As Sunday’s slate of games in Week 15 came to a close — and with the Eagles not giving national media any new (negative) storylines to run with —, attention throughout the league turned to teams knocked out of the playoffs, and teams who will be making their postseason run without some of their star players.
The Packers are still in the hunt for the NFC North, and even if the Bears end up nabbing the division title, Green Bay is still in the mix for a wild card spot at 9-4-1. Unfortunately, they’ll likely have to go on that run without their top defender, Micah Parsons. The former Cowboys defender was closing in on Broncos Bo Nix when he suffered a non-contact knee injury and immediately fell to the ground. Initial concerns were that Parsons tore his ACL, and that turned out to be the base, and will keep him out for a long time.
Parson’s teammates stayed positive after their Week 15 loss to the Broncos, and said they still feel confident that the team has all the pieces for a Super Bowl run.
One of the league’s top edge rushers wasn’t the only one with a crushing injury, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes suffered a torn ACL just minutes before Kansas City was officially eliminated from playoff contention. It will be the first time in Mahomes career that he’ll miss the postseason, and now he has a long recovery ahead of him while he and the organization figure out what’s next for a dying dynasty.
Additional testing is still needed, but Ravens LB Teddye Buchanan, the team’s second-leading tackler, is also thought to have torn his ACL, and Rams WR Davante Adams suffered what is being called a significant hamstring injury.
It’s late in the season, and football is a sport in which players get injured at any point, but as the playoffs approach, the injuries are certainly more impactful. And for those facing a 9-12 month recovery, a mid-December injury could affect the start of the 2026 season, too.
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