In making my pool picks this week, and the past 5-6 weeks. Ive noticed the injury rate in the nfl seems to have exploded. I have my theories. Ive mentioned them before. One thing that is outside personal theories in the the fact. Rule changes for player safety have not worked.
The fact is multiple teams have set team records. Blowing past the existing. Surpassing the outlier one bad year by one team- record for playing time lost to injury.

I think theres some strategy teams could employ? To get to december healthy. Truly. A healthy right now, 3 win team, has a better chance of winning vs the myriad of depleted playoff risters now in contention for a superbowl.

When the 18 week season shows up in the next cba bargaining year. The injury explosion of 2025 should be the deciding factor. The myriad of short week games resulting from thursday, friday, saturday & monday games? International games. It can be mitigated, to a degree, via strategic scheduling of bye weeks. Perhaps that means a 2nd bye week gets added before the 18 week schedule is considered. Inorder to find out if that helps?
Perhaps more practice tome needs to be added back in for the next cba? Perhaps, all helmet hits need to be eliminated. Perhaps that free push allowed on the qb when the defender & qb are jogging post pass delivery needs to be eliminated? ( See patrick mahomes injury) Perhaps all players need to be required to wear the guardian cap( see jj mccarthy hand injury). Perhaps eliminating the scrum push that has exploded is returned to being a penalty. There has been an explosion of line injuries since that elongated push has been turned into a legal & common occurrence.

For sure, injuries cant be completely eliminated.
And the biggest change that would help is full time refs, calling every game as close to "same" as is humanly possible.

The league needs a group of longtime officials. To form a "rules examination", competition committee. To convene, simplify the rule book. Use the process to get rid of as many judgement rules that get flagged inconsistently. Focus on the eggregious penalties that iuphold the standard of fair play and/or player safety.

The hit in the league right now that bothers me the most. Us the helmet 1st dive at an open field runners knees. The hit that ended EJ Hendersons career. The hit Kirby Joseph laud on TJ Hockenson and the following season. Rams TE Tyler Higbee.


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This tackle by Kirby remains legal in 2025.
Imo, Kirby Joseph should be cancelled from the league for such hits. Except. You cant. Not until the league removes this type of hit. And no player exists that can survive that hit without a trip to the orthopedic surgeon. Such obviousness ignored? Its just wrong. At the very least. It should be called under the existing rule "defenseless player". We saw another one last week on a bronco player. The jags player destroyed the denver receiver. But it was legal because it was a blow delivered shoulder 1st.

Hey, i love football. And i loved playing defense and delivering "the blow". However, we were coached. Never launch at a player. You inly leave your feet to dive for a ball, or player thats out of reach. Launching at a player, we were told. Is unsportsman like by "our standards" bc it almost always results in one or more players sustaining an injury. That was in high school circa mid 1970. Our conference adopted that rule at the begest of our legendary coach (in the northern california region) Tom Zunino.

As well. Spearing was enforced 100%. Spearing = leading with the helmet when a player us going to the ground or on the ground. And diving into any tackling pile helmet 1st( ie fumble scenarios) and making contact with another player.

Yet, we see both of these plays in every game, every week. And then an inadvertent helmet to a qb draws a 15 yard PF flag?

The leagues rules, lack of consistency. Create more injuries than they prevent. Create more unfair advantage than they prevent.
If i wasnt addicted from a young age to football & baseball. Ud walk away from it. Its become a really bad look. $50m players behaving like brats on & off the field paired with much dubious rule enforcement. If I wasnt addicted. Id rather be knitting. Lol, and i dont knit.

Id happily switch to a national curling league.
Sadly, nobody out there hears me.