I do feel like the injuries this team has dealt with this year have flown under the radar. Yeah the team probably still wouldn't be that good with everyone healthy, and yeah every team deals with injuries, but this team has been so decimated with injuries it's ridiculous. I have to wonder if the injury situation gives Bill some level of a pass? I mean, how much can he really do to turn the team around when most of his starters are injured and they have the toughest schedule in the league? It's not like there are a ton of free agents or trade acquisitions they can go get out there mid season that will reverse their fortunes at this stage.
This is a fair point: no question. They are certainly snakebit when it comes to injuries.
The question, of course, is what effect should this observation have on our evaluation of where we are, whether our present standing and the effects of actions over recent years which have brought us here are rendered acceptable by this fact.
The answer for me is a firm No. Injuries this year do not account for or excuse the present dismal state of the roster, a state which has left us more than usually vulnerable to such frankly predictable and routine difficulties as injuries, and a state which is the result not of injuries but of abysmal decisions over at least several years by the GM. We have a lot of injuries, yes, but this does not alter that we are a lousy team...with injuries. A good team with injuries can at least look forward as a rule to the return of good players from injuries. If, that is, the roster is sound, a team should see some prospect of improvement when the injured players return. Does anyone feel this way? Was it a great boon when Riley Rieff returned from his injury? Is anyone excited that JJSS will be back for the Buffalo game?
I would also add that injuries do not account for the sloppy manner of play, for the in-game strategic blunders, for the missed assignments, for the disengaged manner of some players, for all the penalties, for all the failed trades and free agent blunders, for the shocking mismanagement of the opportunities associated with having a first-round qb on the cheap. Bad coaching and game management are not the result of injuries any more than bad GM work is.
It's not like there are a ton of free agents or trade acquisitions they can go get out there mid season that will reverse their fortunes at this stage.
This misses the point: no one believes there is any hope of redeeming the present season. It would be foolish to take on other teams' castoffs and leavings to turn
this season around, so the argument here is against an approach literally no one proposes to take: a strawman fallacy. The remainder of this year is entirely about next year and years following,. We have money in the bank, we are likely to have the best draft position we have had in years, there always players worth drafting (If you have a competent GM to choose them), and opportunities for trades and free agent acquisitions will as always be abundant between now and the beginning of
next season. There is no need for timidity looking forward. Step one is to acknowledge where we are, what we are and are not. The second step is to begin the demolition which is the necessary first action in any rebuild.
