Should NFL Teams Rest Their Starters in the Final Weeks of the Regular Season? News spread over the weekend that the NFL would look into the policy of teams resting their starters during the final weeks of the regular season. Until this weekend, I didn't even know that there was possibly such a policy in the league. I always thought those decisions were left for the teams to decide for themselves. This story is noteworthy because of what has taken place the last few weeks with teams such as the Indianapolis Colts and, more recently, the New England Patriots. I really don't think there's that much Roger Goodell and the NFL can do by looking into this situation. There's been rumors of extra draft picks to those teams, but I don't see something like that having a significant impact in the long run.
You may remember that in week 16 Colts head coach Jim Caldwll decided to pull his starters out in the third quarter of what would be a 29 to 15 loss against the New York Jets, thus ending their pursuit of perfection. It caused a lot of backlash this past week from the fans, as well as the media, who were seemingly disappointed that giving the starters some rest was far more important than trying for the perfect season. That situation with the Colts is somewhat understandable, given their way of operating in the final weeks of the regular season the last few years when they had everything wrapped up. I personally would have liked to seen them go for the perfect season, given what their place in history could have been.
What I don't understand is why in week 17 in a 30 to 7 loss at Buffalo in the snow, the Colts decided to play their starters just so they could reach certain milestones for the season. Peyton Manning extended his consecutive start streak to 192 and tight end Dallas Clark got his 100th reception of the season. It was no surprise that they were pulled after acheiving these milestones. If I were in charge of the Colts, it would have made more sense to have kept the starters in longer during week 16 so they could acheive those goals as well as going for the perfect season. It wouldn't surprise me if they fall behind early against their next opponent in two weeks time and start feeling the pressure to reach the Super Bowl as favorites in February.
In a similar, but at the same time different situation for the Patriots, they chose to play their starters in a 34 to 27 defeat against the Houston Texans on Sunday. Today, Bill Belichick is probably wishing he should have done things differently. Tom Brady has reportedly been playing with cracked ribs and a broken finger the last few weeks and Wes Welker, arguably New England's biggest play making wide receiver not named Randy Moss, reportedly has a torn PCL and MCL thanks to a knee injury he suffered early in Sunday's game.
That's the dilemma these teams face when considering whether or not to rest their starters down the stretch heading into the playoffs. To have the starters go out and attept to reach personal as well as team goals to end the season, or risk injury to star players in what essentially amounts to a meaningless game where everything has already been decided.
