The Colts Imperfect Season

This weekend the Colts were on the edge of perfection, a half away from going 15-0 to a Jets teams who was outmatched by the Colts. The Colts were up by 5 in the 3rd quarter and Coach Jim Caldwell decided to pull their starters most notably MVP Peyton Manning. The Colts gave up their 5 point lead and said, goodbye to their perfect season. Caldwell expressed that having a perfect season was not in the Colts' goals this year. After seeing the faces of the Colts after they lost though, it seemed as if the locker room wanted it. To have a place in history above ever team in history would mean something to the Colts and I think Caldwell ignored that. I think the perfect season talk will probably be a sore subject for a few weeks, but the real question I have, "Does resting players before the playoffs really help teams in the long run?"

In recent years it seems as if the growing trend is that teams from the Wild Card Weekend seem to be reaching the Super Bowl more and more. Why is this? Three out of the last four Super Bowl champions have played on Wild Card Weekend. Last year, the Cardinals who were considered one of the worst playoff teams ever to make it, ended up almost winning the Super Bowl over another Wild Card Weekend team, the Steelers. This trend would seem to not make any sense because not only do the teams with superior records get to play at home, they also get this much needed rest.

I believe that this much needed rest is what is hurting these 1 and 2 seeds in the playoffs. With resting nearly two weeks with the playoff format and sometimes 3-4 when resting early, teams get out of sync. Football is a game of timing and when you have not played a competitive game in a month it is tough to get that back right away. I think teams that fight until the last week of the season to make the playoffs and play the first week have an advantage because they are in sync. Now in order to curb this teams like the Colts should play until the last week of the season. It makes no sense to rest a quarterback who has started 191 consecutive games because he may get hurt. Players always have the chance to get hurt but the way to increase it the most is to play like you have a lot to lose. The goal every Sunday is to win football games and at the end of the day win the Super Bowl.

A 14-1 team seems bummed and is down and is questioning what could of been, when they should be getting prepared for one of their biggest playoffs in their lives. Caldwell by resting his players and letting the Colts lose has created a distraction they may not of had otherwise. The problem is that even if the Colts win the Super Bowl, players will still be questioning whether it could of meant perfect. I think in order to help his team win the Super Bowl and have the chance to make history Caldwell should of kept Peyton Manning and the players in.

BUT THAT'S JUST MY TWO CENTS FROM THE NOSE BLEEDS!