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Which team has been most affected by injuries this season?

Tom Pennington / Getty Images Sport / Getty

After Chris Johnson and Rob Gronkowski suffered potentially serious injuries over the weekend, the fractured nature of a player's career became readily apparent.

Injury luck can turn a team from a contender into a pretender, and with that in mind, here are five teams who have seen their seasons significantly altered by injuries.

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys were a promising choice to repeat as NFC East winners before Tony Romo suffered a broken clavicle and Dez Bryant broke a bone in his foot during the first two weeks of the season.

Bryant returned to action, but Romo broke his clavicle once again during a Thanksgiving Day loss to the Carolina Panthers.

The Cowboys haven't won a game without Romo in the lineup, once again highlighting the importance of a star quarterback in the modern NFL.

San Diego Chargers

Keenan Allen, Chris Watt, Branden Oliver, Tourek Williams, and Johnnie Troutman were all placed on injured reserve.

Antonio Gates, Malcom Floyd, Jason Verrett, Patrick Robinson, King Dunlap, Eric Weddle, Jahleel Addae, Ladarius Green, and D.J. Fluker all missed significant time due to injury.

If the Chargers' roster didn't resemble an infirmary ward, they'd be in playoff contention.

Baltimore Ravens

When Terrell Suggs walked off the field during the fourth quarter of the Ravens' opener, few would've predicted it'd be the last we'd see of the linebacker for the year. The Ravens' worst nightmares were confirmed when Suggs was diagnosed with a torn Achilles.

Baltimore's injury woes were compounded when Steve Smith and Justin Forsett suffered season-ending injuries. Right when it appeared that it couldn't be any more desolate for the Ravens, Joe Flacco suffered a torn ACL and MCL in Week 11, ending his year. Flacco didn't miss a game in his pro career prior to the catastrophe.

The Ravens were a perennial Super Bowl contender, but injuries shattered what could've been a promising campaign.

Buffalo Bills

Standout defensive tackle Kyle Williams is the only Bills player to have suffered a season-ending injury, but the core of the team missed time at one juncture or another.

LeSean McCoy, Tyrod Taylor, Karlos Williams, Mario Williams, Sammy Watkins, and John Miller all missed significant time at some point in the year, and it helped place the NFL's 12th-ranked scoring offense at 5-6.

Continuity is vital for most playoff contenders, and the Bills will likely need to ruminate on what could've been as a result.

New England Patriots

Although the 10-1 Patriots are likely the Super Bowl favorites, the defending champions suffered a number of injuries that could alter the course of their season.

Dion Lewis emerged as a breakout star, but suffered a season-ending ACL injury Nov. 8, while the Patriots' top wide receiver Julian Edelman could be out for the regular season due to a foot injury. Jamie Collins was a Defensive Player of the Year candidate, but suffered an illness that kept him out of the team's past four games.

The Patriots survived a rash of injuries on the offensive line, but with Gronkowski and Dont'a Hightower recently sidelined, the AFC juggernaut will face an increasingly uphill battle all year.

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