Win or Lose?

If we were resting for the playoffs and everything was clinched, I’d agree with you 100%. Hell, even with that not possible, I still agree with you that it’d be best for every current starter to rest next week, and for Curtis Painter to lead the team, with Craphonso Thorpe (anyone remember him?) getting re-signed and lining up as the #1 receiver.

But, it’s not that easy. Each and every player, from Reggie Wayne & Jeff Saturday to Robert Mathis and Antoine Bethea, wants to win the game. Hell, even the coaching staff may be auditioning for their own jobs, so you know they will want to make the best decisions they can possibly make next Sunday. Not because it’d hurt the chances of Indy getting Andrew Luck, but because many of the players are playing for new contracts. They don’t want to ride the bench in their final audition to prospective teams, nor do they want to play and only give 70% of their best effort. They want to run down the throats of Jacksonville, make Sportscenter-worthy receptions, force a few interceptions, and sack the living piss out of Blaine Gabbert.

If a mysterious flu infiltrates the Colts’ facilities this week and a few players get “rested”, then I don’t suppose it’d be a huge surprise. But, expecting them to sit every meaningful starter just so it’d be easier to lose… well, that seems a little far-fetched. Management is surely secretly praying that Mathis and Freeney get kidnapped on Friday then safely returned on Monday, but even if they tell their players/coaches to give a half-assed effort against the Jags, the team will still play as if their lives depend on it.

The Colts losing week 17 would make things a lot easier — sure, no arguments there. But, now that they have a quasi-competent quarterback, this team has shown that they won’t just roll over and play dead. I’m going to root like hell for the Packers tonight, the Falcons tomorrow, and the Rams next week against a 49ers team which I hope will have everything clinched and will rest their starters.

By the way, congrats for the 10th fanpost that covers basically the exact same concept which everyone else has already written in the past few days. Unfortunately, you do not win a prize.

The Vikings didn’t do that, and that might have cost them the 2012-season as well due to APs very serious injury. And to add insult to injury, they won the game and is now out of contention for 1st overall.

They need to see if guys like Gonzo can play, Hughes? We need to see a ton of action from those guys to see if they are worth wasting money on. There is nothing to be gained by winning another game and much much more to lose. We are going to lose 4 or 5 starters anyway. With the newer rookie salary cap, it should drive overall vet salaries down and we will not survive having a bunch of guys in the low to mid 30’s asking top dollar. Basically it does not matter if we win one more for the vets. That happened against the Texans. Hopefully things will change but most of those guys are going to spit in the eye of Indy as soon as the Jets or who ever backs up the money truck or the ability to play with other vets in hopes of winning a Super Bowl. Seems like if it is even money being offered they bail to the new team. The team need to do what is right for the team for the future and playing all the starters all game is not the answer.

Stop comparing them. It makes zero sense.