Every year the debate over teams playing hard with their starters on the field late in the season, despite having their playoff future locked up, takes center stage around the league, and this year is no different. It involves different teams than we’ve seen before with this dilemma, but overall the same argument takes place.

Both the Colts and the Saints are likely to have this problem headed down the stretch, with both clubs currently holding on to perfect records going into week 14. Whereas New Orleans will likely have to make a decision late in the season, Indianapolis could have answer to this question as early as next week, as a win on Sunday will lock up home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

With that in mind, Colts president Bill Polian weighed in on the subject, potentially foreshadowing what the team will choose to do if they take home a victory this week.

“I don’t know how you get rusty when you practice four times a week. It’s pretty hard to be rusty in that situation. Secondly, momentum is an overrated situation. We didn’t have a lot of momentum going into the playoffs the year we won the Super Bowl. The fact is that at this time of year, you have very many players who are injured, playing hurt, who need rest because they have nagging injuries through which they’ve been fighting. That’s your first and most important consideration.”

– Indianapolis president Bill Polian

Polian has long been a proponent of sitting his team’s starters late in the season, especially when there isn’t much to play for outside of the satisfaction of winning 16 games in a season. Obviously, the Colts players will disagree with those sentiments, but given Polian’s strong stance on the issue, there is little doubt that Indianapolis will prepare for their Super Bowl run instead of shooting for a meaningless record.

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