Colts v Packers injuries

Which team’s injuries were worse?

The Colts lost 4 starters from the secondary (Sanders, Hayden, Powers, Bullitt), 3 skill players on offense (Clark, Collie, Gonzalez), and 1 LB (Session).  By contrast, the Packers’ losses were not so concentrated – they lost 2 linebackers (Barnett, Jones), 2 offensive skill players (Finley, Grant), 1 OL (Tauscher), 1 DL (Neal) and 1 SS (Morgan).  With the concentration of players lost to two key positions in the Colts’ schemes (WR/TE on offense, and the secondary in a base Cover-2 alignment), it’s no wonder that in the end they did not have the parts to plug in and keep playing.

This is not to denigrate the Packers’ accomplishments.  The loss of key players like TE Jermichael Finley and RT Mark Tauscher have certainly impacted the offense; and in a 3-4 defense they definitely miss DE Mike Neal and LB Nick Barnett.  The difference is the number of injuries to a given position and its impact on a team’s ability to develop consistency and open up the play book.  Jake Crocker wrote a fantastic analysis highlighting the relationship between injuries and consistent formations, and there’s no doubt that both the Colts and Packers have had to overcome multiple change-ups throughout the season.  However, had the Colts’ injuries been a little more distributed across the positions (as they were last year), it’s possible that they could still be playing this weekend.