Leagues can't even punish a "know it when they see it" (i.e. no real proof) scenario when what they know, that Barry Bonds was taking steroids, for example, is against the rules and against the law. How, then, can they punish for something that not only do they not have proof any of, but is not explicitly against the rules? We can say that Indy was manipulating the playoff seedings, but how do we know that? If they had played their backups all game, they could say they were trying to win but resting their starters for a playoff run. Surely the league can't fault them for wanting to stay healthy. If they benched their starters in the middle of the second half (a move I hated, by the way) could they not say they wanted to get them reps, but after two quarters and 8 minutes, that was enough? What can the league say to that? That they're liars? That the players only needed two series or three? These are things you can't enforce unless you're going to have the league run all the franchises itself.

And again, most importantly, isn't it incumbent upon the teams deciding their own destinies to ultimately account for where they are seeded? As has been said before, if you want in, win your damn games.

The best solution I have heard, and this makes so much sense you wonder who is running the league, is to only have division games in the last 2-4 weeks. This would ensure that there is the maximum possibility that the games would mean something for as many teams as possible.

I can see your points, and they are very valid. This isn't an issue that can be resolved overnight. As you say the Colts could have planned that all along, to play Peyton Manning 3/4 of the game and then rest him. But that seems a little strange to play a guy 3/4 of the game and then at crunch time rest him. Once again that could very easily have been their plan all along. Honestly I had thought nothing about it until people started bringing up this issue. I personally think that every team should have to play to win every game. That NY Jets Cincinnati Bengals game was pathetic to watch. I can see you point about if you want in win more games, but at the same time is it really fair that the Houston Texans had to play against wildcard potential teams at the end of the year while the NY Jets got two freebees? Its pretty obvious that the Jets were going to lose that game to Indy. Had they lost that game the Jets are not in the playoffs. So the bestter teams did not make it into the playoffs, and that is a fact that hurt the integrity of the playoffs themselves. Thats why I feel the league needs to step in and do something. Making the playoffs is a high status in the NFL, and if they want the status to be protected they need to eliminate this problem. But in trying to eliminate this problem, you create several other problems. I do not know what the perfect solution is, of if there even is one.

 

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Well the first half was close... I bet Manning would have been pulled in the first quarter if they had gotten off to a 21-0 lead.

2nd half... Manning got one drive, they took the lead and he was pulled. That was probably their plan the whole time. I don't think it had anything to do with other potential playoff teams.

 

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I'm going to laugh when the Jets knock the Colts out of the playoffs.

 

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The thing is, almost none of the pundits put there are giving them a shot to do that either...

 

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Geez, I wonder why nobody is giving them a shot? To win three consecutive road playoff games and get to the Super Bowl? A 9-7 regular season team with a rookie quarterback? That's about as long a shot as it gets.

 

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