How did Red Sox miss these?

Shaun Alexander: Too much pounding on a bone bruise in his left foot

Ben Roethlisberger: Appendicitis attack ... or too much Campbell’s Chunky soup?

These are the kinds of questions swirling around the head of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who happens to be both a teammate of injured Madden cover star Alexander and a pitchman for Chunky soup, same as Roethlisberger.

We are talking dueling curses here, curse versus curse, as in which curse is worse?

The Madden curse zeros in on NFL players pictured on that season’s cover of the video game and has claimed everyone from Daunte Culpepper, knee injury in 2001; to Michael Vick, broken leg in 2003; to Donovan McNabb, sports hernia in 2005; to Alexander, sidelined indefinitely with a broken bone in his foot.

The Chunky curse has targeted NFL players who appear in commercials for the soup, ranging from Terrell Davis, forced into retirement because of knee injuries; to Kurt Warner, never the same since the ads; to Brian Urlacher, missed seven games in 2004; to Roethlisberger.

In early June, when Roethlisberger and Hasselbeck signed on with Campbell’s, the website ArmchairGM.com greeted the news with the headline: “Chunky Soup Announces Big Ben, Matt Hasselbeck As Next Curse Victims.”

Sure enough, the day before Roethlisberger was scheduled to shoot his commercial, he was badly injured in a motorcycle accident. Since then, he has undergone surgery to remove his appendix and suffered consecutive poor performances against Jacksonville and Cincinnati.

To date, Hasselbeck has avoided the Chunky curse, unless you count him losing his best offensive weapon to the Madden curse.

Two birds with one stone Dept.

The website chunkysoupcurse.com is devoted to tracking developments in Chunky curse news. Monday, it put this spin on Alexander’s injury:

“With the Chunky Soup Curse tied down attempting to murder and humiliate Ben Roethlisberger, the Marketing Axis of Evil has asked the Madden Curse to begin the demolition of the Seattle Seahawks.”

Noting that Chunky pitchmen Hasselbeck and Urlacher will be on the same field Sunday when the Chicago Bears play host to the Seahawks, the site announced, “There is some anticipation of the Curse’s efforts to possibly assault Curse alum Brian Urlacher, middle linebacker of the Chicago Bears, on the same play it attacks Hasselbeck.”

The site went on to “quote” Alexander saying, “Thank God the Madden Curse took me off the field this week. The possibility of two Chunky players and one Madden player on the same field? It would have been the greatest threat to Western civilization since the Huns were threatening Rome.”

Trivia time

Who is the only player thus far to avoid the Chunky curse?

To avoid curse, do not succeed

The urban legends website snopes.com observes that superstitions such as the Madden and Chunky curses “are in a sense inevitable. Players

are generally selected for honors when they’re at the pinnacles of their careers -- when continued excellence has become the

expected norm, and then anything else is considered disappointing.

“There’s nowhere to go from such lofty heights but down: Every player is subject to injury (especially in a contact sport such as football), all athletes eventually experience the decline of their skills with age (if injuries don’t prematurely end their careers first), and even top performers are not immune to having off years or making occasional blunders in crucial game situations.

“ ‘Bad luck’ happens to just about everyone sooner or later, but we only take especial note of it when it seems to fit a pattern.”

Trivia answer

According to ArmchairGM.com, only John Lynch has avoided the Chunky curse.

So far, at least.

Lynch plays for the Denver Broncos, who are quarterbacked by Jake Plummer, so you never know.

And finally

Headline on deadspin.com, speculating on the Madden Curse’s next victim: “Madden Curse Soon to Attack Rest of Humanity.”

mike.penner@latimes.com