by Rob Toledo Rob Toledo

Among the several issues the NFL has faced in the press over the past few years, none have been as impactful as concussion data.

We wanted to see which NFL teams had the most concussions during games and which teams had the least. Using data from NFL injury reports as well as cross-referencing with third party NFL data providers, we broke down each team’s total reported in-game concussion count below.

To keep things as equal as possible, this data reflects in-game concussions through the 2012-2016 regular seasons, listed from most concussions suffered during a game over this time period down to the least concussions suffered.

 

Team Total Concussions
Cleveland Browns 39
San Diego Chargers 34
Cincinnati Bengals 31
Indianapolis Colts 30
Jacksonville Jaguars 30
Kansas City Chiefs 29
Minnesota Vikings 29
New York Jets 28
Washington Redskins 27
San Francisco 49ers 26
Oakland Raiders 26
Denver Broncos 25
New York Giants 24
Los Angeles Rams 24
Baltimore Ravens 22
Houston Texans 22
Chicago Bears 21
Detroit Lions 21
Carolina Panthers 21
New England Patriots 21
Pittsburgh Steelers 21
Green Bay Packers 20
Dallas Cowboys 19
Philadelphia Eagles 19
Tennessee Titans 19
Buffalo Bills 18
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 18
New Orleans Saints 18
Seattle Seahawks 17
Arizona Cardinals 15
Atlanta Falcons 13
Miami Dolphins 10

The NFL has been paying close attention to concussions as of late after a media storm of reporting about the dangers of CTE. The league is concerned that more information about football-related head injuries might decrease both viewership and the player pipeline as parents stop letting their kids play at a young age.

Of people who stated they no longer watch NFL games, one of the more popular responses was the dangerous nature of the game. A small, but growing percentage of football fans have suggested they no longer desire to support the NFL because of the inherent danger of the game.

“We’re watching men get brain damage for our enjoyment.”

“Modern-day gladiators. My guess is we as a society will look back in the future and view this game in a similar way.”

The Atlantic, September 2016

Certainly this has the NFL concerned, and there are plenty of reports circulating about internal efforts to make this health/PR disaster go away.

Source: NFL injury reports, PBS Frontline, ESPN