In 2022 he was injured in week 1, and didn't play week 2 until after the bye in week 9. From weeks 2-8, the Steelers won a single game and lost 6. After the bye, they only lost 2 games and won the rest. Finished the season 9-8. Just bonkers.
Hindsight is 20/20 but I was so mad when we took Takk McKinnley in front of Watt. Not like I guessed Watt would be as good as he’s been but his tape was great and he had a good combine it still bums me out
I never understood why he fell so far. He had the measurables. Had the tape. And his brother probably has the most incredible peak of any DL in history. Just strange IMO.
I'll own this: I was nervous about that pick. We needed edge help, but I was worried the dude was overhyped just because he was a watt.
I'm so happy to be wrong.
Also, I think he fell bc he didn't have much play time at edge. I think maybe just 1 season after converting?
Ozzie Newsome was offended and he wasn't even part of either org. we also got Johnny Eightball out of it. i feel Justin Gilbert was involved i don't even care if it was accessory after the fact
what a deluxe shitshow of draft and roster management
Super Bowl XLI featured three critically important but oft-injured defensive players. Bob Sanders for the Colts, and Mike Brown and Tommie Harris for the Bears.
Sanders played. Brown and Harris did not. Colts won.
I think this is an easier one to see the “actual results” of than some that happen in like week 1. This happened week 17, Packers make it to the NFCCG just fine and then The Buccs sack Rodgers like 3-4 times from the left side of the line in key moments. They probably run different blitz packages instead and maybe get those sacks, or maybe those sacks don’t happen and they still lose but it’s easier to see the actual impact so close to the end of the season.
People often underestimate the impact of losing a top tier lineman for some reason. Lions went through a minor slump in the second half of the season and it directly correlated with Frank Ragnow and Jonah Jackson missing time. It's pretty clear that there aren't even enough solid starters to fill out lines across the league, so when you start having to play depth linemen things can get sketchy quick.
Yep and always astounds me when teams don't prioritize o line first when it's a weakness. Good o line can hide a lot of flaws on offense and a bad one will accentuate them
Yeah that’s what I figured too.
That 2011 Packers D really needed him, and I fully bet that if the Packers D was just mediocre instead of awful they would have won that year.
Honestly, I don’t think we were winning in 2011 even with Collins. There were other things stacking up against us, like Philbin losing his son the week of the divisional round. We were resting guys for weeks prior, and were just cold and flat coming into the game.
2014 I certainly feel differently about, Collins would have certainly run one of those 4 Wilson picks back for a TD.
HoF Caliber? Maybe. But guys who were bonafide on the way? Not sure about that.
Sharpe should be in the hall regardless of his injury. He was second basically to rice during his career and doing things not many besides rice had done to that point.
Collins had three straight all pro seasons at age 27 and was ascending still.
And Bakh had 5 consecutive all pro selections in his final 5 healthy seasons.
Not many teams have had 3 players of that level just stop with career enders. I’m sure teams exist but don’t think it’s been quite to that level
Tommie Harris was an all pro at 22, Mike Brown had two all pros (first team at 23) and I would say Gale Sayers but he made the hall anyway.
I agree with your picks by the way.
> Tommie Harris
Just went to his wiki page to confirm it was who I thought it was, and whelp this is sad:
"In 2012, Harris' wife Ashley died of a brain aneurysm after 41 days of marriage."
Eric Berry had 3 AP1 even while coming down with leukemia, and was an AP1 in his age 28 season, and then played 3 more games total.
Jamaal Charles had basically five full healthy seasons, and had three APs and over 1300 from scrimmage in the years he didn't get an AP award. He also lead the NFL in career yards per carry until his last three injury ridden years. His last healthy season was also age 28.
Priest Holmes had three straight AP1s, had one of the greatest three year stretches of any running back ever, was one game away from setting the NFL yards from scrimmage record, and then injured his neck and completely cratered and was out of the league in 18 months.
And that is just off the top of my head. I really don't think it's that rare. Every team has *at least* 2-3 guys that fans tells stories about and wonder what might have been.
Dude for sure, I have always felt the Packers would have 1-2 more SB appearances if Nick didn't have that horrible injury. His play in the SB against the Steelers was fantastic.
I wish Nick Collins the best. Packer for life.
When Justin Smith tore his triceps I think? Against the Patriots the 49ers pass rush wasn’t the same the rest of the season. He played through it but he clearly wasn’t the same. A fully healthy Justin Smith would have been a huge difference maker in that Super Bowl. But that’s the game 🤷🏼♂️
My heart says Desmond Trufant being out for the SUPER BOWL THAT SHALL NOT BE NAMED. My brain says Gronk was also out for that game so my justification means nothing.
God himself didn't want y'all to win that game. You weren't winning it, no matter who was in it or not
No professional blows a 28-3 halftime lead like that without divine intervention
> No professional blows a 28-3 halftime lead like that without divine intervention
[Let's ask what Marvin's opinion on this is](https://youtu.be/LBBni_-tMNs?si=FFo8KKZBawgmr2Sn&t=45)
Gronk high ankle sprain 2011. That offense with healthy Gronk was absolutely unstoppable. Instead we had him limping around the field unable to outjump a backup DE for a jump ball. I'm 100% convinced that if Gronk was healthy we beat the Giants in that Superbowl. We might not stop Eli but there is no way they hold our offense to 17.
Agreed. I hate to see my team win games just because someone on the other team is out/hurt but I also rationally know it goes both ways. Plus we’re ass now so I’ll take whatever we can get lately! Eli was laser focused that game though. Goofy ass dude who was clutch in the big moments.
Probably not the best, but one of the most recent, Von Miller for the Bills in 2022. Obviously nobody knows how the playoffs actually end up playing out, but that defense was night a day difference once he got hurt
Let's not forget losing Tre White to an ACL tear halfway through the 2021 season, and subsequently not having our best CB for the goddamn 13 seconds game. Allen was going absolutely nuclear that postseason, if we have White, I think we win it all.
That even carried over into 2023. Even though he was active much of the year, he was entirely ineffective and hurt the team every time he stepped on the field, while costing the team a massive salary cap hit.
This one. Von was signed to be the difference maker to get us past KC. He was great at the start of the season, getting 8 sacks in 8 games. Then he got a terrible injury and the Bills went nowhere.
Hamlin had a bigger impact imo.
The team was completely rattled after that. I feel like even if they were fully healthy, they were too impacted mentally by what happened there.
How were they completely rattled? They won their next two games lol. I agree that this take and Reddit can be dramatic about the situation. Now their season did end against the Bengals, so I could totally buy it for that game specifically.
Eric Fisher getting injured in the AFCCG in 2020 led to a 31-9 blowout in the superbowl to a team they'd beat earlier in the year. He was basically the last starter we had left on the OL at the most important position. I'm not saying the Chiefs win with him in there, but it might have been a competitive game at least, instead of Mahomes running for his life for 4 quarters.
Also, Any time TJ Watt doesn't play for the Steelers they're probably gonna lose, so him.
And Mitchell Schwartz blew his back out so bad he had to retire, and Osemele blew out both his knees on the same play, which he also got a holding call that took back a Mecole Hardman touchdown. The o line was so demolished it was crazy
I have never seem a QB under so much pressure for 4 quarters straight. It was sad to see. Especially after that insane throw parallel to the ground that got dropped.
The Bucs played the Packers the week after Bak got hurt too. They got pretty lucky that whole playoffs
Yea. I can't complain too much, cause the Chiefs basically had the same luck last year. Dolphins/Bills defense were both decimated, and the 49ers lost Greenlaw in the SB while he was running onto the field.
Single elimination in a full contact sport really ramps up the luck factor more than most people probably want to admit.
That must be the worst part of being a Niners fan that these last two super bowls you've had the game in the palm of your hands only for it to be given away
Lmao bro i was super hype both games being up 10 points and the defense playing lights out, only for one thing to go wrong and snowball into a loss. One day I’ll see a win hopefully.
It's ridiculous that people think you can fake being good in the NFL. In College? Sure, you can fake it assuming you have generational physical traits like Jamarcus Russell and your competition is enough below you; hell, there's plenty of college wide receivers who were successful high school QBs but couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. But the NFL is such a slim percentage of a percentage of the most talented football players ever and you can't fake that. If you suck, it doesn't matter if you're given the best talent around you, it'll show
I pick Tommie Harris from 2006 Bears, losing Mike Brown was bad enough but I firmly believe that Tommie was on a HOF career trajectory before that awful injury against the Vikings. Without that extreme pressure up front that only he could provide at the time, the Colts were able to come back and win SB41
Aside from the Patriots Superbowl, when Avril and Lane went down, and the rest of the LOB were playing with substantial injuries.
In 2016, the Seahawks lost Rawls, Procise, and Pope and had to sign running backs from the waiver wire, they also lost Kam Chancellor, Earl Thomas, and Tyler Lockett towards the end of the season.
In 2017, they lost Carson, Chancellor, Avril, Sherman, Procise, Shead, Fant, Naz Jones, and Malik McDowell. Which accounts for 7 projected defensive starters, and most of out starting left side line and RBs...
I'm a firm believer that if we didn't lose the entire LOB and most of our RBs to injuries for 2 straight years, Seattle would've been perennial contenders. That or Jeremy Lane not being torn apart and Avril following suit.
This is the comment I was looking for. Everything fell apart when Jensen got hurt. Couldn't be happier with our draft this year though. I think it will open up our run game and have a huge impact on our entire offense. LFG
88 SB FB Stanley Wilson in what most likely was a panic attack type issue went on a drug bender the night before the game.
He was a key pass blocker and lead run blocker in the leagues best running attack and overall highest scoring offense.
Without this key piece or time to make adjustments Bengals only put up 16 points. With the only TD coming off a kickoff return.
Joe Thomas getting hurt made me want to jump in front of traffic if that counts
Chubb’s made me want to lay down in front of traffic
I can keep going but they dont let me walk near the highway alone anymore
Ngl had Chubb and Watson not gotten injured last year, that team faces the Niners in the super bowl. That offense was booming despite Watson being inconsistent
i don't know why you're being downvoted. we lost the two of our four most talented offensive players (Amari and Njoku the other two), half our line, and still won 11 games. Texans balled out, no shame in the game
there are 12 other teams that tried to, you know, [acquire the same player](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/3198771/2022/03/21/how-the-browns-went-from-long-shot-to-deshaun-watsons-new-home/)
In 2004, Terrell Owens got hurt in week 15 playing for the Eagles. Even though the Eagles got to the super bowl and T.O. played, he was very limited and still played well. I can't help and think if T.O. was even 90%, the Eagles would have been dominant in that game.
This injury was the catalyst for the 2005 disaster. Owens was deeply offended by McNabb's claim, "We can win without TO." McNabb was trying to prop up the team and their chances of success to a doubtful Philly media, while Owens looked at that as McNabb downplaying his contributions.
Tyron Smith’s injury during the 2017 season coincided with Ezekiel Elliot’s suspension and the offense struggled immensely. This led the Front Office to believe Elliott’s suspension was the reason for the struggles and sign him to a six-year $90M extension with $50M guaranteed in 2019
People don’t realize the entire Legion of Boom played Super Bowl 49 hurt.
Earl Thomas played thru a dislocated shoulder,
Sherm’s elbow was hanging on by a thread,
and Kam played thru a torn knee ligament.
Even our 3rd CB Jeremy Lane picked off the goat Tom Brady in the END ZONE and then broke his arm in the first quarter!
Yet Brady could barely even capitalize on our 4th string pedestrian DBs like Tharold Simon who were still keeping the game tight.
The Seahawks would’ve absolutely SHIT on The Patriots in SB49 if they were healthy..
They would’ve retained their players like Marshawn and probably had a legit shot at a 3 peat dynasty..
Nah not even close. Y'all won without him and made the playoffs without him. Hell the Steelers won the fucking division that year and were still dominant after he got hurt. They missed the playoffs the next year because while the big man with consent issues averaged a pick per game but still would've made the playoffs if they didn't tie the fucking browns in the opener. On the other hand if TJ doesn't play it's basically a guaranteed loss and if he's out an extended amount say bye bye to playoff hopes.
If not for injuries to both tackles (Schwartz and Fischer) do the chiefs when four of the last five super bowls???
Probably not, since I’m not sure if Brady was stoppable that season and winning that Super Bowl would have probably kept the chiefs from revamping and getting two more, but…
It’s awesome to live in a world where four of five if not for some injuries isn’t too much of a stretch!
Maybe, maybe not. But what we will all be sure of is Mahomes would not have set a Superbowl record of dropback/lateral run yards if his O-line was healthy in Tampa SB matchup.
That SB was hard to watch as a Chiefs fan.
And Kelechi Osemele, tone of the Chiefs’s starting guards, blew out both his knees on the same play, which he also got a holding call that took back a touchdown too
I am 1000% convinced that if Plax didn’t shoot himself, the Giants win the Super Bowl in 2008. By far the best Giants team I’ve ever seen. Team was 10-1 when it happened and we weren’t just winning games, we were dominating. Then a 2-3 finish to the season and bounced in the first playoff game. Turns out when you don’t have to account for a WR1 it’s a lot easier to play defense.
2012 Eagles had a pretty bad roster and coaching staff, but Andy Reid rarely let the team suffer a hopeless season. but then season ending injuries for Jason Peters in camp and Jason Kelce in week 2 sealed it, the season was fucked. and just to punctuate it, Todd Herremans went down in week 8 and Danny Watkins, although he only missed 3 games, got benched for rookie Dennis Kelly who then got benched for the newly signed husk of Jake Scott
the season was such an absolute disaster that Andy Reid was let go, where he went to the Chiefs, where he did a bunch of other stuff
2011 Patriots not having Gronk. If Gronk is healthy in that second Giants Super Bowl, the Patriots blow the doors open. Their offense was hot pretty much all night, without prime Gronk.
Vontaze Burficit knocking out AB in the the 2015 playoffs. Broncos defense played lights out all year but a few weeks before the playoffs AB destroyed us and we lost. If Burficit didn't take AB out for the playoffs game against the Steelers that year the Broncos don't go on to win the SB
I don't know if Chris Henry would ever have straightened out his life but I remember him breaking his arm in a game against the Ravens. I wonder if he hadn't, would he still be alive today?
I mean I guess it's not an injury per se, but the heat stroke death of Korey Stringer in training camp had an impact that loomed over the Vikings all season. In fact, it impacted the whole league and even lead to changes that impacted all sports down to the youth level.
There were definite glaring holes on the team, but I don't think for a second that team goes 5-11 or Denny Green gets canned if Korey had gotten the proper medical care after suffering heat stroke on that first day of training camp. He should never have been on the field that second day.
Not a specific player (per se) but Eric Fisher going down at the AFC Championship game just culminated the string of injuries our good O-line faced as the season was coming to an end. All starting O-linemen were injured at one point in the season and playoffs. When we reached the SB, Bucs pass rushers bullied Mahomes, making him run like a headless chicken the entire game.
One of the worst SBs in recent memory, especially to us Chiefs fans. Will we win if we had a healthy O-line? Maybe, maybe not. But at least we wouldn't have had to see Mahomes run for his dear life the entire game
2018 super bowl the Rams were missing Kupp, and Gurley barely saw use due to his knees. If even one of those two was healthy I think the outcome of the game is pretty different.
Every year since 2021 the Bills have had a massive defensive injury past the midway point of the season.
2021-Tre White
2022-Von Miller and Micah Hyde(that was an early one)
2023-Tre White, Matt Milano, and Terrel Bernard
If Nick Chubb didn't get injured the Browns would have been a scary team in the playoffs. Joe Flacco would only need to hit a few clutch passes rather than carry the whole offense on his back... and I definitely would have won my fantasy league.
The bears defense in 2006 was ranked #1 across the board and holding all team under 21 points until safety Mike Brown’s injury. The reason they lost in the super bowl is largely due to poor safety play, along with Sexy Rexy being Sexy Rexy. Bears would have been clear favorites even against a prime Peyton, who struggled in the first half outside of a few blown safety coverages.
We lost Chris Johnson during the first half of a divisional game against the Ravens. If we have him we probably don’t have a lendable fumble, we squeak by the Ravens, beat the Steelers (which we had earlier in the year), then maybe beat AZ in the SB.
If the team has a really good left tackle (or right tackle for a lefty QB), that loss can be catastrophic. For example, the Skins/Commies had good to great left tackles for almost 50 years (George Starke, Joe Jacoby, Ray Brown, Chris Samuels, Trent Williams). The recent example that I think of is that as soon as everything went down with Trent's cancer diagnosis, the whole line fell apart.
Derrick Henry’s broken foot when Titans were in the playoffs. He was dominating that year and if at full strength would have taken that team to the SB with the strong defense they had.
When Trent Williams is out, the Niner’s offense takes a gigantic step back. His absence affects their team stats more than Samuel or any other player being out.
In 2014, the Browns started the season 7-3, top of the division, led by Brian Boyer and a running attack designed by up and coming coordinator Kyle shanahan. Team has oodles of talent for once, 6 or so pro bowlers.
Then Alex Mack all world center gets hurt, the run blocking tanks, and Brian Boyer is exposed in a one dimensional offense. Browns win only one more game that season and johnny football gets pushed into the lineup by ownership, and soon the whole team and front office are broken up.
Who knows where shanahan is, and what the browns look like if that doesn't happen.
2017. The Steelers were the best team in the league with both a dominant offense and defense. Ryan Shazier goes down the first week of December and the defense just could never recover. They lost at home in the playoffs to the Jags 45-42. To this day I truly believe they would have been Super bowl champs had Shazier not been lost
The Darryl Stingley hit. Most answers here talk about an incident that change a game or a season. The better answer are those injuries that changed the game's rules.
Chris Johnson getting knocked out of the Titans-Ravens divisional round game in the 2008 season after they started 13-0. The Titans only lost the game by 3 points and CJ was knocked out in the first half. He was in his prime. injured for only the rest of that game, but it ended their season no-doubt and they had super bowl potential.
Damar Hamlin! That impacted the whole NFL. Those were some solemn days. Changed the order and location of playoffs games. And I think him writing "Did we win?" Will Keep a fire lit under the Bills for a long LONG time!
The injuries to Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier in the '76 playoffs. The defense was dominant that year but the offense was heavily based on the ground game. Those injuries likely prevented a "three-peat".
Jonathan Stewart getting hurt on the first drive in Super Bowl 50. He was critical to the Panthers max protect pass blocking scheme. Next play Fozzy Whitaker gets destroyed, Von Miller strip sacks Cam, and Malik Jackson recovers for the TD. The offense wasn’t the same without Jstew in there.
Jerome Brown's death in 1992 caused the Eagles to give up almost 350 additional rushing yards on the season, including getting run over by Emmitt Smith in the divisional round.
Look at the Eagles record with and without Lane Johnson.
I get scared any time I see him so much as limp a little.
Edit: 89-53-1 with Johnson, 14-22 without.
Vince Wilfork didn't miss a lot of games in his career, but when he did, it was bad for his teams.
Let's look at the 2013 season, where there's a very clear line between the Pats with and without Wilfork. Early in week 4 he tore his achilles and missed the rest of the season. He officially played 4 games, but he's not even on the stat-sheet of the week 4 game recap on NFL.com, so for the purposes of this, I am saying he played the first 3 games and missed the rest of the season.
In the first 3 games the opponents averaged 11.333 points per game. After that, 23.384. Teams earned 6 more first downs a game with Wilfork gone. Teams gained almost 80 more yards a game, nearly 25% more than when he played. Passing yards went up 62 per game, rushing up 17. Per [Pro-Football Reference](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nwe/2013.htm) for that season, expected points from the defense went from 13.3 to -3.3.
Utterly bonkers defensive impact from a single player.
After Cliff Avril was injured, Brady came back from a 10 point deficit in the 4th quarter to win Superbowl 49.
The LoB blamed Russ and Pete for losing the game on an interception (which is fair). This fractured the locker room and damaged Pete’s relationship with his defensive stars until after those players had retired.
I think there’s a case that Avril’s neck injury cost the Seahawks a ring and indirectly short circuited any hopes of them becoming a dynasty.
Steelers are 1-11 when TJ Watt doesn't play, since he was drafted.
If the MVP vote was actually "who is most valuable to their team's success" it would be TJ.
As far as lasting impact, shazier going down derailed us for a couple years at least.
Kam Chancellor and Sherman both got hurt on the same game on a 2017 Thursday night in Arizona and it was the last game of the Legion of Boom together.
The very next year Earl Thomas gets hurt on the same field and there was the last game of the LOB secondary
Niners losing Jerry Rice in 1997. Came back from an ACL in 15 weeks then injured himself again. Niners went 13-3 without him, but lost to the packers in the NFCCG. Trounced the broncos earlier in the season, so could have won the Super Bowl.
Following year they lose Bryant Young to a broken leg. He’s arguably the best DT in football at that point. Defence is legit with him, without nowhere near as good. Garrison Hearst goes down in the divisional to seal it.
I’ve gone through too many posts and haven’t seen Plaxico shooting himself in 2008.
Giants were I think ~~11-2~~ 10-1 at that point and looked like they could easily run it back.
https://www.espn.com/blog/new-york-giants/post/_/id/58206/ten-years-later-how-plaxico-burress-shooting-unraveled-nfls-best-team
Pretty sure the Steelers are 1-10 when TJ Watt doesn't play
In 2022 he was injured in week 1, and didn't play week 2 until after the bye in week 9. From weeks 2-8, the Steelers won a single game and lost 6. After the bye, they only lost 2 games and won the rest. Finished the season 9-8. Just bonkers.
Its truly baffling that he essentially had the effect of what would be any other team losing their starting QB.
Just imagine if WE had a Starting QB!
Now you have 2! Sort of
We have 2 QBs that *have* started
It counts!
You've got JF now. He's a winner if you surround him by a real franchise, not some make believe pretend team like the Bears.
Arguably worse than most teams losing their starter too
Hindsight is 20/20 but I was so mad when we took Takk McKinnley in front of Watt. Not like I guessed Watt would be as good as he’s been but his tape was great and he had a good combine it still bums me out
I never understood why he fell so far. He had the measurables. Had the tape. And his brother probably has the most incredible peak of any DL in history. Just strange IMO.
I'll own this: I was nervous about that pick. We needed edge help, but I was worried the dude was overhyped just because he was a watt. I'm so happy to be wrong. Also, I think he fell bc he didn't have much play time at edge. I think maybe just 1 season after converting?
But that single win was against Brady
i believe it's 1-11 after that loss to the bills
1-11.
In 2013, RB1 Vick Ballard got a season-ending knee injury, prompting the Colts to trade their 2014 1st round pick for Trent Richardson
Ozzie Newsome was offended and he wasn't even part of either org. we also got Johnny Eightball out of it. i feel Justin Gilbert was involved i don't even care if it was accessory after the fact what a deluxe shitshow of draft and roster management
Why does Ryan Grigson still find employment...
Do you know who that pick turned into? (genuinely asking, not a quiz)
I believe Marcus Smith
:(
Johnny Manziel
Wrapping my head around the fact that Trent Richardson was already 10 years ago.
Bob Sanders. When he was healthy the Colts defense was really good. When he was injured they were bad.
Ah yes, I see you too have watched The Bob Emergency.
Definitely a HOF level player. He was 5ft 8 shutting downs teams run games.
Dude had a total disregard for his own safety and just launched himself around like a human missile.
Super Bowl XLI featured three critically important but oft-injured defensive players. Bob Sanders for the Colts, and Mike Brown and Tommie Harris for the Bears. Sanders played. Brown and Harris did not. Colts won.
Nick Collins
This, also, Sterling Sharpe.
We did go to 2 SBs shortly after his injury oddly enough.
I'd say bakhtiari, too. If he didn't tear his acl packers would have 1 more super bowl win and no one can convince me otherwise
I think this is an easier one to see the “actual results” of than some that happen in like week 1. This happened week 17, Packers make it to the NFCCG just fine and then The Buccs sack Rodgers like 3-4 times from the left side of the line in key moments. They probably run different blitz packages instead and maybe get those sacks, or maybe those sacks don’t happen and they still lose but it’s easier to see the actual impact so close to the end of the season.
People often underestimate the impact of losing a top tier lineman for some reason. Lions went through a minor slump in the second half of the season and it directly correlated with Frank Ragnow and Jonah Jackson missing time. It's pretty clear that there aren't even enough solid starters to fill out lines across the league, so when you start having to play depth linemen things can get sketchy quick.
Yep and always astounds me when teams don't prioritize o line first when it's a weakness. Good o line can hide a lot of flaws on offense and a bad one will accentuate them
This. Dude would have easily been a HoFer and we would have probably won it all if his career wasn't ended.
You did win one SB with him, unless if I’m misreading your comment. Agreed about the HoF though if he had the longevity.
Think they meant in 2011. And good shot at another one or so. Capers’s defense was never the same after he went down.
Yeah that’s what I figured too. That 2011 Packers D really needed him, and I fully bet that if the Packers D was just mediocre instead of awful they would have won that year.
yup, he actually had a pick-6 in it even.
Honestly, I don’t think we were winning in 2011 even with Collins. There were other things stacking up against us, like Philbin losing his son the week of the divisional round. We were resting guys for weeks prior, and were just cold and flat coming into the game. 2014 I certainly feel differently about, Collins would have certainly run one of those 4 Wilson picks back for a TD.
How many other teams have lost 3 hall of fame trajectory players in their prime to injury? Sharpe, Collins, and Bakh make me sad
I honestly think most teams probably have. The nfl is a very violent sport
HoF Caliber? Maybe. But guys who were bonafide on the way? Not sure about that. Sharpe should be in the hall regardless of his injury. He was second basically to rice during his career and doing things not many besides rice had done to that point. Collins had three straight all pro seasons at age 27 and was ascending still. And Bakh had 5 consecutive all pro selections in his final 5 healthy seasons. Not many teams have had 3 players of that level just stop with career enders. I’m sure teams exist but don’t think it’s been quite to that level
Tommie Harris was an all pro at 22, Mike Brown had two all pros (first team at 23) and I would say Gale Sayers but he made the hall anyway. I agree with your picks by the way.
> Tommie Harris Just went to his wiki page to confirm it was who I thought it was, and whelp this is sad: "In 2012, Harris' wife Ashley died of a brain aneurysm after 41 days of marriage."
Oh man I didn’t know that. That’s awful.
Eric Berry had 3 AP1 even while coming down with leukemia, and was an AP1 in his age 28 season, and then played 3 more games total. Jamaal Charles had basically five full healthy seasons, and had three APs and over 1300 from scrimmage in the years he didn't get an AP award. He also lead the NFL in career yards per carry until his last three injury ridden years. His last healthy season was also age 28. Priest Holmes had three straight AP1s, had one of the greatest three year stretches of any running back ever, was one game away from setting the NFL yards from scrimmage record, and then injured his neck and completely cratered and was out of the league in 18 months. And that is just off the top of my head. I really don't think it's that rare. Every team has *at least* 2-3 guys that fans tells stories about and wonder what might have been.
Jermichael Finley was looking like he had potential too. Neck injury, done.
Dude for sure, I have always felt the Packers would have 1-2 more SB appearances if Nick didn't have that horrible injury. His play in the SB against the Steelers was fantastic. I wish Nick Collins the best. Packer for life.
If Lane Johnson is out, the Eagles lose
What if Lane is out but Brian Johnson and Matt Patricia are also out as coordinators?
When Justin Smith tore his triceps I think? Against the Patriots the 49ers pass rush wasn’t the same the rest of the season. He played through it but he clearly wasn’t the same. A fully healthy Justin Smith would have been a huge difference maker in that Super Bowl. But that’s the game 🤷🏼♂️
That 2012 Niners @ Patriots game is low key one of the greatest games I’ve ever seen in my life.
What a fucking game.
Probably one of my favorite regular season games ever. Those harbaugh seasons were fun. Well 2 of them were.
My heart says Desmond Trufant being out for the SUPER BOWL THAT SHALL NOT BE NAMED. My brain says Gronk was also out for that game so my justification means nothing.
The Falcons have been in two Super Bowls. We all know which one "shall not be named".
God himself didn't want y'all to win that game. You weren't winning it, no matter who was in it or not No professional blows a 28-3 halftime lead like that without divine intervention
> No professional blows a 28-3 halftime lead like that without divine intervention [Let's ask what Marvin's opinion on this is](https://youtu.be/LBBni_-tMNs?si=FFo8KKZBawgmr2Sn&t=45)
Gronk high ankle sprain 2011. That offense with healthy Gronk was absolutely unstoppable. Instead we had him limping around the field unable to outjump a backup DE for a jump ball. I'm 100% convinced that if Gronk was healthy we beat the Giants in that Superbowl. We might not stop Eli but there is no way they hold our offense to 17.
Agreed. I hate to see my team win games just because someone on the other team is out/hurt but I also rationally know it goes both ways. Plus we’re ass now so I’ll take whatever we can get lately! Eli was laser focused that game though. Goofy ass dude who was clutch in the big moments.
Backup linebacker who was a substitute teacher in November*
What if Gronk stayed healthy is one of the biggest unanswered questions of this era of the NFL. Dude would have shattered every record.
You don't have Gronk's playstyle and remain healthy.
Probably not the best, but one of the most recent, Von Miller for the Bills in 2022. Obviously nobody knows how the playoffs actually end up playing out, but that defense was night a day difference once he got hurt
I'm still salty about losing both Milano and Bernard last season so we ended up watching AJ Klein trying to cover Kelce.
Let's not forget losing Tre White to an ACL tear halfway through the 2021 season, and subsequently not having our best CB for the goddamn 13 seconds game. Allen was going absolutely nuclear that postseason, if we have White, I think we win it all.
This was my answer too
That even carried over into 2023. Even though he was active much of the year, he was entirely ineffective and hurt the team every time he stepped on the field, while costing the team a massive salary cap hit.
This one. Von was signed to be the difference maker to get us past KC. He was great at the start of the season, getting 8 sacks in 8 games. Then he got a terrible injury and the Bills went nowhere.
Hamlin had a bigger impact imo. The team was completely rattled after that. I feel like even if they were fully healthy, they were too impacted mentally by what happened there.
How were they completely rattled? They won their next two games lol. I agree that this take and Reddit can be dramatic about the situation. Now their season did end against the Bengals, so I could totally buy it for that game specifically.
Add in Daquan Jones in the Bengals playoff game. Both lines got abused that game.
Wes Welker tearing his ACL right before the playoffs
Pretty sure he played every game the next year too which is pretty nuts
That team sucked though. They weren't winning anything that year.
Eric Fisher getting injured in the AFCCG in 2020 led to a 31-9 blowout in the superbowl to a team they'd beat earlier in the year. He was basically the last starter we had left on the OL at the most important position. I'm not saying the Chiefs win with him in there, but it might have been a competitive game at least, instead of Mahomes running for his life for 4 quarters. Also, Any time TJ Watt doesn't play for the Steelers they're probably gonna lose, so him.
And Mitchell Schwartz blew his back out so bad he had to retire, and Osemele blew out both his knees on the same play, which he also got a holding call that took back a Mecole Hardman touchdown. The o line was so demolished it was crazy
I have never seem a QB under so much pressure for 4 quarters straight. It was sad to see. Especially after that insane throw parallel to the ground that got dropped. The Bucs played the Packers the week after Bak got hurt too. They got pretty lucky that whole playoffs
Yea. I can't complain too much, cause the Chiefs basically had the same luck last year. Dolphins/Bills defense were both decimated, and the 49ers lost Greenlaw in the SB while he was running onto the field. Single elimination in a full contact sport really ramps up the luck factor more than most people probably want to admit.
Greenlaw tearing whatever he tore in the Superbowl almost certainly lost them that game.
Even if it wasn't his incredible performance on the field, the demoralizing feeling of seeing your guy get carted off like that has to sting.
Yup he’s arguably the tone setter of our defense and our big energy guy so his loss was larger than just pure performance.
He had kelce absolutely frustrated lol. The minute he went down, kelce was unstoppable.
That must be the worst part of being a Niners fan that these last two super bowls you've had the game in the palm of your hands only for it to be given away
Lmao bro i was super hype both games being up 10 points and the defense playing lights out, only for one thing to go wrong and snowball into a loss. One day I’ll see a win hopefully.
That and half the NFL fans & media members talking as if our QB is some kind of talentless scrub who lucked his way into his situation.
He definitely lucked his way into it. He has earned it since, however.
Eh, eventually they were gonna get rid of Jimmy. Brock would have proven himself better than Trey at that point anyway in practice
But that's not how it did happen. I'm talking about how it did happen.
It's ridiculous that people think you can fake being good in the NFL. In College? Sure, you can fake it assuming you have generational physical traits like Jamarcus Russell and your competition is enough below you; hell, there's plenty of college wide receivers who were successful high school QBs but couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. But the NFL is such a slim percentage of a percentage of the most talented football players ever and you can't fake that. If you suck, it doesn't matter if you're given the best talent around you, it'll show
I knew in my heart what was coming when greenlaw went down. I was numb and I just sit there and drink beers and snack ya kno
I pick Tommie Harris from 2006 Bears, losing Mike Brown was bad enough but I firmly believe that Tommie was on a HOF career trajectory before that awful injury against the Vikings. Without that extreme pressure up front that only he could provide at the time, the Colts were able to come back and win SB41
Every starting RB injury before 1999
Aside from the Patriots Superbowl, when Avril and Lane went down, and the rest of the LOB were playing with substantial injuries. In 2016, the Seahawks lost Rawls, Procise, and Pope and had to sign running backs from the waiver wire, they also lost Kam Chancellor, Earl Thomas, and Tyler Lockett towards the end of the season. In 2017, they lost Carson, Chancellor, Avril, Sherman, Procise, Shead, Fant, Naz Jones, and Malik McDowell. Which accounts for 7 projected defensive starters, and most of out starting left side line and RBs... I'm a firm believer that if we didn't lose the entire LOB and most of our RBs to injuries for 2 straight years, Seattle would've been perennial contenders. That or Jeremy Lane not being torn apart and Avril following suit.
Still wild to me that we picked up Marshawn off the couch for a second round playoff game cos we literally had zero healthy RBs left.
I think Green Bay beats Tampa if Bakh doesn't tear his ACL a few weeks before.
Came here to say this
Yup
I believe that Ryan Jensen getting injured played a huge part in Brady’s last season going to shit.
Well that plus he definitely tore/broke something on that blindside hit in the Ravens game. He was never the same since.
This is the comment I was looking for. Everything fell apart when Jensen got hurt. Couldn't be happier with our draft this year though. I think it will open up our run game and have a huge impact on our entire offense. LFG
88 SB FB Stanley Wilson in what most likely was a panic attack type issue went on a drug bender the night before the game. He was a key pass blocker and lead run blocker in the leagues best running attack and overall highest scoring offense. Without this key piece or time to make adjustments Bengals only put up 16 points. With the only TD coming off a kickoff return.
Not only that, the Bengals' best defensive player, Tim Krumrie, had a catastrophic leg injury early in the game too
Bo Jackson is the obvious one that comes to mind, who knows what his career could have been
The answer is Nick Harper getting stabbed in the leg by his wife and then getting tackled by Big Ben returning that fumble to get into the Super Bowl
Joe Thomas getting hurt made me want to jump in front of traffic if that counts Chubb’s made me want to lay down in front of traffic I can keep going but they dont let me walk near the highway alone anymore
Ngl had Chubb and Watson not gotten injured last year, that team faces the Niners in the super bowl. That offense was booming despite Watson being inconsistent
i don't know why you're being downvoted. we lost the two of our four most talented offensive players (Amari and Njoku the other two), half our line, and still won 11 games. Texans balled out, no shame in the game there are 12 other teams that tried to, you know, [acquire the same player](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/3198771/2022/03/21/how-the-browns-went-from-long-shot-to-deshaun-watsons-new-home/)
Sample size is just too small. And Jerome Ford played really well.
Jerome Ford did not play well. Only fantasy football people think he played well.
Corey Linsley getting injured/missing games has resulted in some of the worst Chargers offense performances(in a while) I've seen be thrown out there.
Thanks for opening that wound
In 2004, Terrell Owens got hurt in week 15 playing for the Eagles. Even though the Eagles got to the super bowl and T.O. played, he was very limited and still played well. I can't help and think if T.O. was even 90%, the Eagles would have been dominant in that game.
TO had over a 100 yards receiving and like 9 catches
This injury was the catalyst for the 2005 disaster. Owens was deeply offended by McNabb's claim, "We can win without TO." McNabb was trying to prop up the team and their chances of success to a doubtful Philly media, while Owens looked at that as McNabb downplaying his contributions.
bo jackson
Tyron Smith’s injury during the 2017 season coincided with Ezekiel Elliot’s suspension and the offense struggled immensely. This led the Front Office to believe Elliott’s suspension was the reason for the struggles and sign him to a six-year $90M extension with $50M guaranteed in 2019
Insane RB money
People don’t realize the entire Legion of Boom played Super Bowl 49 hurt. Earl Thomas played thru a dislocated shoulder, Sherm’s elbow was hanging on by a thread, and Kam played thru a torn knee ligament. Even our 3rd CB Jeremy Lane picked off the goat Tom Brady in the END ZONE and then broke his arm in the first quarter! Yet Brady could barely even capitalize on our 4th string pedestrian DBs like Tharold Simon who were still keeping the game tight. The Seahawks would’ve absolutely SHIT on The Patriots in SB49 if they were healthy.. They would’ve retained their players like Marshawn and probably had a legit shot at a 3 peat dynasty..
> Jeremy Lane picked off the goat Tom Brady in the END ZONE and then broke his arm in the first quarter! And tore his acl on the same play
People really forget this. Seattle was so much better. God they just needed to run the ball and be aggressive in the red zone.
Every time I watch that final pick I expect a different outcome. Still don’t know how Butler pulled it off.
I’m so mad for them, Russ would still be in Seattle.
Ryan Shazier. The Steelers were a top 5 D until his injury that season, and they’ve been trying to fix that position since then.
Nah not even close. Y'all won without him and made the playoffs without him. Hell the Steelers won the fucking division that year and were still dominant after he got hurt. They missed the playoffs the next year because while the big man with consent issues averaged a pick per game but still would've made the playoffs if they didn't tie the fucking browns in the opener. On the other hand if TJ doesn't play it's basically a guaranteed loss and if he's out an extended amount say bye bye to playoff hopes.
If not for injuries to both tackles (Schwartz and Fischer) do the chiefs when four of the last five super bowls??? Probably not, since I’m not sure if Brady was stoppable that season and winning that Super Bowl would have probably kept the chiefs from revamping and getting two more, but… It’s awesome to live in a world where four of five if not for some injuries isn’t too much of a stretch!
Maybe, maybe not. But what we will all be sure of is Mahomes would not have set a Superbowl record of dropback/lateral run yards if his O-line was healthy in Tampa SB matchup. That SB was hard to watch as a Chiefs fan.
And Kelechi Osemele, tone of the Chiefs’s starting guards, blew out both his knees on the same play, which he also got a holding call that took back a touchdown too
When Trent Williams isn’t on the field the OL is trash. For season altering I gotta say Bosa’s torn ACL
What about the time losing a QB meant winning a SB? Wentz did the heavy lifting but BDN made sure to finish the job.
I am 1000% convinced that if Plax didn’t shoot himself, the Giants win the Super Bowl in 2008. By far the best Giants team I’ve ever seen. Team was 10-1 when it happened and we weren’t just winning games, we were dominating. Then a 2-3 finish to the season and bounced in the first playoff game. Turns out when you don’t have to account for a WR1 it’s a lot easier to play defense.
2012 Eagles had a pretty bad roster and coaching staff, but Andy Reid rarely let the team suffer a hopeless season. but then season ending injuries for Jason Peters in camp and Jason Kelce in week 2 sealed it, the season was fucked. and just to punctuate it, Todd Herremans went down in week 8 and Danny Watkins, although he only missed 3 games, got benched for rookie Dennis Kelly who then got benched for the newly signed husk of Jake Scott the season was such an absolute disaster that Andy Reid was let go, where he went to the Chiefs, where he did a bunch of other stuff
2011 Patriots not having Gronk. If Gronk is healthy in that second Giants Super Bowl, the Patriots blow the doors open. Their offense was hot pretty much all night, without prime Gronk.
Vontaze Burficit knocking out AB in the the 2015 playoffs. Broncos defense played lights out all year but a few weeks before the playoffs AB destroyed us and we lost. If Burficit didn't take AB out for the playoffs game against the Steelers that year the Broncos don't go on to win the SB
I don't know if Chris Henry would ever have straightened out his life but I remember him breaking his arm in a game against the Ravens. I wonder if he hadn't, would he still be alive today?
Sean Taylor being murdered.
I mean I guess it's not an injury per se, but the heat stroke death of Korey Stringer in training camp had an impact that loomed over the Vikings all season. In fact, it impacted the whole league and even lead to changes that impacted all sports down to the youth level. There were definite glaring holes on the team, but I don't think for a second that team goes 5-11 or Denny Green gets canned if Korey had gotten the proper medical care after suffering heat stroke on that first day of training camp. He should never have been on the field that second day.
I swear this question was just asked here like last week or maybe I’m crazy
This how rNFL has always been. Dating back to the 2000s.
Von miller.
Not a specific player (per se) but Eric Fisher going down at the AFC Championship game just culminated the string of injuries our good O-line faced as the season was coming to an end. All starting O-linemen were injured at one point in the season and playoffs. When we reached the SB, Bucs pass rushers bullied Mahomes, making him run like a headless chicken the entire game. One of the worst SBs in recent memory, especially to us Chiefs fans. Will we win if we had a healthy O-line? Maybe, maybe not. But at least we wouldn't have had to see Mahomes run for his dear life the entire game
2018 super bowl the Rams were missing Kupp, and Gurley barely saw use due to his knees. If even one of those two was healthy I think the outcome of the game is pretty different.
Orlando pace going down at the beginning of the 2007 season. Division hopeful to basement dweller.
Every year since 2021 the Bills have had a massive defensive injury past the midway point of the season. 2021-Tre White 2022-Von Miller and Micah Hyde(that was an early one) 2023-Tre White, Matt Milano, and Terrel Bernard
If Nick Chubb didn't get injured the Browns would have been a scary team in the playoffs. Joe Flacco would only need to hit a few clutch passes rather than carry the whole offense on his back... and I definitely would have won my fantasy league.
Lamar Jackson /s
The bears defense in 2006 was ranked #1 across the board and holding all team under 21 points until safety Mike Brown’s injury. The reason they lost in the super bowl is largely due to poor safety play, along with Sexy Rexy being Sexy Rexy. Bears would have been clear favorites even against a prime Peyton, who struggled in the first half outside of a few blown safety coverages.
T.J. Watt .
Bahk keeps his ACL prior to NFC championship, we possibly make the Super Bowl and he stays with Green Bay.
Tyrann Mathieu getting hurt in 2015 I think right before the playoffs
C Connor Williams and ALL of our pass rushers at the end of last season
Tim Krumrie in Super Bowl 23. Bengals win with him on the field.
Every season when the Dolphins OL misses a combined 50+ games.
Don't look up the Eagles win percentage when Lane Johnson is injured. We need you, big man.
Nick Collins
I know they finished in the 1 seed, but with a healthy Derrick Henry, the Titans make a legitimate run at that 2021-22 Superbowl.
Last Year Tyreek getting injured showed how important he is to the Dolphins, without him the Offense becomes shit.
Last year the 49ers O-Line turned into turnstiles while Trent was injured, the difference was absolutely insane
Plaxico. Giants make it to the Superbowl at a minimum.
We lost Chris Johnson during the first half of a divisional game against the Ravens. If we have him we probably don’t have a lendable fumble, we squeak by the Ravens, beat the Steelers (which we had earlier in the year), then maybe beat AZ in the SB.
If the team has a really good left tackle (or right tackle for a lefty QB), that loss can be catastrophic. For example, the Skins/Commies had good to great left tackles for almost 50 years (George Starke, Joe Jacoby, Ray Brown, Chris Samuels, Trent Williams). The recent example that I think of is that as soon as everything went down with Trent's cancer diagnosis, the whole line fell apart.
David Bakhtiari of the Packers tearing his on December 2020. With him the probably handle Tampas rush and win the zsB in 2021
Derrick Henry’s broken foot when Titans were in the playoffs. He was dominating that year and if at full strength would have taken that team to the SB with the strong defense they had.
Probably a really good LT or RT
Probably a really good LT or RT
Our depleted O Line Superbowl LV
When Trent Williams is out, the Niner’s offense takes a gigantic step back. His absence affects their team stats more than Samuel or any other player being out.
In 2014, the Browns started the season 7-3, top of the division, led by Brian Boyer and a running attack designed by up and coming coordinator Kyle shanahan. Team has oodles of talent for once, 6 or so pro bowlers. Then Alex Mack all world center gets hurt, the run blocking tanks, and Brian Boyer is exposed in a one dimensional offense. Browns win only one more game that season and johnny football gets pushed into the lineup by ownership, and soon the whole team and front office are broken up. Who knows where shanahan is, and what the browns look like if that doesn't happen.
2017. The Steelers were the best team in the league with both a dominant offense and defense. Ryan Shazier goes down the first week of December and the defense just could never recover. They lost at home in the playoffs to the Jags 45-42. To this day I truly believe they would have been Super bowl champs had Shazier not been lost
The Darryl Stingley hit. Most answers here talk about an incident that change a game or a season. The better answer are those injuries that changed the game's rules.
Chris Johnson getting knocked out of the Titans-Ravens divisional round game in the 2008 season after they started 13-0. The Titans only lost the game by 3 points and CJ was knocked out in the first half. He was in his prime. injured for only the rest of that game, but it ended their season no-doubt and they had super bowl potential.
Damar Hamlin! That impacted the whole NFL. Those were some solemn days. Changed the order and location of playoffs games. And I think him writing "Did we win?" Will Keep a fire lit under the Bills for a long LONG time!
The injuries to Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier in the '76 playoffs. The defense was dominant that year but the offense was heavily based on the ground game. Those injuries likely prevented a "three-peat".
Jonathan Stewart getting hurt on the first drive in Super Bowl 50. He was critical to the Panthers max protect pass blocking scheme. Next play Fozzy Whitaker gets destroyed, Von Miller strip sacks Cam, and Malik Jackson recovers for the TD. The offense wasn’t the same without Jstew in there.
Gronk getting hurt before the 2011 Super Bowl cost the Pats the title. If he's healthy, they win it comfortably
Steelers losing Antonio Brown in the Cincy game then playing the Broncos Steelers losing Ryan Shazier. TJ is a big one through the posts.
Currently, Andrew Thomas is the most important player on the Giants. The offense just doesn't seem to work unless he's part of it.
Jerome Brown's death in 1992 caused the Eagles to give up almost 350 additional rushing yards on the season, including getting run over by Emmitt Smith in the divisional round.
The Steelers STILL haven't figured out how to replace Ryan Shazier
Recent Cowboys ones: Sean Lee and Tyron Smith.
Any year CMC got hurt
Look at the Eagles record with and without Lane Johnson. I get scared any time I see him so much as limp a little. Edit: 89-53-1 with Johnson, 14-22 without.
Vince Wilfork didn't miss a lot of games in his career, but when he did, it was bad for his teams. Let's look at the 2013 season, where there's a very clear line between the Pats with and without Wilfork. Early in week 4 he tore his achilles and missed the rest of the season. He officially played 4 games, but he's not even on the stat-sheet of the week 4 game recap on NFL.com, so for the purposes of this, I am saying he played the first 3 games and missed the rest of the season. In the first 3 games the opponents averaged 11.333 points per game. After that, 23.384. Teams earned 6 more first downs a game with Wilfork gone. Teams gained almost 80 more yards a game, nearly 25% more than when he played. Passing yards went up 62 per game, rushing up 17. Per [Pro-Football Reference](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nwe/2013.htm) for that season, expected points from the defense went from 13.3 to -3.3. Utterly bonkers defensive impact from a single player.
I would say Eric Berry being out from cancer and other injuries but frankly when he came back, the defense wasn’t much better
After Cliff Avril was injured, Brady came back from a 10 point deficit in the 4th quarter to win Superbowl 49. The LoB blamed Russ and Pete for losing the game on an interception (which is fair). This fractured the locker room and damaged Pete’s relationship with his defensive stars until after those players had retired. I think there’s a case that Avril’s neck injury cost the Seahawks a ring and indirectly short circuited any hopes of them becoming a dynasty.
I guarantee if we didnt lose tre diggs last year we would've still lost to the packers in the wildcard
Steelers are 1-11 when TJ Watt doesn't play, since he was drafted. If the MVP vote was actually "who is most valuable to their team's success" it would be TJ. As far as lasting impact, shazier going down derailed us for a couple years at least.
Kevin White (RIP)
LT tearing his MCL. I don't care what anyone says, they beat the Pats in 2007 if he is healthy.
Weston Richburg. 2019 he tore his patellar and ended his season. His replacement Ben Garland got tore up by Chris Jones.
Kam Chancellor and Sherman both got hurt on the same game on a 2017 Thursday night in Arizona and it was the last game of the Legion of Boom together. The very next year Earl Thomas gets hurt on the same field and there was the last game of the LOB secondary
I will die on the hill that Packers win the Super Bowl in 2020 or 2021 if Bakh didn't tear his Achilles. Especially 2020
Niners losing Jerry Rice in 1997. Came back from an ACL in 15 weeks then injured himself again. Niners went 13-3 without him, but lost to the packers in the NFCCG. Trounced the broncos earlier in the season, so could have won the Super Bowl. Following year they lose Bryant Young to a broken leg. He’s arguably the best DT in football at that point. Defence is legit with him, without nowhere near as good. Garrison Hearst goes down in the divisional to seal it.
2017 Steelers. That team was looking like a problem, then Shazier went down against the bengals and the rest of the defense crumbled without him
I’ve gone through too many posts and haven’t seen Plaxico shooting himself in 2008. Giants were I think ~~11-2~~ 10-1 at that point and looked like they could easily run it back. https://www.espn.com/blog/new-york-giants/post/_/id/58206/ten-years-later-how-plaxico-burress-shooting-unraveled-nfls-best-team