Here’s One Thing the 2012 Packers Led the League In
Did the 2012 Green Bay Packers lead the league in any important statistical categories?
Nope. Well, with the exception of one — most games lost to injury.
This probably comes as no surprise to anyone who looked at the Packers injury report each week. Greg Jennings, Charles Woodson and James Starks all missed considerable time. Additionally, 13 guys finished the season on injured reserve. Among them, Bryan Bulaga, Nick Perry and Cedric Benson.
Overall, 10 guys missed more than eight games, not including the guys who spent the entire season on IR and/or the PUP list (Desmond Bishop, Derek Sherrod, etc.).
Deadspin has a nice little breakdown via Pro Football Reference.
Here’s the important graphic.
What it tells us is the Packers were down, on average, more than 11 players each week. Only the Dallas Cowboys were close in that category.
They finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs.
This reinforces one thing we already knew — injury-depleted teams don’t make Super Bowl runs. The one exception that comes to mind is the 2010 Packers, but that was a team that seemingly had an overabundance of motivation.
It also says something about the Packers overall depth, since they still managed to win 11 games, their division and a playoff game. The Packers had similar depth in 2010, maybe more.
Of course, the handling of some of these injuries made us question their medical staff on more than one occasion. There was definitely some buffoonery going on there.
By the way, the highest the Packers ranked in an important statistical category was fifth in scoring.
Related Posts:
- Jerel Worthy May Not Return in 2013
- Packers Are Sandbagging For Lions
- Charles Woodson Won’t Return, Clay Matthews Will
- Of Course, Now Josh Sitton is Injured
- Packers Not at 2010 Injury Level… Yet
01/17/2013 - 4:07 pm
Any data going back a few years? I know all teams have injuries, but it seems like the Pack has been leading the way in that regard for a few years now. Is that consistent bad luck, or a medical or strength training staff that doesn’t get guys prepared or of the sidelines effectively enough?
01/17/2013 - 5:56 pm
Right Doug. Is this a coaching/trainer issue?
01/17/2013 - 9:46 pm
I noticed that the 49ers and the Falcons are in the top 5 for healthiest teams..
01/18/2013 - 6:05 am
Went and looked at the breakdown on Deadspin and on one chart they listed the teams that had the highest percentage of players that actually played on Sunday after being listed as questionable all week.
Guess who was #1 in telling lies?
You guessed it – the chili-eating mouth breathers to the west.
Skol Vikings!
01/18/2013 - 4:04 pm
Well, the Vikings have Percy Harvin, who I believe has been questionable to play in every game he’s ever been in.
01/18/2013 - 9:53 am
From this graph, does it seem to you like more teams running a 3-4 base defense have more injuries than teams running the 4-3? Maybe I’m just seeing things, since many of our IR victims were on the offensive side of the ball. You might notice a small trend that many of the “power” teams have fewer injured than the “finesse” or “passing” offense teams as well. Maybe I’m reading the graph wrong…
01/18/2013 - 4:11 pm
This is becoming too regular to be coincidence.
The medical staff is overly cautious, when there isn’t a misdiagnosis, and the coaching staff has a “next man up” mentality. Thus, the results.