The end of the regular season is here. There are still plenty of playoff implications on the line, while some teams will have the luxury of resting players and allowing injuries to heal ahead of the playoffs.
Entering Week 18, the Jaguars, Titans, Patriots, Steelers and Dolphins are all still in the hunt for an AFC playoff berth while a three-way tie has the Lions, Packers and Seahawks vying for the final spot in the NFC. There will surely be some twists and turns, but how will health play a role?
Let’s take a look back at ThePredictors.com Banged Up Scores from last week to see how teams stood prior to Week 17 games.
Healthiest Teams Ranked by BUS Score:
1. Kansas City Chiefs – BUS: 84.7
2. Green Bay Packers – BUS: 83.1
3. Cincinnati Bengals – BUS: 80.7
4. Pittsburgh Steelers – BUS: 78.6
5. Jacksonville Jaguars – BUS: 77.0
Least Healthy Teams Ranked by BUS Score:
32. Tennessee Titans – BUS: 43.0
31. Arizona Cardinals – BUS: 47.7
30. Los Angeles Rams – BUS: 50.9
29. Denver Broncos – BUS: 54.6
28. New England Patriots – BUS: 55.9
The BUS Rankings give us a health snapshot that has made a difference in games throughout the season and it is already shaping up to have a bigger impact on the playoffs. Health has always been an important part of team success. Players can’t produce stats from the sidelines, which is why healthy teams win championships.
With the final week of the regular season upon us, we preview one game in particular. The Seattle Seahawks against the Los Angeles Rams (Sunday at 4:25 ET on FOX).
The Rams, who were officially eliminated from the playoffs after Week 15, still have the chance to knock the Seahawks out of the playoffs with a win this weekend. The Rams have been crushed by injury all season, sitting in the bottom five of BUS rankings for six straight weeks — even reaching dead last for a week. They have seen everyone from defensive leader Aaron Donald go down with a high ankle sprain to their offensive weapon Cooper Kupp (high ankle sprain) and starting quarterback Matthew Stafford (neck/concussion) suffer season-ending injuries. In a season that head coach Sean McVay labeled as "humbling," last season's Super Bowl champions have fought through a lot of adversity and can still play the role of spoiler on Sunday.
Seattle has also dealt with injuries this season, however, the team has stayed out of the bottom five of the BUS rankings and has played well enough to have a shot at the playoffs. The Seahawks have to win Sunday as well as have Detroit beat Green Bay. The Seahawks have a chance to make the postseason despite their injuries and struggles during the regular season. Seattle has powered through injuries to such key players as DK Metcalf, Rashaad Penny and Kenneth Walker III.
The final week before playoffs always brings excitement and some close games. We look forward to watching this weekend with you on FOX. Make sure to check out ThePredictors.com and Twitter’s @NFLonFOX and @SportsDocMatt for updated BUS scores Sunday and injury information.
Renowned orthopedist Dr. Matt Provencher and his company, ThePredictors.com, deliver data-driven injury insights to football fans. In this first-of-a-kind role as Athlete Injury and Performance Analyst for FOX Sports’ digital platforms, Provencher provides important predictive player health and recovery information about post-injury performance, the impact of weather, field conditions and more.
