I didn't see the Jets Colts game - it sounds like a farce on many different levels... the biggest being having the Colts starters pulled.
Believe it or not, as a football fan first and a Patriots fan a very close second, I really wanted to see the Colts go for all the marbles. I'd of course be rooting for the Pats to beat them in the playoffs, but short of that I would have wanted to see perfection.
It may be that this move takes the pressure off the Colts in the playoffs (something the Patriots didn't have going for them in 2007) and helps them win the Super Bowl, but laying down like this and saying "we don't care about making history" just sucks on many different levels.
It sounds like Manning was pissed. I don't blame him. Brady would have been too.