Just as multiple teams lost stars last weekend—Kansas City lost Patrick Mahomes and Green Bay lost Micah Parsons, each to ACL tears—it’s clear the Denver Broncos have been lucky with injuries.
Football isn’t a contact sport, it’s a collision sport. Injuries are the name of the game, just as “next man up” is one of the most common phrases uttered by coaches.
But some teams are luckier than others.
Denver Broncos have been lucky with injuries this year
With 148 total games missed due to injury, the Broncos have had the 10th-best injury luck this season.
Unless you count it by “points missed” like Sports Information Systems. If so, the Broncos have had the 4th-tbest injury luck, with 57 points missed. On the flip side, the Cardinals have had the worst luck: 215 missed games and 195 missed points.
SIS explains:
“The value we’re measuring here is each injured player’s Total Points per game over his previous 17 games, multiplied by the number of games missed due to injury. This only counts injuries sustained since August 1.”
No matter how you slice it, Denver’s had it pretty good this year.
And if you look at the list, it does seem good injury luck correlates with winning teams. The AFC East leading Patriots have the least points missed, the Rams are next up, followed by the Eagles and Broncos.
Guard Ben Powers likely to return from the IR soon
Ben Powers, Denver’s starting left guard, is looking to likely return to the starting lineup soon. That will be a huge improvement to Denver’s run game, though it should be noted the unit is regarded as one of the best lines in the league even with Powers out.
Going back to the Green Bay game, Brandon Jones was just placed on the IR, and he’s a big piece of the back end of the team’s defense. The good news is, RJ Harvey and linebacker Justin Strnad, who were also both injured in the Green Bay game, aren’t going to the IR.
The fact that Harvey’s rib injury is minor is huge for two reasons. He’s filling in for the injured J.K. Dobbins, who injured an ankle by a hip drop tackle, and because Harvey is the leading touchdown-scorer on the Broncos this year.
Meanwhile, they’ve seen multiple players return from the short-term Injured Reserve already this year.
Dre Greenlaw was on it early on for a quad injury, but he’s been active since mid-October. He’s been making plays all over the field since, including in the backfield on the quarterback, and picking off a pass. Similarly, Malcolm Roach was activated off the IR in October and he’s been wrecking shop in the middle of the defensive line.
Now, with Calvin Throckmorton being waived, it seems to be opening the door for Powers to be activated.
Of course, if you’re trying to win playoff games and eventually the Super Bowl, having your best players available is the best-case scenario.
If the Broncos win this weekend against the Jaguars, and the Chargers lose to the Cowboys, Denver will lock up the division. If that happens, expect them to rest starters at least in Week 18, if not even on Christmas Night in Kansas City. The Chiefs will be starting Gardner Minshew at quarterback and will likely be resting some of their starters, too because they’ve been eliminated from the playoffs.
And if Denver earns the No. 1 seed, they’ll get that extra week of rest either way.
What it all adds up to is the Broncos likely being very healthy as the playoffs kick off. All told, everything has lined up nearly perfectly for the Broncos this season. Are they a team of destiny? Time will soon tell.