Quote:In the case of losing teams with no chance of making the playoffs (as we've grown accustomed to), there will be more players put on IR at the end of the season. With teams in the thick of the playoff race, the exact opposite has to be true. 

 

 Regarding your last sentence in the reply,   that seems like the case at times.   Yet,  there are other times when because a team is in contention,  they need more relatively healthy options for their Game Day rosters.   Hence,  in some cases,  they are forced to place players on I.R.  even if there's a realistic chance they could be back if the team goes deep into the playoffs. 

---