By Bill Bradley, contributing editor
Sometimes in the NFL, injuries can tell the whole story. Then again, they also can be deceiving.
Regardless, a Dallas Morning News research project found the league had a record 1,600 games lost to injury by starters this season, including 861 on offense.
The New York Giants, who lost 26 games to injuries on the offensive line alone, suffered a league-high 91 games lost to injuries. That might have contributed to their 7-9 record.
However, the AFC South champion Indianapolis Colts (11-5) were second with 83 games lost to starters, just ahead of the AFC East champion New England Patriots (12-4), who lost 74 games from starters.
On the other hand, the New York Jets (8-8) missed the playoffs and lost a league-low 20 games by starters to injury. The second best? That was wild-card playoff entrant Kansas City Chiefs (11-5), which started the season 9-0 and lost 22 games to injury by starters.
Here is the team-by-team list of starter games lost ot injury:
Injury report
The games lost by starters because of injury during the 2013 NFL season lists the team, the number of games lost (G), the number of 16-game starters (16G), the starters placed on season-ending injured reserve (IR), plus the key player and his games lost (GL):
