1/23/2007

By FatMan in Charlotte
for BigBlueInteractive.com

2006 continues the streak. It marks AT LEAST the seventh consecutive year that one of the top five healthiest teams is playing in the Super Bowl. I say at least because I only have data that goes back to 2000. It really is a telling statistic. But one that is overlooked. I’m not sure why, but a lot of fans want to believe the effect of injuries is a negligible occurrence. I notice that a lot of younger fans feel that way, and I’m struggling to tell if it is a side effect of playing Madden, where replacements pretty much can be controlled to perform as well as the starter, or if it is because they just don’t want to believe it.

For the record, the top 10 healthiest teams in 2006 were:

1. Dallas
2. New Orleans
3. San Diego
4. Jets
5. Bears
6. Ravens
7. Broncos
8. Colts
9. Rams
10. Titans

This represents the fewest amount of “man starts” missed during the year. So if a starter missed a game, it would be reflected as one. Once the Saints and Bears squared off, the top-five streak was extended. Notice the Colts are in the top 10 as well.

In the free agency era, team depth is one of the biggest things that is sacrificed. In the old days, if Carl Banks went down, the Giants could plug in an Andy Headen, who could have started for any other team, and they wouldn’t miss a beat. Nowadays, you lose a starting linebacker, and you either have to plug in an untested rookie, a mediocre career backup, or some guy who was hauling furniture the week before. The difference between Antonio Pierce and the guy who delivered your Supreme pizza last night could be as simple as a turned ankle. And yet, people want to ignore the effect injuries have.

Not only are injuries ignored by and large, but people also don’t seem to give any respect to teams that overcome injuries to win. There have only been two teams to make the playoffs more than once while finishing lower than 20th in terms of health since 2000, and they are the Giants (the past two years) and the Patriots. Bill Belichick is often given a great deal of credit for plugging in pieces and moving along without issue. I don’t see a similar amount of praise given to the Giants. And yet, the Giants of this year were the lowest ranked team in injuries to make the playoffs since 2000. What thanks do they get in the eyes of the fans? That the coach needs to be fired and nearly every player needs to be cut.

Injuries also make the play of certain players difficult to assess. People claimed Amani Toomer was finished after the 2004 season. Little did they know he played almost the entire year with a terribly hurt hamstring. In 2006, he actually played part of a game AFTER tearing his ACL! Antonio Pierce played almost the whole 2006 season with a badly hurt ankle, yet more than a few fans are tearing into him for being slow and a one-year wonder. Maybe I’m defensive because I’ve been around the training room, and I’ve seen nasty bruises, mangled digits, and open lacerations shrugged off as being part of the game. I’m the dude sitting on the training table that faints when the guy next to me has a dislocated finger popped back into place, and actually, you’re that dude too. Most of what these guys go through every single game would be enough to put a normal person on the shelf for weeks, so when a guy misses a game or is out for an extended time, you can bet your ass that it is a serious injury, or one that makes his participation a detriment.
Yes, I defend the training staff on almost all matters, but you would too if you realized that the physics of a fabric tape is not strong enough to stop joints from injury when a thousand pounds of force is bearing down on a body part. The only effective means of eliminating injury is to use equipment that immobilizes joints. Unfortunately, we like to see our players run around instead of move like zombies with locked knees. Thus, it isn’t a viable option. Avoiding injury takes skill in knowing how to protect yourself, but it also takes luck. We have been unlucky.

The good news – the law of averages is on our side for the next year. The bad news – injuries do not follow the law of averages. Nor do they happen because of a faulty training program as some might suggest. Injuries happen because insanely large and fast people are banging into each other at insanely high speeds resulting in insanely high forces. Poor conditioning would result in a lot of muscle pulls and strains and the Giants are about the same as most teams in that regard.

All I know is that there doesn’t appear to be a bigger determinant for making the playoffs than being healthy. Seven of the top 10 teams made the playoffs this year and seven of the top 10 made it last year. In fact, going back to 2000, at least five of the top ten have made the playoffs each year. It’s past being a fluke. If somebody can come up with another determinant that has been so significant for the past six years, then by all means step up and share. Until that time, realize that injuries have a real effect on who wins. And a larger one than we as fans want to give credit for. And by all means, before you bash somebody, especially when they are playing uncharacteristically, hold off until you can tell if they are injured or not. It might keep one from looking like an utter fool.

And that is The FatMan weighing in…..

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