The Green Bay Packers continue to ride a wave of incredible injury luck.
Not only is Matt LaFleur’s team essentially fully healthy, with all 22 preferred starters available and no major injuries or potential absences to speak of, but the Packers keep running into teams lacking the same once-in-a-decade injury fortune.
This week, the Packers will likely miss out on facing Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook, a Pro Bowler who is responsible for over 1,600 total yards and 13 touchdowns in 2019. He’s nursing a chest/shoulder injury and is expected to miss Monday night’s showdown at U.S. Bank Stadium. In the season finale, the Packers will avoid Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, who is already on injured reserve with a back injury.
LaFleur’s team is living a charmed life on the injury front. Teams are rarely this healthy into December. Now, the Packers have a chance to get to 13-3 by taking advantage of two more major injuries over the final two weeks.
Nearly every week this season, the Packers have been the healthier team. Even when Davante Adams went out for a month with a toe injury, the Packers rallied and won four straight games, including a visit to Kansas City to play the Chiefs, who were without MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Adams’ injury, which cost him only four games, has been the only major injury issue faced by the Packers in 2019.
According to Bob McGinn of The Athletic, the Packers have nine games missed by starters over the first 14 games, compared to 49 for Green Bay’s opponents.
Left guard Lane Taylor went down with a season-ending injury after Week 2, but rookie Elgton Jenkins has probably improved the play at the position. Rookie safety Darnell Savage missed two games. Running back Jamaal Williams and cornerback Kevin King each missed one. Defensive back Raven Greene has been on injured reserve since Week 2 but could be nearing a comeback. Right tackle Bryan Bulaga avoided a major knee injury and didn’t miss a game.
LaFleur and the Packers have given the players light days of work between games. Veterans have been afforded days off at practice. It’s been a working strategy, although luck is always involved.
No team is in a better position injury-wise at this point in the season. Now, the Packers can better position themselves in the NFC playoffs over the final two games.
The Vikings are certainly capable of winning without Cook, especially at home, but his absence robs Kirk Cousins’ run-first offense of a legitimate difference-making weapon. And it’s possible the Vikings will be without Cook’s top backup, rookie Alexander Mattison, who is battling an ankle injury.
The Lions have both Stafford and backup Jeff Driskell on injured reserve, leaving rookie David Blough as the expected starter at quarterback in Week 17. Detroit hasn’t won a single game with Blough under center. The Lions have several other important players on injured reserve, including receiver Marvin Jones, tight end T.J. Hockenson, linebacker Jarrad Davis and defensive lineman Mike Daniels.
Injuries are mostly a product of fortune. Football is a brutal game, and injuries happen. Now 14 games in, and the Packers are still incredibly healthy.
A 13-3 season and a first-round bye in the playoffs are both available if the healthy Packers can beat the Vikings without Cook and the Lions without Stafford.