Every week bones break and muscles rip around the NFL. We’ll take a look at the most significant injuries, and what happens next.
The Buffalo Bills haven’t advanced to the playoffs in 15 years, and they haven’t finished with a winning record in a decade. Their fanbase desperately needs something to keep them warm during another awful upstate New York winter.
They need the playoffs, and now for a few weeks their pursuit of the New England Patriots in the AFC East will take place without their two top running backs, one of whom is gone for the season.
C.J. Spiller isn’t trade bait anymore
C.J. Spiller is wildly inconsistent, and his 2014 season that’s now likely over due to a broken collarbone suffered during Buffalo’s win Sunday was the definition of a football cliche. He’s a home run hitter, and when healthy he always will be.
If it is indeed over (and it pretty much definitely is), Spiller’s season ends with 396 total yards over seven games on 83 touches. That averages out to 4.8 yards per touch, which is painfully OK from a first-round pick.
But there was still a layer of intrigue around Spiller due to his game-busting speed. Consider: of that total production, 125 yards (31.6 percent) came on only three touches. They were runs for 53 and 47 yards, and a reception Spiller turned into 27 yards.
That’s why he was set to be shopped around prior to the trade deadline, and the Bills surely would have taken anything of remote value for a running back they were minimizing. So they lost both an explosive weapon, and the opportunity to ship Spiller off in a contract year after using him for only 12 snaps in Week 6. It’s all very Bills.
Overall Spiller was featured in only 33.3 percent of Buffalo’s offensive snaps, losing time to the aging yet still far more effective Fred Jackson. Oh hey, about him…
Fred Jackson is broken too
Fred Jackson, meanwhile, had been on the field for 53.9 percent of the Bills’ offensive snaps. His usage has also been highlighted by some chunky plays, including a key 38-yard run in Week 1, and two 20-plus yard receptions.
And now he’s gone too, likely for at least a month.
Bills RB Fred Jackson says on weekly @WGR550 appearance this morning that his groin injury is typically a 4-week injury. No surgery.
— Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) October 20, 2014
During the heart of their schedule and a playoff push the Bills will now be reduced to Anthony Dixon and Bryce Brown at running back. The former is a short-yardage plodder with a career YPA of 3.4, and the latter is similar to Spiller with well documented fumble problems (Brown fumbled four times on only 115 carries in 2012).
Oh no, Brian Orakpo
At east Brian Orakpo is sort of consistent. In 2012 he tore his left pectoral muscle and appeared in only two games. This year he lasted a bit longer before tearing the right pectoral. Overall he’s now torn that muscle on either the left or right side three times.
The injury occurred during the Washington Redskins win Sunday over the Tennessee Titans, led by savior Colt McCoy. The Redskins were already playing without cornerback DeAngelo Hall, and now they’re also without a primary pass-rushing source. Orakpo was off to a slow start in that regard this season (only a half sack), but his history is well established with 40 sacks over 71 career games. Now opposing offensive lines can shift their focus to Ryan Kerrigan, who’s recorded 6.5 sacks over seven games.
Orakpo was playing under a one-year, fully guaranteed franchise tender of $11.455 million. So he’ll get paid, but he may have played his last game in Washington.
The 49ers offensive line keeps crumbling
Right tackle Anthony Davis has appeared in only two games this season for the San Francisco 49ers. Guard Mike Iupati missed Week 7 with a concussion, and now center Daniel Kilgore is done for the rest of the season with a broken leg.
Kilgore had played every snap so far this season, and was a key anchor for an offense line that’s been inconsistent at best. Now correcting that flaw becomes even more difficult.
Quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been sacked 19 times, the league’s second highest total.
