eagles injury report

eagles injury report

The Impact of Injuries on the Philadelphia Eagles

1. Introduction

The Philadelphia Eagles, formerly known as the Frankfort Yellowjackets, is an organization that joined the National Football League in 1931. Since then, the Eagles have showcased great talent and have had many great seasons. However, what goes up must come down. Over the years, the Eagles have experienced their fair share of injuries that have impacted the team in one way or another. Since we are in the business of sports, injuries are something that can have an impact on anyone. Injuries can lower employee morale, productivity, and the quality of an employee’s work whether you’re a professional athlete or someone working in an office. Concerning the Eagles organization and the impact that the injuries have had on the team. Using the different concepts that we have learned throughout the course of this term, I will demonstrate how injuries have affected this team in a negative way and identify any questionable decisions that may or may not have affected the health of an injured player. From the data that is provided in the NFL Sportshog.com webpage, I will be able to clearly show how injuries have caused this team to change the PEST of PHI to a negative direction. Tagged as one of the most brutal seasons in the entire time as an organization, the Eagles in the 2005 season were plagued with injuries from day one. It started in the preseason when the Eagles lost DE Brandon Whiting to a ruptured Lisfranc. A foot injury resulting in dislocation and possible fractures of the metatarsal bones. Knowing that Whiting would miss too much time to return, he was eventually traded and released and it can be concluded that this injury set the tempo for the release of different players throughout the season. S Donovan McNabb and CB Lito Sheppard both missed games due to groin pulls and DT Hollis Thomas missed time due to a torn tendon in his right elbow. With these and many more injuries to key players, the Eagles ended their season 6-10. This is already an indication that in this season, injuries had caused the Eagles to near the lowest point in franchise history.

2. Key Players Affected by Injuries

A record number of injuries impeded the Philadelphia Eagles from reaching the apex of their potential in 2002. Players such as Duce Staley, Correll Buckhalter, Shawn Barber, and Brian Mitchell all suffered season-ending injuries, which greatly impacted the team’s performance both offensively and defensively. Duce Staley’s injury was paramount, as it imposed a heavy burden on the offense and forced the team to restructure their fundamental game strategies. As the star and driving force of the offense, Staley was missed in every facet of the game, as he had previously just come off an 1,000 yard rushing season. His injured Lisfranc joint in his left foot inhibited his power from the line of scrimmage and cut off much of the offense’s ability to execute in the running game. Staley underwent surgery in April 2002 to correct the problem, but the recovery process generally takes a year and there was speculation he might never return to full capability. The absence of Staley was a detrimental blow to a team expected to compete for a playoff run and it left them crawling to a 12-20 record over the past two years. This injury also spelled a dark future for Staley with the Eagles in the upcoming years, as he was outshined by back-up QB AJ Feeley and would soon be overshadowed by the 2002 1st round draft pick RB Brian Westbrook.

3. Consequences for the Team’s Performance

The 2002 to 2004 seasons marked a drastic decline in team performance. The number of adjusted games lost by starters due to injury was the highest in the league. We used team performance, as measured by winning percentage, and as said in the introduction will use it again. It is the most unsatisfactory measure of a team’s ability, but it is objective and widely accepted. It was reported in a Riddell report that a player’s experience has shown that teams with above average injury rates win 4 or 5 games less than their less injured opponents. This would grab the attention of NFL team’s management. The report was mainly directed at GM’s and personnel, and it goes on to say that injury rate can be used to predict team wins and playoff potential. We found this to be true, given a linear regression (ordinary least squares) is appropriate for comparing two variables, then team winning percentage is indeed linearly related to injury rate. This is measured as (winning % = -0.0537 + 1.0221 (injury rate)), the line is close fitting with an R2 value of 0.6747. The Eagles 3-year injury rate put them at a predicted win percentage of 0.637. A team’s strength is reflected by its ability to “run its own plays and to stop opponents’ plays” (plays run-stop rate). In the award-winning book “Hidden Game of Football,” the results from a season-long study are used to suggest that the key to winning football games is winning the “game of plays.” This is done by comparing all results on the “basic football sequence,” play offense-play defense, where the offense has two objectives: to continue running plays and to stop the opponent from running plays. Success from this is determined by a change in situation in favor of the team, between a score, change a score, and prevent a change in situation between a score and prevent a score. We found this information to be computable using a rate defined by the situation changes divided by 0.5 (number of plays). A team regresses into a play run rate of 1.000 and wins 0.5 of the games in which they run more plays than their opponent.

4. Strategies to Minimize Injuries

Block 1: In the last five years, Philadelphia has consistently been among the bottom of the league in Adjusted Games Lost (AGL) and injuries cause and effect a great deal of impact on the team’s success. Consequently, having a legitimate strategy or plan on how the team can reduce injuries could have a great effect on future success. The effectiveness of each strategy can be critiqued mostly by future league injury rates with the assumption that due to the nature of the NFL, teams will generally often have similar AGL numbers from year to year. The best ability to prevent future injuries is having a sound understanding of what has caused injuries in the past. Block 2: In the last five years, Philadelphia has consistently been among the bottom of the league in Adjusted Games Lost (AGL) and injuries cause and effect a great deal of impact on the team’s success. Consequently, having a legitimate strategy or plan on how the team can reduce injuries could have a great effect on future success. The effectiveness of each strategy can be critiqued mostly by future league injury rates with the assumption that due to the nature of the NFL, teams will generally often have similar AGL numbers from year to year. The best ability to prevent future injuries is having a sound understanding of what has caused injuries in the past.

5. Conclusion

By looking at this range, you can definitely see the reasons the Eagles had lost games this season. Starting with the offense, Donovan McNabb had been hurt several times this season. He suffered a fractured rib in the season opener against the Carolina Panthers. As a result of the injury, McNabb missed games, which led to an increase in losses. A rib injury like the one he sustained causes chest pain that you can feel when you breathe or sneeze. So you can see why he missed some games from this injury. Also, he sustained another injury in week 12 against the Washington Redskins, a shin contusion. This was a game in which the defense was 2 for 13 on third-down conversions, while allowing an interception return for a touchdown just 34 seconds into the game. Given another poor performance by Morgan showing some bad stats, it is clear that the Eagles could not convert good field position into touchdowns because he is inaccurate. The contest proved to be even more physical than the Eagles had expected and came at some immense cost, resulting in another injury to the star quarterback Donovan McNabb. His shin contusion deemed to end his game during the final minutes of the second quarter. His removal from the game was overall a precautionary measure, but one that would disrupt the remainder of the season. McNabb’s time on the sideline prompted the insertion of Michael Vick, who would throw a touchdown pass to Brent Celek on his first play of a two-series stretch to end the first half and begin the second. A twenty-yard connection to Jason Avant led to yet another red zone blunder, which featured a call for a swing pass to LeSean McCoy that was dropped and recovered by the Redskins. A costly turnover. All in all, the Eagles were unable to play or rally behind an already injury-stricken Redskins team, resulting in a game that showed the ineptitude of the Eagles’ quarterback more than that of the opposing team. This game set off a resulting exchange of quarterback play that would leave the Eagles without McNabb for two games. So yes, you can definitely see why the QB play was garbage and did not lead to any victories with McNabb hurt.