There is much speculation about injury.  There is a lot of data to be sorted through and analyzed.  There are many variables to account for but, unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to have made much of a difference.  Our beloved Colts are more injury-prone than most NFL teams.  For years the mantra we’ve heard from the Colts’ front office is “speed over size.”

So, with that in mind, let’s look at physics.  We all learned in physics class that Force= Mass X Acceleration or F=MA.  So for an object to create more force, it has three options.  It can increase its speed, it can increase its mass, or it can increase both.  In order to generate more force, then, an object would need to increase one or both of these factors.  In football terms, that means that if we had a choice to get hit by a linebacker that weighs 240 pounds or a linebacker that weighs 255 pounds, assuming they are moving at the same rate of speed, we would rather get hit by the lighter linebacker because his total output, or force, will be less.  The Colts’ way of thinking is that they want the 240lb linebacker, but they want him to move faster than the 255lb linebacker.  In doing so, he would get to the play faster, and with more force.

Read more of the science behind the Colts’ woes after the jump. (more…)