It's no secret the Cardinals' offense was rocked by injuries a season ago.
Football Outsiders quantified it on Monday, tabbing the unit with the most adjusted games lost of any offense or defense in the NFL. Instead of simply adding up games missed, the analytics site weighted it by the worth of the players.
The Cardinals lost 74.8 games of offense in the formula, which included the absence of star running back David Johnson for 15 games, quarterback Carson Palmer for nine and left tackle D.J. Humphries for 11.
While the Cardinals' defense was much healthier, Football Outsiders still pegged it at 30.8 adjusted games lost, which was 13th-fewest among defenses.
It wasn't a surprise to see the Rams, who finished No. 1 in points per game a season ago, with the fewest adjusted games lost among offenses. The Vikings and Jaguars, two of the NFL's best defenses in 2017, had the fewest adjusted games lost on that side of the ball.
All three of those teams were unquestionably talented in those phases, but it's a huge help when the players are available week in and week out.
