How does a 17th game complicate the LA Rams 2021 season?

Injury aversion gains importance as the season grows longer

If you recall, the LA Rams have not been blessed with injury-free seasons. In 2018, the Rams had to go into the playoffs without WR Cooper Kupp and for the most part, with an only partially healthy running back Todd Gurley.  In 2019, point to a unit and there were a host of injuries that decimated the team.

In 2020, the number of injuries subsided.  Still, Michael Brockers, Cooper Kupp, Andrew Whitworth, and even quarterback Jared Goff were injured or unavailable to play late in the season all added up to create a huge challenge for the Rams to get to and succeed in post-season play.

Los Angeles Rams

And the fact is that a 100 percent healthy Aaron Donald would have played a huge difference against the Green Bay Packers.

One injury. One game. Oftentimes the team that wins in the Superbowl is not the team that is the most talented at the beginning of the season. It’s the team that has the most durability over the course of the season. Or, as an alternative, it’s the team that overcomes adversity better than the opposing teams. The New England Patriots were so very successful because over his 19 seasons as a starting quarterback, Tom Brady missed just 19 games. He missed 15 games in 2008 and four games in 2012.

Now, keep in mind that Brady is a bit of an exception.  Injuries happen in any contact sport, and the game of football is a very violent and physically taxing game. Injuries are simply part of the game. That forces NFL coaches to view the season as less of a sprint and more of a long-distance endurance race. So how does that change things?