Contextualizing Lions' woes to the most injury-ravaged roster of the past decade
Allen Park — The Baltimore Ravens' entered the 2021 season with typically lofty expectations, despite premature postseason exits each of the past three years.
But the injury bug had a different vision for the franchise. The roster ravaging began in the offseason and never let up. And despite pushing valiantly forward through the woes, including an early-season five-game winning streak and an 8-3 start, the attrition eventually caught up to the Ravens.
The knockout blow was a severe ankle injury to star quarterback Lamar Jackson, leading to the Ravens losing their final six contests. It remains the franchise’s only absence from the postseason since 2017.
There are a few publications that attempt to contextualize the impact of injuries on NFL teams' seasons. One of the most popular is the defunct Football Outsiders, which has been maintained by many of the minds behind that entity at For the Numbers. Regardless of the platform, the 2021 Ravens are considered by all as the most injury-affected team of the past decade.
And while it’s too early to try to summarize what the 2024 Detroit Lions are going through, those Ravens, who placed 25 players on injured reserve, provide us a baseline understanding regarding the uniqueness of the challenges the Lions are battling through.