Worst Places for Injuries

PackersRS

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We all know injuries are part of the game. But there are some bad injuries and some that aren't as crippling to the team. A great team has ready backups or easy plan B's at most positions, but not all.

After the Patriots near perfect season, Tom Brady goes down for the year in week 1 and their season is shot - they finish 10-6, but do not make the playoffs. On the other hand, Robert Brooks get injured for the Packers in 1996 and the team picks up Andre Rison as a free agent, doesn't miss a beat, and goes on to win the Super Bowl.

My question ... what season-ending injuries would be most devastating to the Packers in 2010? Here's my top 5:

The first two are pretty easy:
1) Aaron Rodgers. No question. If he gets injured they will not win the Super Bowl. They may still be decent with Flynn, but they will be lucky to make the playoffs.
2) Charles Woodson. Leader of the defense and plays a position where the second stringers are not yet proven.

After that, though, it gets tougher:
3) Clay Matthews. Best pash rusher on the team. No obvious backup that can pick up the slack.
4) Nick Collins. Big drop off from Collins to Martin, etc. And it would be tough to pick up a free agent safety who could contribute quickly.
5) Ryan Grant. He is a good, but not great back. But there is little depth at this time. It's possible, though, to pick up a free agent like a Westbrook.

Who else would be on your list? How high should guys like Clifton and Jennings be? Seems to me we have pretty good depth on the DL and WR.
I completely agree with your list.

But there's another factor: lenght and time of injury.

Rodgers being lost for one game, as long as it's a regular season game, we can win the SB. Even for 2 games. More than that is almost over.

Woodson IMHO can be missed for as much as 5 games, again, not counting postseason. I believe the same for CM3 and Collins.

And I think Grant can even lose half the season, that we'll make the postseason. But definitely by wildcard...

Jennings being lost for the season isn't as problematic as the above, but it considerably shortens our chances of sucess. The same can be said for Barnett.

This all for 1 player only. If we lose 2 players at a certain position for an extend period of time, we're plain screwed. Unless it's on the OL. Wow. Incredible that the position we have more depth is the OL right now...
 

DILLIGAFF

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IMO if Finely goes down would be a devastating blow to the offense. Opposing defenses are starting to game plan against him which in turn opens things up for everybody else. Other than A-rod, we can plug in a backup to get the job done at the other positions on offense and still run the same game plan.

Nobody can replace Finely, and if we have to MM will change his game plan quickly to accommodate the loss.

Grant is a loss, but replaceable
 

JBlood

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The offensive line is in a transition phase, for the 5th year. Injuries there would harm the passing offense, not to mention Rogers. Football is still a game of blocking and tackling; so injuries to either the offensive or defensive lines will affect our chances probably more than injuries to the "stars".
 

ivo610

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I still am worried about injuries to the O line. If we lose both tackles in one game it could ruin the season possibly.
 

profile_removed

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1. If we lose JerMichael Finley we're in trouble. I see 0 depth at TE. Super QB need SOMEONE to get the ball down the middle of the field to. It's what worked in '96.

2. If ANY combination of 2 of the 3 inside linebackers *Hawk, Barnett, Chillar* go down we're screwed. Bishop has proven he can't do the job against a marquee back. Now if we didn't have MN on the schedule at the time of the injury we might be able to get away with it...but if Bishop had to go against AP forget it we'd be in huge trouble.

Those are the only 2 areas where we don't have enough depth to cover ourselves. Unless of course as someone previously said we lost BOTH starting tackles at the same time. Though I think we could get away with Lang and Bulaga at Tackle for a week or two, not more than that though.
 

FrankRizzo

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Your original list is great.

I'd add that Jennings & Driver are also extremely crucial.
I remember Brooks tearing his ACL in the 1996 season, also against San Francisco and at home on the Lambeau grass (as both Kampman and Harris were).
I know when we got Andre Rison, we ended up winning the Super Bowl.

But during the season, our offense struggled so badly for a stretch there they had to go out and get Rison. Losing a top WR will mess up the timing and overall offense. You think Ted Thompson would go out and get a veteran like Wolf did with Rison? Hell no. He'd call up a Josh Bell type youngster.

Now I do have tons of faith in Jordy & Jones though. But nobody is the threat that Jennings is, and Driver is just so reliable.
 

turbo69

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What about Crosby???? We have noone else at the Kicker position! :)

Based on last year..........it seemed we should have went for it on forth down more. By midseason or so.......every time he walked out on the field.........I was standing up in front of the TV........saying...."Please don't miss this" then it seemed like I followed up with........many bad...bad words!

I think he will improve this year though.
 

DergaSmash

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I also think that a big long term injury to any of the DL guys would be huge because it would jack up the rotatation and the rest of the guys would get a lot more gassed.
 

NYPacker

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I also think that a big long term injury to any of the DL guys would be huge because it would jack up the rotatation and the rest of the guys would get a lot more gassed.

Not necessarily, I think we have enough depth to suffice at least one injury, just hope that it's not Harrell...again. Furthermore it gives guys a chance to step up and show what they can do. For instance I'd like to see rookies Mike Neal, CJ Wilson and Aleric Mullens get a sizeable number of snaps. However for them to even step on the field they'd have to take them away from someone else.
 

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