to start in the NFL next fall. But based on a little known curse, Cousins could have a major impact on the biggest game played during the 2025 calendar year.

Sports Illustrated's Michael Fabiano tweeted on Jan. 28 no team that lost to Cousins during the regular season has ever gone on to win the Super Bowl.

No team that has lost to Kirk Cousins has won the Super Bowl in the same season. The Eagles lost to Cousins and the Falcons back in Week 2. pic.twitter.com/S5w4lR0h4Y

— Michael Fabiano (@Michael_Fabiano) January 29, 2025

Prior to last year, no team which lost to Cousins ever advanced to the Super Bowl. The San Francisco 49ers at least broke that part of the curse last year. Behind a 17-point comeback in the 2024 NFC championship versus the Detroit Lions, the 49ers advanced to the Super Bowl.

But San Francisco couldn't hold onto a 10-point lead or win in overtime versus Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs during the big game.

Prior to 2024, Cousins had beaten 14 playoff teams in his career. The 49ers were the only one to advance to the Super Bowl before the Philadelphia Eagles this year.

By far, the most victimized team from the curse is the Green Bay Packers. The Packers lost to Cousins during the regular season in 2020 and 2021. In both years, Green Bay earned the No. 1 seed in the NFC despite losing to Cousins, but the Packers lost at home during the postseason.

Cousins led the Falcons to a comeback victory against the Eagles in Week 2 during 2024. The dramatic victory, which could curse Philadelphia, was Cousins' first with the Falcons.

It's interestingly to think about how different the Falcons' season could have been if they lost that game. Cousins didn't look good for most of the night, but at the time, the comeback silenced a lot of critics saying Cousins was still dealing with mobility concerns.

The veteran quarterback did get hot in October. But eventually, the lack of mobility concerns returned and Cousins criticism reached a boiling point in December.

Had Cousins not led the Falcons to the comeback in Philadelphia, maybe rookie Michael Penix Jr. starts for Atlanta a little sooner?

From the Eagles' perspective, if they had won the game, they wouldn't have to deal with the "Cousins curse" versus the Chiefs.

I'm a big fan of sports curses. But honestly, the "Cousins curse" seems more like another indictment on the veteran signal caller than an actual curse.

Pundits have classified Cousins throughout his career as a good, but not great quarterback. The fact he has never beaten the eventual Super Bowl winner just confirms that, even at his best, he wasn't capable of beating elite teams.