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          NFL Nation

          NFL teams most impacted by injuries through Week 12

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          • Kevin Seifert, ESPN Staff WriterNov 28, 2017, 12:10 PM
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              Kevin Seifert is a staff writer who covers the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL at ESPN. Kevin has covered the NFL for over 20 years, joining ESPN in 2008. He was previously a beat reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Washington Times. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia. You can follow him via Twitter @SeifertESPN.
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          Not all injuries are created equal. What follows is our semi-regular attempt to identify the NFL teams most impacted by them. You'll notice a few repeat appearances from our look-in during Week 7, but there are other teams who have been hit hard in the time since.

          1. Green Bay Packers (5-6)

          The Packers have been hit by injuries across the board, but none has had more of a direct impact -- on the team and the entire NFL -- than quarterback Aaron Rodgers' broken collarbone. The correlation is obvious. The Packers were 4-1 in games that Rodgers started and finished, and 1-5 in those that he has not, and in the process fallen from Super Bowl contender to below .500 as December approaches.

          With Rodgers in those first five games, the Packers averaged 27.4 points. They've averaged 13.5 points per game ever since. Injuries elsewhere -- at running back, offensive line and in the secondary especially -- have mitigated attempts to adjust. But if Rodgers hadn't been injured, is there any question that they would be in the thick of the playoff discussion?

          2. Baltimore Ravens (6-5)

          No team has lost more player games to injuries than the Ravens, according to the web site Man-Games Lost. It began by losing nine players for the season between June 1 and the end of the preseason. The loss of All-Pro guard Marshal Yanda (ankle) in Week 2 has been scheme-altering. One way to look at it: The Ravens went 2-0 averaging 22.0 points per game with Yanda in the starting lineup. They have lost five of eight, and dropped to 16.0 points per game since Week 3 -- the sixth-lowest mark in the league over that period. Meanwhile, running back Danny Woodhead (hamstring) missed eight games between Week 2 and Week 10.

          Although the injury pileup has slowed, and the Ravens are probably the healthiest they've been all season, it's impossible to ignore the impact of the initial spate on their record to this point.

          3. Seattle Seahawks (7-4)

          There are teams with more injuries across the board than the Seahawks, but the deterioration of their secondary -- aka, the Legion of Boom -- is most foreboding. Cornerback Richard Sherman (Achilles tendon) and safety Kam Chancellor (neck) are out for the year, and safety Earl Thomas has been slowed by a strained hamstring. In the past two games, with Sherman and Chancellor both sidelined, opposing quarterbacks have completed 64.2 percent of their passes. In Weeks 1-11, they completed just 56.8 percent against the Seahawks, the third lowest in the NFL over that period.

          Throw in a season-ending neck injury to defensive end Cliff Avril, and the Seahawks are vulnerable in an area where they once thrived. The same is true at running back, where they have lost Chris Carson (knee) and C.J. Prosise (ankle). In 2017, the Seahawks have managed the NFL's fewest rushing yards by running backs (694).

          4. New York Giants (2-9)

          There are plenty of reasons the Giants are averaging just 14.2 offensive points per game, the second fewest in the NFL. But it's impossible to overlook the disintegration of their receiving corps. Not only have they lost Odell Beckham Jr. to an ankle injury, but Brandon Marshall (ankle) and Dwayne Harris (foot) are also on injured reserve. Sterling Shepard, meanwhile, has missed two games because of a migraine.

          The Giants have been left with one of the least productive group of receivers in the NFL. They have the highest drop percentage (6.9), rank No. 27 in yards per reception (11.7) and No. 29 in average yards gained after the catch (3.1). That's as good of a place as any to start dissecting the Giants' woes.

          5. Washington Redskins (5-6)

          Multiple injuries to offensive linemen have left quarterback Kirk Cousins under duress during a recent 2-4 stretch. Left tackle Trent Williams (knee) has missed three games and been limited in others, while guard Spencer Long (quadriceps), guard Shawn Lauvao (neck) and tackle T.J. Clemmings (ankle) are all on injured reserve. In the past six games, Cousins has been pressured on 32.9 percent of his dropbacks, the eighth-highest mark in the NFL over that period. Last season, he faced pressure on 24.7 percent of his dropbacks, the league's ninth-best mark.

          Cousins has been dealing with the added pressure with a much less experienced set of targets with tight end Jordan Reed (hamstring) having appeared in only six games and receiver Terrelle Pryor Sr. (ankle) limited for most of the season before going on injured reserve.

          And one late addition, a bonus choice for injury aficionados:

          Houston Texans (4-7)

          After losing Monday night to the Ravens, the Texans are 1-4 in games started by Tom Savage and 3-3 in those started by dynamic rookie Deshaun Watson. They have averaged 15 points per game with Savage and 33.7 with Watson. Unfortunately, Watson is on injured reserve after tearing his ACL, and the Texans appear doomed without him.

          When you add the season-ending injuries to defensive lineman J.J. Watt (knee), linebacker Whitney Mercilus (pectoral) and running back D'Onta Foreman (Achilles tendon), you realize we have no idea how good this team could have been.