When the Green Bay Packers lose in the playoffs, they already have a built-in excuse.
Too many injuries.
The Packers listed a whopping 18 players on their Thursday injury report, adding one — cornerback Damarious Randall — to the 17 that were on the Wednesday injury report.
We won’t break down the entire list. If you want a look at it, here it is.
What we will tell you is 18 guys is a lot. And only one team has more (Houston), but all of their guys practiced on Thursday.
The Packers’ opponent this week, the Washington Redskins, have 11 guys on their injury list. Only one is a DNP.
Here’s the rest of the Wild Card teams.
- Seattle: 9 (2 DNP)
- Minnesota: 6 (2 DNP)
- Houston: 19 (0 DNP)
- Kansas City: 11 (2 DNP)
- Pittsburgh: 7 (2 DNP)
- Cincinnati: 3 (2 DNP)
There isn’t a lot that separates the teams in the playoffs.
Health is usually a key factor.
Right now, the Packers don’t have it.
But if you’re looking for a silver lining, it’s this. Look closely at that injury report above and you’ll see a number of guys that did more on Thursday than they were able to do on Wednesday.
Among them, left tackle David Bakhtiari.