The NFL's five healthiest teams — and five least healthy teams — for Week 12
By Dr. Matt Provencher
FOX Sports Injury & Performance Analyst
Health matters, especially in the NFL.
What if there were a way to measure a team's health? It turns out there is.
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Dr. Matt Provencher explains what the B.U.S. — or Banged Up Score — is and how it affected teams in the NFL last season.
For more analysis of the NFL from Dr. Matt, follow him on Twitter or go to FantasyPredictors.com.
Our team at Proven Performance Technology spent a decade developing behind-the-scenes algorithms to measure health. The result was the B.U.S. (Banged Up Score), which produces a number value to measure team, position and player health.
Like anything in football, scores can be variable, but the BUS has been a solid performer to quantify exactly why health matters. We know that the BUS Score can be a valuable tool that will hopefully provide you with the competitive advantage to win as a fantasy player, wagerer and fan.
That's why we're sharing our rankings of the five healthiest teams and the five least healthy teams. Here they are:
One interesting note when looking at the current rankings is that the two healthiest teams in the league — the Indianapolis Colts (94.7 BUS) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (92.5) happen to play each other Sunday (1 p.m. ET on FOX). It's not an accident that these teams both have winning records, with the Colts at 6-5 and the defending-champion Bucs sitting atop the NFC South at 7-3.
While you might not be able to glean too much from teams that are so evenly matched on the health front, it should be noted that the Colts have an edge on both sides of the ball, with 91.0 offensive BUS compared to the Bucs' 89.5 defensive BUS and 95.9 defensive BUS compared to the Bucs' 93.9 offensive BUS.
Looking beyond that matchup, the other healthiest teams are:
No. 3: Buffalo (90.8, 7-4), which defeated New Orleans on Thursday.
No. 4: Kansas City (90.6, 7-4), which is on a bye.
No. 5: Jacksonville (88.0, 2-8), which faces Atlanta on Sunday.
The least healthy teams are:
No. 32: New York Jets (52.4, 2-8), which faces Houston on Sunday.
No. 31: Baltimore (59.1, 7-3), which faces Cleveland on Sunday.
No. 30: Detroit (59.3, 0-10-1), which lost to Chicago on Thursday.
No. 29: Tennessee (60.1, 8-3), which faces New England on Sunday.
No. 28: Arizona (60.8, 9-2), which is on a bye.
Will the health of these teams be a major factor in Sunday's action? You'll have to watch to find out.
Here is everything you need to know about the day's games: NFL Week 12 By the Numbers.
Renowned orthopedist Dr. Matt Provencher and his company, Proven Performance Technology (PPT), deliver data-driven injury insights to football fans. In this first-of-a-kind role as Athlete Injury and Performance Analyst for FOX Sports’ digital platforms, Provencher provides important predictive player health and recovery information about post-injury performance, the impact of weather, field conditions and more.