How injured have we been?

[I.M. Fletcher]

With 6 guys already ruled out for injuries, and ninko and siliga also not making the trip, this will be the most players missing in a week.

There is a possibility we won't even be able to field a 46man roster tomorrow.

 

[ivanvamp]

The Pats have lost the most man-games to injury this season of any team in the NFL. Yet they have the 3rd best record in football.

Those looking like playoff teams:
AFC
NE - #1 in most man-games lost to injury
Den - #30
Cin - #31
Hou - #7
KC - #15
NYJ - #13

NFC
Car - #27
Ari - #23
GB - #25
Was - #4
Min - #26
Sea - #19

Long story short, unless you're the Patriots, you gotta be healthy to be in the playoffs. Houston and Washington don't really count, because they play in uber-crappy divisions, and if they played in even modestly decent divisions they'd be very much out of the playoff hunt. So leaving those two teams plus New England out of it, the average ranking of the other 9 teams is #23. And then there is New England. First in the league in man-games lost to injury, and yet first in the AFC.

Another way to look at it is to look at the teams who have been most injured, and look at their records:

#1 - NE (12-3)
#2 - Bal (5-10)
#3 - NYG (6-9)
#4 - Was (8-7)
#5 - Cle (3-12)
#6 - Jax (5-10)
#7 - Hou (8-7)
#8 - TB (6-9)
#9 - SF (4-11)
#10 - Chi (6-9)

Average W-L record of teams #2-10 on this list: 5.6 - 9.4. The Patriots, meanwhile, sit at 12-3.

It is absolutely remarkable what this team has done. Just incredible.

 

[I.M. Fletcher]

Updated injury count. This week will pass last week with the most people missing with 18, while matching last weeks starters missing with 9.

Stay healthy out there today, I would like the numbers to start going down.

 

[neuronet]

One thing that graph shows me how bad Miami is, compared to how amazing NE is.

 

[captain stone]

...As for Easley, we have no other DT who can pressure the QB comparatively. Whether or not we won without him means nothing. We had other players who could play that role last season, while we have struggled this season. Doesn't mean we can't win without him, it means we don't have another DT who can do what he does. hicks has been very good, but not your typical penetrating tackle.

This had me asking myself: What was the real story with Chris Jones? Or even of Dane Fletcher?

We could use both of them now, especially Jones. Sadly, the injuries have finally caught up to them.
2-4 their last 6 games, soon to be 2-5. They look absolutely cooked.

 

[supafly]

This had me asking myself: What was the real story with Chris Jones? Or even of Dane Fletcher?

We could use both of them now, especially Jones. Sadly, the injuries have finally caught up to them.
2-4 their last 6 games, soon to be 2-5. They look absolutely cooked.

While it's impossible to disagree with you about how badly they've played lately, I still think they're good enough to win a game or two, especially at home. I can't feel too confident about any kind of talk about a repeat until I see a statement type of game like last season's game vs. CIN (after the KC loss). In my opinion, one of those games is desperately needed to turn things around. Should that type of game occur, we could be having a whole different conversation altogether. Kind of a big gray area, I know--but that's probably the current state of affairs for this year's team at the moment. I can certainly respect your pessimism until we see otherwise.

As far as Jones and Fletcher, I believe that they were simply two cases of players at positions that looked pretty deep when decision time came around 6 weeks or so ago. For example, we had Brown, Easley, Branch, Hicks, and Siliga as the 5 main DTs, so it would've been difficult to justify freeing up a roster position for Chris Jones in my opinion. I'm glad to have him in the mix for next year, although I'm also glad to see the improvement in competition and talent just the same.

Fletcher may/may not have been more of the same reasoning with Jones, or he may have simply been viewed as another LB with special teams ability. Either way, losing guys like Hightower, Freeny, and Easley makes these moves look questionable now, but I think they were relatively easy decisions at the time. Just my opinion of course. I could be off.

 

[DarrylS]

It always seems that after a Superbowl the following season we have the most injuries, coincidental or the product of long seasons???

That has never, to the best of my knowledge, been analyzed.. but something the NFLPA might want to look at when discussions are held regarding adding games ($$$$) to the schedule..

 

[Gumby]

It always seems that after a Superbowl the following season we have the most injuries, coincidental or the product of long seasons???

That has never, to the best of my knowledge, been analyzed.. but something the NFLPA might want to look at when discussions are held regarding adding games ($$$$) to the schedule..

I think it is a little bit (30%) the 1-3 game longer season and mostly (50%) the 'beat the champs' factor (every opponent brings their A game & certain players bring the 'if I cant beat them, i might as well hurt somebody attitude'). Rest (20%) is just bad luck or bad trainer/dr staff, or the fact that pats grab a lot of lower draft 'damaged goods' and FA reclamation projects and sometimes doesnt work out.

 

[captain stone]

As far as Jones and Fletcher, I believe that they were simply two cases of players at positions that looked pretty deep when decision time came around 6 weeks or so ago. For example, we had Brown, Easley, Branch, Hicks, and Siliga as the 5 main DTs, so it would've been difficult to justify freeing up a roster position for Chris Jones in my opinion. I'm glad to have him in the mix for next year, although I'm also glad to see the improvement in competition and talent just the same.

Fletcher may/may not have been more of the same reasoning with Jones, or he may have simply been viewed as another LB with special teams ability. Either way, losing guys like Hightower, Freeny, and Easley makes these moves look questionable now, but I think they were relatively easy decisions at the time. Just my opinion of course. I could be off.

We had no comparable backup to Dom Easily Injured even before he was…injured, again. If Jones was
healthy enough to be activated at any time during his PUP status, he should have been activated, period.
Same with Fletcher, who had at least a modicum of ability to cover RBs & TEs, whereas Freeny has no
ability whatsoever.

 

[Gumby]

I think it is a little bit (30%) the 1-3 game longer season and mostly (50%) the 'beat the champs' factor (every opponent brings their A game & certain players bring the 'if I cant beat them, i might as well hurt somebody attitude'). Rest (20%) is just bad luck or bad trainer/dr staff, or the fact that pats grab a lot of lower draft 'damaged goods' and FA reclamation projects and sometimes doesnt work out.

Oh, another thought: the increased injury rate of Post-season teams in their next season (my presumption is that is true) should be statistically validated by these charts and used to contradict Go-to-hell's lamebrain plan to go for an 18-game season.

Either that or they'll need 5 6-week IR and return positions per team and the ability (cap & roster sitze) to keep two #1 QBs (teams will need them)

 

[I.M. Fletcher]

We are updated for today.

This is the fewest amount of players missing for injury since week 10 vs. Buffalo.

This is the fewest amount of starters missing since week 8 vs. Washington.

Key to watch how the Pats handle the Tackle position with Vollmer banged up and no Waddle active.

This is the absolute best case scenario we could have asked for 2 weeks ago. Very fortunate in an unfortunate season filled with injuries.