National Football League

NFL Week 15: Which teams are getting healthier as the playoffs approach?

Updated Dec. 19, 2021 8:12 p.m. ET

By Dr. Matt Provencher
FOX Sports Injury & Performance Analyst

As we get into the thick of the NFL's Week 15 action, it is important to highlight those teams that are improving in health — and those that are getting more banged up — as the postseason approaches.

The "Banged Up Score" — or "BUS" — is a great way to measure which teams might have an advantage when it comes to health. Let's take a look:

Dr. Matt Provencher on the healthiest teams in the NFL for Week 15

Dr. Matt Provencher breaks down which NFL teams are the healthiest for Week 15. Hear why the New Orleans Saints, Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys all have a drastic improvement in "Banged Up Score" — or "BUS" — this week.

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When it comes to improving health, the biggest movers and shakers this week are led by the New Orleans Saints, who have a whopping 14-point improvement in BUS from last week. They're followed closely by the Eagles, who have a 13.5-point BUS increase. Other teams that are on the move health-wise are the Cowboys, Jets and Colts — each with a BUS improvement of about eight points.

The Saints' rise is precipitated by the returns of C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Cameron Jordan and Ty Montgomery, among others.

Coming off a bye week always leads to improvements in BUS, and that's what the Colts and Eagles are both benefiting from.

Finally, for Dallas, the Cowboys are bolstered by the returns of Neville Gallimore and Randy Gregory from IR.

On the flip side, some teams have undergone an unfortunate downturn in health, led by the Cleveland Browns, who dropped a staggering 17.3 BUS points since last week alone. They're followed by the Chiefs, Bears, Giants and Jaguars, all of which declined between five and eight BUS points.

Cleveland got quite banged up — mostly with COVID/IR list issues, which we will see improve as the days go on. For now, though, they are on their third-string quarterback and have 21 players on the COVID/IR list, and that's why their game against the Raiders was moved from Saturday to Monday.

On top of all of that, Jack Conklin, Greg Newsome, Chris Hubbard, Tre Harbison and Stephen Carlson remain banged up as well.

Health matters more than ever as we head into the last few weeks of the season. Stay tuned. We will keep your teams updated, so you can see how their health is tracking.

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.