Curse of the Dethroners?

Surprised that the Arizona Cardinals were able to knock off the Philadelphia Eagles in yesterday's NFC Championship game? Well, recent history says you shouldn't be.

Since the 1985 season, 10 teams have defeated the defending Super Bowl champion in either the Wild Card or Divisional round of the following year's playoffs, and all ten have gone on to lose the following week. The Eagles became the latest victim of that wild trend on Sunday, falling to the Cards one week after overtaking the reigning world champion Giants.

For those interested, here's the breakdown:

1984 49ers lost to Giants ('85 NFC W/C) -- Giants then lost to Bears (NFC Div.)
1985 Bears lost to Redskins ('86 NFC Div.) -- Redskins then lost to Giants (NFC Champ.)
1991 Redskins lost to 49ers ('92 NFC Div.) -- 49ers then lost to Cowboys (NFC Champ.)
1994 49ers lost to Packers ('95 NFC Div.) -- Packers then lost to Cowboys (NFC Champ.)
1995 Cowboys lost to Panthers ('96 NFC Div.) -- Panthers then lost to Packers (NFC Champ.)
1999 Rams lost to Saints ('00 NFC W/C) -- Saints then lost to Vikings (NFC Div.)
2000 Ravens lost to Steelers ('01 AFC Div.) -- Steelers then lost to Patriots (AFC Champ.)
2004 Patriots lost to Broncos ('05 AFC Div.) -- Broncos then lost to Steelers (AFC Champ.)
2006 Colts lost to Chargers ('07 AFC Div.) -- Chargers then lost to Patriots (AFC Champ.)
2007 Giants lost to Eagles ('08 NFC Div.) -- Eagles then lost to Cardinals (NFC Champ.)

By the way, of those nine teams who defeated the club that beat the previous year's world champion, seven of them went on to win the Super Bowl (although last year's Patriots failed to do so).