My Green Bay Packers were picked by many people to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl in February. I was amongst the many people who made such a prognostication. However, with the current nightmare facing the Packers in regards to their injury situation, it is now clear that the Packers should no longer be considered the favorite to be playing in north Texas in February.
The Packers right now clearly have more injuries than any other NFL team. On offense, they are not only without their top running back Ryan Grant (which as I previously mentioned, is particularly devasting to the Pack since they lack depth at the running back position) but they are also without BOTH of their top two tight ends (star starter Jermichael Finley and former starter Donald Lee). With those three injuries the Packers go from being above average at both running back and tight end to being decidingly below average at both positions. The fact that star QB Aaron Rodgers might miss a game due to the concussion that he suffered against Washington is icing on the cake.
On defense, the situation is at least as bad. The Packers will be playing without their second best linebacker Nick Barnett for a long time, possibly the whole season. Also absent are their top two reserve defensive lineman due to injuries. And to top it all off, the defensive backfield is currently without the services of three of their top five players (Al Harris, Atari Bigby, and Morgan Burnett).
I have obviously downgraded the Packers' power rating that I have assigned to them due to their vast array of injuries. I have obviously done this with other teams with substantive injuries as well. Accounting for injuries is probably the toughest aspect of handicapping sports, particularly football. However, it is a task that one has to perform if he is going to be successful in making winning NFL picks, as I have over the past 12 years. Posted: Wednesday, 13 October 2010 11:52 PM |
