In Pursuit of Perfection

The Indianapolis Colts play the Jacksonville Jaguars tonight on NBC’s Thursday Night Football. The Colts, having won 22 consecutive regular season games, look to run this season’s record to 14-0.

For the past few weeks, I’ve had to listen to football pundits tirelessly debate the pros and cons of going for a perfect season. I don’t understand why there is even a discussion in the first place. As my good friend Herm Edwards posited, “You play to win the game!”

The entire point of the sport is to have more points than the other team when the clock reads 0:00. It’s that simple.

You don’t play hard for thirteen games and then coast into the playoffs. I don’t care that Indianapolis has already clinched home field advantage throughout the postseason, that doesn’t mean you take your foot off the throttle now.

The case for resting your starters now, in supposedly ‘meaningless’ games, is a classic example of sports people over-thinking an easy decision (luckily, we don’t have that problem here at Talkin’ with Tewks).

The thought process is that you are risking injury by playing your starters in games that have no effect on playoff seeding. Peyton Manning could get hit by a car crossing the street tomorrow; does this mean backup quarterback Jim Sorgi should be doing all of Manning’s walking until Indy’s first playoff game?

There is something to be said for staying sharp and getting game reps right up until the playoffs begin. The Colts went 13-0 in 2005, clinched home field advantage and then rested all of their big guns until the playoffs. What happened? Indy lost 3 of their last 4 games and was eliminated in the divisional playoffs by the Steelers.

Also, why is it that every year some team barely squeaks into the playoffs with stellar late season play and then wreaks havoc on the postseason? Look at the Arizona Cardinals last year. They rode a hot, late December run all the way to the Super Bowl. Why? Because they peaked at the right time.

Is Indianapolis’ coaching staff really so conceited to think that they can turn it back on again once the playoffs roll around?

There’s the magic of history and legendary status at stake here as well. Can you name the last ten Super Bowl winners? Nope? Neither can I.

Can you name the teams who have finished the regular season with unblemished records? The 1972 Miami Dolphins and the 2008 New England Patriots. That’s the list. That’s it. Are you telling me Peyton Manning doesn’t want his Colts to join that list?

Come on Indy, go for the perfect season.