colts are stupid. Agree or disagree.?

I agree but they wouldn't have gotten past the chargers in the playoffs. The chargers are the new patriots for manning and company. By that I mean that they have their number just like the pats of 01,03, and 04 had.

16-0 isn't history. No one talks about the Pats going 16-0, just 18-1. Colts can make a run every year which they have shown over the course of Peytons career. It means nothing when you lose in the playoffs. Best thing is to get a bye, wrap up the #1 seed, and have your starters healthy for playoffs. Whether or not they win the Super Bowl won't be because they didn't play week 16. There are so many people that aren't Colts fans getting bent out of shape over this. As a Colts fan, I don't get why people care. Especially if you're a fan of any other team. For the people saying no one would get hurt is just a dumb assumption. Players get hurt each and every week, and many injuries come in the 4th quarter when teams are fighting and scratching for a W. After seeing Austin Collie almost break his tailbone on the first play, I think you would get my point.

I have mixed feelings about it, as there are good arguments on both sides.

Ultimately, what matters in each season is winning the Super Bowl. That's what teams play for. Sure, making history would be nice, but I'm not so sure about playing all out in games that don't really matter for the team. That'd be great if they could have gone undefeated and also won the Super Bowl, I personally put winning the Super Bowl above more emotional records.

Now, having said that, I can see why it'd be great for both the Colts organization and its fans to go undefeated and win the Bowl. One could say, well, if a team plays well rolling into the playoffs, they could carry some momentum with them. But history is mixed on that, as to whether taking it easy (or playing through the end of the season), either helps or hurts the team.

Injuries in football tend to be freak occurrences. A guy lands wrong, a player falls on his teammates leg, cleat gets stuck in turf, twists leg or knee, etc., and I think it's playing it safe to cool off your starters. How bad would it be if Manning had gotten injured just one game before playoffs. Sure, you could say, Well, injuries happen. Yes, they do, but it'd be bad for a star player to go down in a rather meaningless game, right before the playoffs.

I think people know who's the best, regardless of whether they go undefeated or not.

Bo Jackson's one of the greatest running backs, even with a career shortened by injury. It's still a "What if?" type asterisk on his name, but, no doubt, he was a great athlete.

Now, as for what I would have done? I would have taken some things into consideration. I would look at the condition of my team, look into how much they wanted to go for perfection, and then consider if it's worth it or not. Ultimately, I would lean on the side of caution. I likely would have even played my starting players less than the Colts coach did, let them rest, get ready for the playoffs.

The Colts didn't lose that game because the big guys were pulled, as even the starters had made some mistakes early on, such as letting the other team score on a kick return.

Their head coach wanted to protect his best players from possible injury. However, they looked like children being punished and sent to their rooms while staying on the sideline as their team lost for the first this year. I think the Colts pulled this stunt one week to early. The head coach was stupid in doing this. He should have let his team win the game and also showed killer winning instinct by knocking the Jets out of the playoffs.

disagree, I just went back to look at all the super bowls, less than 50% of the winning teams had the best record. it took me a while to check them all out, but you have a 65% better chance of winning the super bowl if you rest your starters.

what do the 70 vikings, 71 vikings, 73 rams,74 dolphins, 77 rams, 78 about 1/3 of the NFL, 85 49ers and bills, 87 saints and 49ers all have in common? they had the best record in the NFL and did not win the superbowl. how many people rember these teams? very few.

the super bowl is what matters, not the Regular season.

A team wins a Super Bowl every year, but chances at history are rare. Kudos to the Pats for giving 100% in EVERY game--even if they did fall short in the end, people will still remember that team a generation from now. The Dolts will be forgotten about three years after Peyton retires, whether they win this year's SB or choke like they usually do.

Agree.

I really don't get it. The game wasn't over, it was still 15-10. The way things were going, Manning wasn't going to get hurt, he only got hit once the whole game. They're taking their success for granted.. they'll regret it when they don't have Manning anymore.

I would have left them in all the way, or at least until the game was decided.

Disagree. They are a football team that held back their starters so that they are ready for the play off's. Sounds like a smart move to me...

And if you think having a perfect season would make them the greatest team in history, maybe you have never read about the '72 Dolphins.

yes yes they are i would of built a good comfortable lead and then bench the starters cause it was a meaningful game for playoff contention now they also gave the jets life and the jets are looking at a wild card spot thanks to the colts now if the bengals do the same they will just be given the wild card spot

I wouldn't say the colts are stupid. I think Couch Caldwell made the wrong call. I know he wants to rest his players but i think if the colts would have gone undefeated it would have given them more to play for "Perfection".