I feel like I cannot ignore this issue any longer, especially after this past weekends addition of players. The amount and severity of injuries in the NFL this year seems more vast than I can personally remember in recent years. The players that have been injured too, have also included superstars, and some who have not necesarily labeled injury-prone.
After week 10's match-ups, players like Knowshon Moreno, Michael Vick, Matt Schaub, Matt Cassel, Willis McGahee and Ben Roethlisberger reported injuries, some more serious than others. But why all the injuries if the league has been going to such great lengths to prevent them? Hasn't the increase in rules and more sensitive calls by referees been an attempt to reduce injuries in the league? If it is, it clearly isn't working and it's only taking away from the game.
The league and obviously and the fans don't want to see injuries. We're losing dynamic players that entertain and lead our teams to victories by producing memorable plays. Teams like the Tennessee Titans, Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders are hurting badly from not having their top performers on the field. Kenny Britt was lost early in the season after a hot start, as was Jamaal Charles, minus the hot start. And Darren McFadden remains sidelined by a foot injury after looking near invincible at the beginning of the season.
Concussions have remained an issue as well; not just torn ACLs, MCLs and fractures. I'd say two of the more notable cases would be the San Diego Chargers losing arguably their top offensive lineman in Kris Dielman and the previously 5-0 Detroit Lions losing Jahvid Best against San Francisco.
Who are all these no-name receivers? We've seen an uprise in wide outs because they have had to step in for injured starters. I already mentioned Britt, but the Texans are still without Andre Johnson, the Cowboys just saw Miles Austin get re-injured, A.J. Green got a scare against Pittsburgh, and Malcom Floyd remains sidelined. Not to mention Santana Moss is still out in Washington and emerging rookie Leonard Hankerson went down last game.
If you're hurting defensively, you've probably lost some significant contributors. The Jacksonville Jaguars just lost their last good defender in Rashean Mathis for the season. Their division rivals have been hurting as well; the Texans are also without Mario Williams and Danieal Manning -- and lets not even get into the Colts without Peyton Manning and now Dallas Clark on offense. The Buffalo Bills also lost Shawn Merriman after it looked like his career was coming back to life.
What's been Peyton Hillis' deal in Cleveland? Looks to me the Madden Curse struck again.
What about LaGarrette Blount getting knee-capped by the 49ers? And then didn't Earnest Graham get hurt?
How about the Eagles-Lions attempt to swap runningbacks that resulted in the discovery of a brain tumor in Jerome Harrison?
I've been searching for explainations and reason in this strange and sometimes eerie season plagued by injuries on a weekly basis. I've wanted to blame the lack of an offseason but the Packers had less of an offseason than most teams by not organizing anything, and seem to have less injuries than the other 31 teams. I'm still looking for answers and theories, so if you have any, please post them.
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