Injuries

We know we had a lot of injuries last year. 17 ended up on IR. Here is a telltale stat:

Looking at the 12 playoff teams this past season only four of the teams had a double digit total of players on injured reserve [Hou. (12), Pitt. (12), N.E. (11), NYG (10)]. In fact the average number of players on injured reserve for the 12 playoff teams in 2011 was 6.1. Meanwhile six of the eight last place teams in each division had double digit I-R totals. Buffalo led the way with 17. Moreover the average number of players on injured reserve for the eight last place teams was almost double that of the playoff teams (11.9).

That was from the Buffalo Bills website. That stat is a telling sign how much was aligned against this team last year. Due to free agency and the salary cap, no team has depth anymore, and I don't think it is a coincidence that a team's fate hangs in the balance of how healthy someone is.

Now, not only do we have to find a guy who is a starter, and a good character guy, and a guy who wants to win first and get rich second, but, we also have to find a guy who has good health too? Wow. Once you get beyond 10-12, you can kiss your playoff chances goodbye.