Injury Woes Slowly Catching Up with the Indianapolis Colts

It's hard for anybody to complain about injury woes this season. 

It seems like every team has suffered significant injuries, with numerous NFL stars going to the injured reserve list with season-ending injuries. Just look across the AFC landscape, for example. 

Jamaal Charles, Le'Veon Bell, Joe Flacco, Arian Foster, Ryan Clady, Dion Lewis, Kyle Williams, Keenan Allen, Cameron Wake, Nate Solder, Justin Tuck, Maurkice Pouncey, Jason McCourty. These are just a fraction of the players on injured reserve, and it doesn't even include players who have missed or will miss significant portions of the season without going on IR. 

It's no coincidence that AFC-leading Cincinnati has avoided a significant level of injuries for most of the season.

But while the Colts may not have suffered injuries at as drastic a level as teams like Baltimore or New England, they've slowly been affected by them all season. While the consequences have been apparent all year (hello, Andrew Luck), they're now beginning to pile up, with the negative effects growing exponentially. 

The biggest effect, obviously, has been the injuries to Andrew Luck. Of course, they have kept him out of five games, but the Colts have gone 4-1 in those games, thanks to favorable timing in their schedule and a few key plays. 

But Luck's injuries have had a bigger impact in subtle ways, whether it's been Luck's poor play on the field, a lack of timing and identity as an offense all season or former offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton getting fired midseason. 

Though it's not season-ending, at least not yet, Luck's injury has had a profound impact on this season and is (along with his poor play) the biggest reason the Colts are just 6-6. 

But the team's other compounding injuries have had their effects as well. 

The season started with the team's leader on the defensive line, Arthur Jones, going on injured reserve before the season even started. Fortunately for Indianapolis, the depth along the defensive line was the strongest it's ever been in Ryan Grigson's tenure.

This was mainly seen through rookie Henry Anderson stepping up into Jones' role as a starter and providing an immediate impact. Through Week 9, Anderson's 23 stops were tied for fifth among all interior defensive linemen, per Pro Football Focus. 

But then Anderson went on injured reserve with an ACL tear suffered in the team's Week 9 win over the Denver Broncos, and while the improved depth on the line was able to hold out for a few weeks, the team's front seven fell apart in the team's Week 13 loss to the Steelers. This was both due to the losses on the defensive line as well as missing starting linebacker Jerrell Freeman, who missed the game with a hamstring injury. 

Freeman is week-to-week with his injury, which is a huge impact on the Colts defense. The health of Freeman was a big factor in his inconsistent season last year, but he's ranked second by Pro Football Focus as an inside linebacker this year while healthy. If his health makes a negative impact on the rest of this season, assuming he returns soon, the Colts defense could be greatly affected. 

On Tuesday, the Colts placed linebacker Nate Irving, Freeman's primary backup, on injured reserve, increasing the blow of Freeman's absence and taking away what depth the team did have at linebacker. 

But let's go back to Anderson for a second. The rookie defensive lineman is part of an injury-plagued draft class for Indianapolis, which is unfortunate for a team that had hoped for an immediate push toward a potential Super Bowl run. 

Aside from Anderson's injury, the team's first two picks, Phillip Dorsett and D'Joun Smith, suffered significant injuries, which helped keep either player from becoming significant and ensured that less-effective players like Greg Toler and Andre Johnson would keep their roles. 

Offensive line injuries have also begun to impact the offense, as the workable offensive line mix the Colts figured out in Week 3 has fallen apart with Anthony Castonzo and Hugh Thornton both hurt. 

Make no mistake, the injuries for Indianapolis are no excuse. 

Plenty of teams face injuries every year. The Colts have faced a worse crop in the past; in fact, they seem to do so every single year. 

Good teams overcome injuries. That's exactly what the Colts will have to do down the stretch in order to keep their streak of division titles alive. They've done so with Luck's injury, going 4-1 with Matt Hasselbeck at quarterback. 

The team probably has at least one more week without Luck, however, and integrating him back into the lineup, and getting him to play well, isn't going to be a simple task. 

It's just another obstacle to overcome for Indianapolis, which has faced quite a bit already this season.