This week of the NFL season was a bad one for injuries. A number of teams had big time players for them go down to season ending injuries of some sort. On top of the injuries, some teams have players that just aren’t playing up to the level that the team thinks they should be. A lot of teams in the NFL have some glaring need on their team, but I’ll stick to just eight of them this week. These are all teams that have had some sort of injury to a position that has caused a huge need for them. Let us take a look at the glaring needs following Week 7 of the season.
Colts: Wide Receiver
With Reggie Wayne now down with a knee injury, the Indianapolis Colts are short on playmakers. T.Y. Hilton is still on the team, but isn’t really a No. 1 wide receiver. With Waynes age also being an issue, he may not come back from the injury the same player, if at all. Andrew Luck is showing he is an elite quarterback, but he still needs weapons. If you don’t think he does, just take a look at the problems Tom Brady is having in New England. The Colts should make it a priority to get Luck a big time weapon next year.
Bengals: Cornerback
Another team that lost one of its best players to an injury this week, the Bengals lost Leon Hall to a torn achilles tendon against the Lions. Hall is not only the Bengals best cornerback, he provides great versatility being able to play right cornerback and the slot. The Bengals shut New England down earlier in the year without Hall, but there was a monsoon going on that day, which sadly can’t happen every game. The Bengals depth at cornerback also is lacking considering Terence Newman is 35 and Adam Jones isn’t playing as well this season. The Bengals have to go corner early in the draft this year.
Browns: Quarterback
The Browns thought they might have something in Brian Hoyer and then he went down with a season ending knee injury. Then the past few weeks Brandon Weeden showed us why he isn’t a NFL caliber quarterback. Weeden has made bad throw after bad throw and then he has thrown ill-advised underhand flips two weeks in a row. Cleveland has young weapons in Josh Gordon and Jordan Cameron, now they just need to get a quarterback to get them the ball.
Denver Broncos: Defense
The Denver Broncos have one of the most prolific offenses in history, but their defense has been terrible this year. Many thought that getting Von Miller and Champ Bailey back would fix the defense, but then they gave up 39 points to the Indianapolis Colts this week. Bailey hurt himself again and is going to miss some more time, while Miller played well it didn’t help all that much. If the Broncos want to win the Super Bowl, their defense has to step up.
New York Giants: Running Back
The New York Giants have a lot of things wrong with them. Their defense isn’t very good, their offensive line has had trouble blocking, Eli Manning is a turnover machine and they can’t run the ball. If they could start to run the ball better, it would help with all of their other problems. It would keep the defense off of the field longer, it would take pressure off of their line and Eli wouldn’t feel the need to be as much of a gunslinger and feel like he had to win the game alone. David Wilson has been a huge disappointment so far this season and they have had to turn to Brandon Jacobs and Peyton Hillis.
Atlanta Falcons: Defense
The Falcons have one of the best offenses in the NFL when it is healthy, but this season it hasn’t been. However, the real problem with this team is the defensive side of the ball. Now a lot of these problems are injury related too, but their defense as a whole just has to play better. They don’t have any pass rush and their corners can’t cover people for very long. If the Falcons want to be taken seriously as Super Bowl contenders they are going to have to get a pass rush and make some plays on the defensive side of the ball.
Seattle Seahawks: Offensive Line
Russell Wilson is one of the most pressured quarterbacks in the NFL. With the running game the Seahawks have, teams should not be getting that much pressure on him. Wilson makes plays despite the pressure, but imagine what he could do as a quarterback if he could get time in the pocket. Like other teams, part of their problem has been injuries, but part of the problem has also been some draft busts of lineman. If the Seahawks want to reach their full potential on offense, they have to sure up their poor line play.
St. Louis Rams: Quarterback
Sam Bradford was having what might have been the best season of his young career before a knee injury ended his season. Bradford has always had some excuse made for him as to why he hasn’t been living up to the potential he has as the first overall pick in the draft. This season the Rams put some weapons around him and things seemed to be clicking a little bit. However, Bradford is still on a huge rookie contract and coming back from a knee injury. The Rams may decide to bring someone else in and move on from Bradford.