Great post – rec’d.

for the Bills game. And I’ll take it even further and say we still win that game. The Bills have nothing to play for, so they will be ready to just pack it up and get on with finding a head coach and looking at next season. It will be back up QB vs back up QB and I’m gonna give Orgy the W in this game. Although Trent Dilfor can be a douche he said today on Sports Center that he expects the Colts to win every game from here on out EXCEPT the Titans and thats with starters resting. I agree with him, except for the Titans game. Freeney and Mathis are gonna have a sackfest on VY. And If Hayden plays that just makes it that much worse for the Tits. So I think the Colts, even when resting starters, have a legit shot at 16-0. The Saints as well. Their toughest game left is gonna be the Cowgirls and, it’s at the Superdome so I expect the Saints will ruin the Homo and the Cowgirls.

I know the Colts have won the south division but don’t they still have to win a few games for home filed advantage?

So long as they are running on 100% healthy, full batteries. Which, face it, nobody is by Weeks 15-17, right?

Slash 196, you mentioned 20 games, but left out about 100 practices, which frankly, could be just as rough but longer. A lineman is hitting 300 lb guys for only about 30 minutes and 60 plays per game—in a practice, the hitting might not be as intense, but it could go on for a couple hours.

I DO think we can win the last couple with 5-6 guys sitting. I don’t want to do it to “protect” them—injuries happen at practice, in the bathtub, or in the kitchen as well as during games. But if the guys are at 80-90 percent and worn down, there is no sense in grinding them down more. Let them rest a couple weeks and get their charge back up over 95 percent for the final few games that really matter. I was a big fan of sitting Freeney last week (Warner and Ben R as well). I hope 93 has one more week off to recover, maybe when we face some real patsies like the Bills. (I think the temptation of sacking the Sanchize in NY would be too great.)

(I think the temptation of sacking the Sanchize in NY would be too great.)

Just the thought of D-Free (and Mathis, for that matter) sacking Sanchize makes me smile. Thanks!

Hear me out. Every time we have rested the starters we have taken an early exit. The only time we didn’t rest the starters?? 2006. What happened that time? Oh yea we won the Super Bowl. We’re gonna have a bye week anyways. No need to rest the starters an additional week. The facts are that the only year we didn’t rest starters is the year we won the superbowl. I refuse to vote in the biased poll. :)

Your tone and biased poll tells me right off the bat that you aren’t really posting this with objectivity.

ReFact 1: You are leaving out bunch of practices. Rest also adds in… wait for it… RUST! It may not apply for others but history shows for Colts that it does. The last game is last game — players aren’t going to be playing as hard, especially Bills. NYJ? I’d be careful about that one because that team likely will be fighting for a playoff spot. You’re right, rest IS HUGE, too bad it makes the Colts suck in playoffs too.

ReFact 2: Not helpful? Sure. Losing the precious timing is REALLY helpful. You might argue tossing balls in practice might compensate, but that’s not true. Look at 2005 season playoff game vs Pitt. Defensive players have easier time shaking off rust and often get injured more on this team. Rest the injury prone ones then! Play the others.
You saw what rust did to P. Manning back when he had surgery. Even MANNING sucked with rust. You saw back in 2005 what a month of rest did to the offense. The O sucked. I’d especially argue against resting those who have shown to be bad with rust.

Undefeated? You really think I’m arguing for going undefeated? Personally, I couldn’t care less about that. I want a 12-4 or 13-3 because losses DO make this team better. But for the final couple games, I’d say Colts should play starters at least a half instead of just one drive.

Resting for bunch of games is NOT playing smart, it’s playing dumb. It’s called rest only as much as absolutely needed and keep people sharp. One drive isn’t enough.