Question for this board regarding week 17

[vinceanity]

A yr ago you came into TN in a meaningless game. The Titans were 8-7 and needed it to win. You won but Bobby Wade got to Harrison and that injury might have hampered you in beating Indy since he could not help stop manning..................Well on the colts.com forum there is a debate about it.

You guys faced it against us last yr. Would you risk your starters this yr if the game meant nothing once again? Personally I think fisher is going to bring the kitchen sink on manning and any Colt starter left in. Look what he did to Merriman after he went after VY. I'm very interested to hear your take on this.

 

[Disco Volante]

Well actually, we had seeding to concern in that game.

But yeah, if I'm the Colts this week play 'em a half, maybe less depending on the game situation. I think Dungy's playing it right.

But since your question is...

You guys faced it against us last yr. Would you risk your starters this yr if the game meant nothing once again?

Same situation as last year? I still play them (For the #3 seed).

This year? No game is meaningless, considering we're pursuing perfection. Damn right we play.

 

[ShrewBeer]

i hope the titans cripple the colts and all get suspended in the process for being douchebags

 

[Satchboogie3]

They are paid to play.

 

[Deus Irae]

11 offensive starters
11 defensive starters

That's 22 players from a 53 man roster.... leaving 31 players.
One kicker, one punter, one long snapper.... that's 28 players.

So, in order to rest all of your starters, you would need to put your team into a position of having 22 starters and subs, which would still leave "package (i.e. nickel, dime) players in the lineup, and that's if you could even do that given the makeup of your players numbered 46-53.

Realistically, theres just no way to keep all your game players (starters and situational players) out of a game.

 

[vinceanity]

we know some will play the issue is the key guys. would you risk a key guy again?

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

Belichick believes that you always play your starters at least for a while in the game to keep momentum going from week to week, and so as not to waste a week of practice on a team that begins to think they are on vacation until the next game.

Belichick likes to keep up the intensity until the end.

At least that is my view on what he does.

And it works generally.

I think it is better to keep the team involved. The Titans are just plain dirty, IMO. The Harrison injury could have been overcome in the Indy game. There really were other bigger factors, like the officiating, the flu bug, the NFL scheduling giving us a super short week. I don't know if Harrison would have made the difference, but it didn't help.

But at the end of the day, Belichick likes to keep everybody involved each week, and that is the system I would recommend.

 

[bradmahn]

we know some will play the issue is the key guys. would you risk a key guy again?

To score forty points on the Titans and knock them out of the playoffs? Hell yeah. Now stop asking stupid questions.

 

[Rawky77]

I do not envy you, the Titans are a Nasty Cheapshot team who looks to injure the opposition especially if they are losing.

To think i once thought Fisher was a good coach.

 

[ALP]

wut happened with harrison i believe had a tremendous effect in the 2nd half of the Indy game, especially b/c our lb was too young to cover clark and we didnt have rodney, who usually does it...

however, that was a mistake, it could just as easily not have hapened....

if i were playing the titans, i would be worried, and a good deal....if u dont believe fisher orders hit so far, ur being unrealistic...

i would play my most prominent starters (reggie wayne, manning, clark, addai, sanders) only 1 qt, b4 the game is out of hand....

then put backups at the those positions, and leave the rest of hte startes in...

if a major piece of the colts gets injured week 17 that will affect them in the playoffs, it would be a shame

 

[aluminum seats]

I think on balance you're better off just playing the games. As another poster said above, a certain number of guys have to play anyway. More broadly, this is what they do.

It's not a no-brainer, though--Harrison getting hurt in TN last year cost the Patriots Super Bowl #4.