American Football: will the last man standing hoist the Lombardi trophy?

i have been watching football for many years and i have never seen as many serious injuries as i have this year. from rich gannons broken vertabrae (i have one of these from a car wreck and it has hampered me for over 20 years) to steve mcnair's bruised sternum, rex grossman, charlie garner, the injuries are piling up and they are serious,career threatening injuries, not the bumps and bruises one expects in a violent sport.the atheletes are bigger, faster, and stronger than ever before, the sport is probably played at a higher level than ever before, but what is happening to to it's stars?
What can be done? more rules? it seems to me that the rulemakers have covered just about everything and anything, i don't believe this is the answer, better pads? i know that there have been some studies of better, safer pads but i don't see the results, auto racing is just one example of a sport where the risk is high but safety innovations have been ongoing and consistant to the point that even the most spectacular wreck is usually survivable. i have not seen this level of concern or urgency in the nfl, i think it is just a matter of time before we see another life altering or life threatening injury in an nfl stadium
in closing i think that this will be the year where the best team does not win the super bowl, i think the team that wins will be the team that has the best backups

Being prepared for the season with quality back-ups is a key in the
NFL, but, often it's the lucky teams that avoid injuries to major players that make it the the Super Bowl, and win.

so who is that so far?
Philly, New England, Jets, Jacksonville, and Seattle. Who'll make it to the dance? That remains to be seen...

But yeah, i do agree, there seem to be a rash of harsh injuries this season.