Bryan Bulaga Injury big short-term blow but holds bigger silver lining
Green Bay Packers starting right tackle Bryan Bulaga missed the entire 2013 season with an ACL tear, but the rookie duo of David Bakhtiari and Don Barclay generally held their own. They weren’t exactly good, but they didn’t embarrass themselves out there and gave Aaron Rodgers a chance most of the time. Bulaga isn’t a world-beater at right tackle, but his impact for this team is critical, as he’s a solid starter on an offensive line that is the weakness of what could be the league’s most explosive offense.
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Last night, the Packers offense wasn’t exactly explosive, as they mustered just 16 points against the Seattle Seahawks. Despite, per the Pro Football Focus, forcing six missed tackles and having one more yard per contact than total rushing yards, Eddie Lacy could muster just 2.8 yards per carry against the vaunted Seattle Seahawks defense. Those guys bullied the Packers front repeatedly, and only the interior duo of Josh Sitton (no surprise) and Corey Linsley (surprise, since he’s J.C. Tretter‘s replacement while Tretter hangs out on the short-term injured reserve) could save face. Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett repeatedly beat Bakhtiari and Derek Sherrod on the outside all night long.
Bulaga went down in the middle of the second quarter with a left knee injury, and it caused quite a stir, since he tore his left ACL last year. But ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the injury is merely a torn MCL. ESPN NFL Nation’s Rob Demovsky reports that it will likely take 2-4 weeks to heal, so he should be able to avoid surgery, as it’s not typically needed for an MCL tear.
That’s not a large period of time, but it’s actually a critical one. The New York Jets shouldn’t be too tough for the Packers, even if they aren’t a terrible team. But it’s the three games after the Jets game that are worrisome, as the Packers must face all of their NFC North rivals in a row in the Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears, and Minnesota Vikings. Based on the timeline, it’s possible that Bulaga could play against the Bears and Vikings, but the PackIRs might feel compelled to rest him, since they are especially prudent when it comes to managing injuries (we saw that a few times last year).
The fact of the matter is that if Bulaga doesn’t play in any of those three games, the Packers would be dealt a pretty heavy blow. All of those three teams feature top-notch DEs and pass rushers especially after the Bears added Jared Allen, Lamarr Houston, and Willie Young this offseason. Meanwhile, the Lions have the explosive Ziggy Ansah operating outside of their well-known DTs, and the Vikings have the impressive trio of Everson Griffen, Anthony Barr, and, the best of them in terms of consistency, Brian Robison. Based on their current depth charts, Derek Sherrod would be tasked with blocking Houston, Young, Robison, and, possibly, Barr off the edge.
Bulaga didn’t have the best game before he left with his injury, but he held his own against Cliff Avril, who absolutely whipped Sherrod. I mean, the Packers backup right tackle just looked helpless out there in all phases of the game, especially when matched against Avril’s speed. He won’t face anyone faster, but he will still be tasked against some explosive players, including the fearsome Jets front seven, which includes a possible breakout player in Quinton Coples.
Division games have huge playoff ramifications at every point in the season, and while the Packers remain the favorites to win the NFC North, it is a very tight division. Bulaga’s injury is a very big short-term blow, unless if Sherrod and the other tackles can find their footing quickly. It won’t get any easier against the Jets defensive line, though the pass rushing talent and depth aren’t quite as impressive as the Seattle Seahawks group of juggernauts.
Of course, one of the most important things to keep in mind is context, and Bulaga’s injury carries an important silver lining to it. Every single contending team will have to deal with tough injuries over the course of the season, and the best teams overcome them, provided they didn’t sustain an inordinate amount of them. I mean, even the battered New England Patriots and Denver Broncos made it far last year, though the Rob Gronkowski ACL tear was the Patriots death-knell.
Compared to season-ending injuries to Gronk, Von Miller, Vince Wilfork, or the injuries the Packers faced last year (including Bulaga’s ACL tear), this injury means very little long-term. And this injury isn’t really even a next-man-up injury; it’s akin to the injuries the Seahawks faced at offensive tackle last year. If the likes of Aaron Rodgers and Eddie Lacy can get past some worse blocking on the right side (that is, if Sherrod doesn’t turn it around), then they are going to be even better as the season wears on. We saw that with Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch, as Wilson was an absolute pro under pressure. Rodgers is the better QB and has much more experience, but he could still stand to further improve his ability under pressure and deal with losing Bulaga again. They’ve already been without him before, so the “silver lining”- the rest of the team elevating their play long-term, including potentially the other offensive linemen- should end up outweighin the short-term loss.