Colts and 16-0

I usually hate writing about the things that everyone is talking about but I'm going to do it here anyway. Yesterday the Colts lost for the first time in 24 regular season games and they pulled their starters in the 3rd quarter of the game. I think Coach Caldwell made the wrong choice in pulling his starters, I understand you want to have a healthy team going into the playoffs but there are a number of reasons why Peyton Manning and Co. should have stayed in the game.

The first reason is probably the most obvious and has been turned into a beer commercial, as Coach Herm Edwards famously said, "you play to win the game!" Players are in the NFL because they want to compete and they want to win, coaches should coach that way also. Just because you've locked up a #1 seed and a first round bye doesn't mean you should just relax until the playoffs start up. You're hired to win games and you need to play the best players you're given to accomplish that.

The next reason is because the Colts locked up a first round bye, they will be given a week off to get healthy before they have to play again. If you're given that week off then there really is no reason to sit the players that are already healthy. If anything, it is more incentive to play your players so they stay sharp and ready to compete come playoff time. I've heard that Coach Caldwell is preparing to go full tempo in practice to get the team ready but it is extremely hard to simulate the actual game tempo in practice no matter how hard you have your team hitting. And really what is the difference between going full speed in practice as opposed to playing in a game? If you're hitting in practice there is just as much chance for injury as there would be in an actual game.

The last reason I want to touch on is the opinion of the players. Constantly throughout the game the cameras cut to the Colts starters looking completely deflated, knowing that their undefeated season is about to go away. Now I'm not saying to start a Brad Childress-Brett Favre drama story, but there has to be a way to go to your starters and see how they feel about having a perfect season. Based on the looks of some of the players, they looked like they wanted to be out there to keep their perfect record alive.

I actually wouldn't be surprised if the Colts failed to make it to the Super Bowl after this loss, the players look deflated and I don't think they'll be as sharp as necessary to make the Super Bowl. The bottom line is if you don't want to win the game then as Coach Edwards said, "get out."