I think the proof alone that this theory is bunk, is the fact that teams openly give their opposition a great chance to beat them after clinching everything.
Such as Indy always does. If they thought momentum meant anything, you can bet Peyton would play and finish.
Yeah, because Indy is the place to go when you're looking for experts on "momentum" in the playoffs. Give me a break.
It's not about momentum at all. It's about correcting the issues your team has and learning how to play better football at the most critical time in the season. You aren't going to play as sharp when you come in to a playoff game not having played a single snap of real football against a live opponent in three weeks. It's impossible, and it's stupid to believe that anyone could do it. Look at how Brady struggled after missing a year, or how Manning struggled after missing training camp, or how any player struggles after missing significant practice time. It's common sense, and it's exactly the same concept.
The OP is way overanalyzing it. Momentum is BS. Improving team play isn't.
You don't take your foot off the gas three weeks before the biggest game of your season. You have to be doing everything you can to get better, whether you win or lose, because that's what your opponents will be doing.
If you play all of your healthy players in the last game of the season, and you lose, at least you know your team has a problem that needs to be corrected in practice. You learn about your team by playing your best players in December.
The Giants could have rested their starters in the 16-0 game at Giant Stadium. Instead, they played to win. The Giants players are on record as saying that game gave them the confidence to know that they could beat anyone, because they nearly defeated the best team in the league. Players are not robots, they're human beings with emotions, and one of those emotions is confidence.
Losses can hurt a team's confidence. But even if you lose, and aren't hot at the end of the season, there is something to be said when you play well in the following game and overcome the difficulties you had previously. That's what winners do.
What the Colts did last night was quitting, and the players know it. You could see it on their faces. Caldwell wants to win the Super Bowl, because he wants to the best team of the 2009 season. The problem with that logic is it's for underachievers. They had a chance not only to be the best team of 2009, but to be the best team EVER.
How can you say on one hand that you want to be best this year, but on the other say that being the best ever doesn't matter to you? How can that not be important to a competitive person? It makes no sense. None.