J.J Watt. Aaron Rodgers. Richard Sherman. An average NFL fan will tell you that these players are among the elite in the NFL, leaders of their respective teams. These three players and many more are sidelined for the remainder of the season with injuries, an issue that has received a great deal of attention within the league in the past couple of weeks.

According to ESPN, ratings for NFL games have plummeted significantly from 2016, prompting many fans and analysts to speculate that the alarming amount of injuries could be one of the reasons why. With an incredibly long list of elite players not taking the field, the NFL is facing a serious injury epidemic.

In an attempt to combat the increasing number of injuries, the NFL introduced rule changes this past offseason to protect players from getting hit blindsided or under their knees.The latest rule changes were made primarily to get rid of unnecessary hits that happen away from the play as well as enforce the already set rules prohibiting low hits on the passer. These rules are set to protect the quarterback from injury while they are in the pocket, meaning when they are still behind their offensive lineman, but one specific recent play has illustrated that the NFL did not account for all possible scenarios.

In week six, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers broke his collarbone after getting drilled by a Minnesota Vikings linebacker on a controversial play. Because the rules do not protect the quarterback while they are outside the pocket, the player responsible for the injury was not penalized.

Some injuries resulted from flaws in the rulebook, but other injuries happened by misfortune. Standout rookie Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson tore his ACL during warmups in practice after week seven, and Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson suffered a season ending injury due to a sprained wrist in week one.

According to the NFL, 196 players were reported inactive going into the tenth week of the season. A team that has suffered tremendously from these injuries is the San Francisco 49ers as shown in the chart below.

Stats by NFL.

The 49ers aren’t alone. 31 other teams are experiencing problems too, with each roster carrying at least four injured players. To prevent viewers from tuning out of the games, the NFL must keep advancing their rules to make sure that major players from each team are not injured in the future. If they fail to do this, the NFL may no longer qualify as one of America’s favorite pastimes.

Photos courtesy of Creative Commons.