QB Injuries Ruin The League Entering NFL Week 13

Share

Tweet

Share

Share

Email

Comments

Nine NFL teams lost their season due to serious QB injury. This is NO coincidence! The league has been ruined entering NFL week 13 and change is coming.

Prepare for the intense sports debate that only sibling rivalry can conjure. Seesaw Sports, where Dan Salem and Todd Salem throw down on the NFL, MLB, NBA and more. Only on BuzzChomp. Two brothers from New York yell, scream and debate sports.

 

As much as the league has been super interesting this year, everything comes back to just one reason. The ups and downs of the standings, unexpected highs and lows, a wide open MVP race, the expressed feeling that the league is more mediocre now than it used to be, all come down to just that one thing. This has been the year of the quarterback injury. QB injuries have ruined the league entering NFL week 13. They have shaped the entire season, for better and for worse, but really just for worse.

More BuzzChomp: Celebrate 10 Years Of BuzzChomp With Us!

• New York Jets – From preseason darling to playoff afterthought thanks to Aaron Rodgers going down for the season.
• Cleveland Browns – From high upside playoff contender to low upside (though still) playoff contender after Deshaun Watson finally went out for good.
• Cincinnati Bengals – From Super Bowl contender to playoff afterthought thanks to Joe Burrow going down and out for good.
• Indianapolis Colts – From high upside playoff contender to low upside (though still) playoff contender after Anthony Richardson got hurt.
• New York Giants – From playoff hopeful to challenging for worst record in the league after Daniel Jones and, subsequently, Tyrod Taylor got hurt.
• Minnesota Vikings – From high upside playoff contender to low upside (though still) playoff contender after Kirk Cousins got hurt.
• Chicago Bears – From playoff hopeful to challenging for worst record in the league after Justin Fields got hurt.

If you want to throw in Matthew Stafford’s back-and-forth status dropping Los Angeles down a tier, you can pile the Rams onto the scrap heap too. We’ll also nominate Kyler Murray’s preseason injury as worthy of note, as it submarined the Cardinals’ season before it even started. Are these injuries all a coincidence? Absolutely NOT!

 

NFL Week 13: QB Injuries Spoil The Season

 

Todd Salem: Down & Out Because Your Backup Sucks

There were other injuries on top of these, making for one messed up year. I cannot ever remember a season in which so many impactful quarterbacks went down, many for the entire rest of the season. It has shaped every discussion around the NFL, whether directly or indirectly.

Is there anything specific that has caused this swell? QBs are not running more. We all know the game is as safe as it’s ever been for this position. Could it just be a confluence of events? 

In NFL Week 13, all of Indy, the Jets, Los Angeles, Cleveland, and Cincinnati have huge games that appear somewhat winnable. (Chicago, Minnesota, and the Giants are on bye.) And yet, with the exception of the Rams, who don’t really fit the opening discussion, my interest for all of them is approaching zero thanks to the demolition of their ceiling. 

Also on BuzzChomp: Must Own Christmas Movie Classics

Beyond QB injuries, we have also seen terrible play lead to quarterback benchings in New England, the Jets again, Tennessee, Las Vegas, and Atlanta. The league is so down and the playoffs expanded so wide, not all these teams are even eliminated from the postseason discussion yet.

When guys like Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers mention the league being mediocre, they are actually missing the crux. Every old generation thinks the new one is worse. That is not what is happening here. The destruction of the QB position in 2023 specifically is single-handedly leading the entire sport to appear mediocre. (If that isn’t a closing argument for still giving the MVP to a quarterback somewhere, I don’t know what is.) But is it just a blip, a random occurrence? Or is something else going on that has led to the swift erosion of the quality of play at the most important position in all of sports?

 

 

Dan Salem: QB Injuries Are NOT A Coincidence

Quarterbacks are football players like everyone else on the field, yet the NFL has done something to the position that may have inadvertently caused a catastrophe. Just how coddled is the average NFL quarterback? How many penalties are called to protect them? Now, let us consider the best quarterbacks. Does that number double? Are they protected twice as much, ten times as much? The NFL is built around its stars and the top quarterbacks are the faces of the league. They are the most important and most monetarily valuable pieces of the game.

Yet quarterbacks are supposed to be football players, and football players are supposed to bang into each other a lot. They do it at practice and during the games. They are supposed to smash into one another and this prepares your body to deal with getting smashed into.  Now let’s take one player on a team and not let him get hit at practice. Let’s tweak the rules to make sure he gets hit less during a game and even design our offenses to guarantee he won’t get knocked into. This player is no longer as well prepared to get hit, yet the defenses are absolutely still trying to smash into him.

Also on BuzzChomp: James Wan Top 5 Movies All Time

What has happened this season, and why there are so many quarterbacks out as we enter NFL Week 13, is simple. We finally peaked. Defenses around the league are better and we got an influx of very good pass rushers. Offensive lines around the league are worse. In addition, the defensive coaching has gotten better at game planning around the rules that protect a quarterback. Running is way down for quarterbacks, so we have guys standing in the pocket and unable to avoid a hit that is much more likely to come because the defenders are better and the offensive lines are worse. Add in the fact that these quarterbacks are not taking hits much anymore, not like they used to, and we’ve peaked. All it takes is one solid hit and your quarterback is done.

I’m not suggesting that NFL quarterbacks are soft, but they get hit the least of any other player outside of the kicker. The game is literally designed to ensure they don’t get hit, so now that they are getting hit a lot more, because of better defense and worse offensive lines, injuries have skyrocketed. In my opinion, the NFL over compensated to protect its quarterbacks. This has pushed defenders to get angry and take the shots they can legally get. When they get a good one, boom, your quarterback is done. Perhaps I’ve oversimplified the problem, but the evidence entering NFL Week 13 supports my hypothesis. Do any of the teams that lost their quarterback have a good offensive line? Were they facing a very good defense when the player got hurt? Yes and yes. 

More BuzzChomp: Must Own Christmas Movie Classics

Bring back the wildcat quarterback and our running games. Get us more bruisers at quarterback like Big Ben and build up their durability. Running backs get hurt a lot because they get hit the most on the field. Quarterbacks are supposed to get hit the least, but they aren’t, so make sure they can take the hits. With backup quarterbacks all proving to us why they should never be starting, the game has gotten ugly. Something needs to change.

 

Meet our Writers:

Dan Salem is Lead Editor, Writer, and Co-owner of BuzzChomp. He’s a published author, as well as an award winning Actor, Director and Producer. Visit M Square Productions for his film work, or get lost in his old-school comedy on Pillow Talk TV. You can follow him on X and Instagram.

Todd Salem is a Staff Writer and Contributing Editor at BuzzChomp. He’s also a fantasy football and fantasy baseball Staff Writer for RotoBaller. Follow him on X or comment below for his unfiltered opinions.

NFL Week 13 Photo Credits: sportingnews.com and sandiegouniontribune.com via Getty Images

BuzzChomp is an affiliate for products and services recommended herein. Please read our Full Disclaimer for further information on affiliate programs and opportunities.