Situation Impossible is a weekly column focusing on the most devastating injury of the week in the NFL. "Next Man Up" is a catchy phrase, but some players are harder to replace than others. Here we investigate the alternatives on hand and how a team reacted or will react to having to replace star-level performance.Injured player: Tyrann Mathieu, Cardinals safety whom the NFL underdrafted. They're kind of silly about size, that NFL.
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Injury and diagnosis: Late in Sunday night's victory over the Eagles, Mathieu torn his right ACL. This is the NFL's standard season-ender.
Cardinals announced they have placed safety Tyrann Mathieu (knee) on injured reserve and have re-signed safety Chris Clemons
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) December 22, 2015
Mathieu should be fine for OTAs and whatnot next offseason, but this is a pretty devastating loss for the Cardinals. Mathieu's statistical impact and the damage he's able to do when it comes to X's and O's are well known, but all my research mentioned time and time again how much of an emotional leader he is for the Cardinals.Head coach Bruce Arians was "visibly shaken" by the loss. "We have a little different bond, just because of where he came from, where I came from," Arians said. "I've just gotten real attached to him. I love the player but I love the person more."
What's missing: Statistically, Mathieu is having a ridiculous season for a defensive back. Coming into Week 15, Football Outsiders has him with more defeats than any player not named J.J. Watt. (Defeats are a catchall term for turnovers, third- or fourth-down stops, and tackles behind the line of scrimmage.)
Mathieu is able to play so many different roles for the Cardinals. He's a safety/corner hybrid, which means his injury thrusts many different players into the spotlight. Even though the Cardinals are terrific at scavenging for decent depth pieces, none of them can do what Mathieu can do.
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What the team will do: Mathieu's replacement on the roster is former Dolphins starter Chris Clemons, but he likely won't see much playing time.In passing situations, starting corner Jerraud Powers will move inside. Powers played that position in 2014, when Arizona had Antonio Cromartie to play boundary corner. This will lead to more Justin Bethel outside. Bethel has always been a great special teams player, and the Cardinals believed in his future enough to give him a contract extension. Still, this is a tough situation to put him in.At safety, it means more snaps for Tony Jefferson. Jefferson got some run against Philadelphia last week when fellow safety Rashad Johnson was out with an ankle sprain. It also thrusts D.J. Swearinger into more playing time. Neither of those are good things, though I think Jefferson has at least shown enough in limited snaps to have a chance to be good.
Bruce Arians was "visibly shaken" by Mathieu's injury. Photo by Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Adjusting our expectations: Arizona is already in the playoff field. They're a mortal lock to get a first-round bye. The only team that could catch them is Green Bay, and they play them this week.I think this is a huge loss for Arizona once they're in the playoffs, though. It weakens their defense. It hurts their ability to blitz. It takes away a player who was routinely making game-changing plays.I don't know that it changes how I'd feel about them in a match-up against Washington, Minnesota, or Green Bay, but in a game against the rest of the NFC Elite? Against a red-hot Seattle offense? I think there's a lot for Arizona to worry about there.This isn't the kind of injury that changes projection systems. This injury, for the Cardinals, is like the old Louis C.K. bit about doctors and turning 40. There isn't a fix for your injuries anymore. Doctors just say, "Yeah, that's kind of something you're going to have live with." You, Arizona Cardinals, aren't going to have that spectacular player anymore. You can do some stretching, maybe even find a big play from Tony Jefferson along the way, but the defense you had isn't coming back this year.Arians and his coaching staff are masters at finding their way out of problems. This is perhaps their biggest challenge yet.
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Mathieu is able to play so many different roles for the Cardinals. He's a safety/corner hybrid, which means his injury thrusts many different players into the spotlight. Even though the Cardinals are terrific at scavenging for decent depth pieces, none of them can do what Mathieu can do.What the team will do: Mathieu's replacement on the roster is former Dolphins starter Chris Clemons, but he likely won't see much playing time.In passing situations, starting corner Jerraud Powers will move inside. Powers played that position in 2014, when Arizona had Antonio Cromartie to play boundary corner. This will lead to more Justin Bethel outside. Bethel has always been a great special teams player, and the Cardinals believed in his future enough to give him a contract extension. Still, this is a tough situation to put him in.At safety, it means more snaps for Tony Jefferson. Jefferson got some run against Philadelphia last week when fellow safety Rashad Johnson was out with an ankle sprain. It also thrusts D.J. Swearinger into more playing time. Neither of those are good things, though I think Jefferson has at least shown enough in limited snaps to have a chance to be good.