49ers hate ACL tears, and this unbelievable stat shows why

There’s a reason why the 49ers and their fans are always worried about ACL injuries, and a stat backs up the concern.

San Francisco 49ers fans have probably been subjected to a bit more trauma when it comes to watching player injuries than most other fanbases in the league.

Heck, let’s rewind back to 2020 when the Niners far surpassed the remaining other 31 squads when it came to injuries, as Football Outsiders’ adjusted-games-lost metric placed San Francisco first (or last, if you look at it that way) in most games lost by players.

The worst part? It wasn’t even close. The 49ers (166.6) were over 30 days greater than the second-highest team on that list, the New England Patriots (134.8).

While the Niners managed to avoid the swarm of injuries in 2020 a year later, 2021 wasn’t notably better on the injury front, at least according to the same metric.

Let’s steer clear of adjusted games lost, though.

Instead, let’s focus on that one pesky ligament fans everywhere fear tearing.

The ACL.

By now, San Francisco fans have heard enough press conferences and have read enough reports about how the team fears any given injured player suffered a torn ACL. Understanding how some of the preliminary tests work, usually, those fears end up being warranted and accurate.

And, would you believe it? There’s actually a stat that justifies why 49ers fans are so leery of ACL tears.

It’s not good.

49ers suffered more ACL tears than any other team over last 10 years

If it seems the Niners have dealt with more ACL tears than anyone else, it’s because that statement is true.

Read it again. It’s true.

According to the folks over at the ACL Recovery Club, who assist and mentor regular individuals who suffer this kind of injury, San Francisco has endured more player ACL tears than any other team over the last 10 years and dating back to 2013:

https://twitter.com/ACLrecoveryCLUB/status/1628137016738353152

A whopping 28, to be precise.

The Denver Broncos (24) have felt the pain nearly as much, while the Atlanta Falcons (eight) and the Las Vegas Raiders (9) have somehow avoided the ACL-tear bug to a degree that makes almost no sense.

Perhaps the 49ers should call up both Atlanta and Vegas to see how and why their players don’t wind up suffering this season-ending injury.

Either way, Niners fans can feel justified in worrying about any player going to the turf because of an injury, as there’s a good chance that injury could be an ACL tear.

The data suggests so.