Watching this past weekend’s game in Indianapolis made me cringe. I will never understand the logic of taking players out of a game to rest them when there’s still something on the line. Now here’s a team on a roll still undefeated, and in the 2nd half, Colts coach Jim Caldwell decides to pull Peyton in favour of Painter. The move basically conceded the attempt at a perfect season but why would he do this?
If his thinking was to rest quarterback Peyton Manning, who only performs one day a week, then why start him at all? If his thinking is to protect him from injury, then again… why start him at all? A player can get hurt at anytime so the idea of subtracting someone from a meaningful equation just doesn’t add up.
Case in point: the New England Patriots of two seasons ago. Didn’t Tom Brady and the starters finish all their games, all year long? Patriots coach Bill Belichick had plenty of opportunities to take a knee, but instead decided to run up the score each and every time. This obviously didn’t sit well with the opposition. Did anyone try and cheap shot Tom Brady or was he injured? No! Now, ironically in Week 1 of the following season he did; which proves injury can happen anytime.
I know they say it’s better to prevent than cure but this isn’t medical science. These guys are getting paid quite nicely to play a sport, it’s their job and injuries are a part of it. We all are at risk in our daily lives, are we not?
Colts fans, football fans… what’s your take on this? Did Caldwell and company do the right thing?
By the way, if this blog doesn’t appear it’s because Sportsnet has decided to rest the Webdesk for the remainder of 2009. This way they’ll be fully healthy for the start of 2010. Happy New Year, see you in January.