The big debate in football right now is completely on the Indianapolis Colts and their chances at history this season. Anyone that follows sports minutely would be able to tell you that the Colts are sitting on a 12-0 mark, and have the chance to finally silence those insipid '72 Dolphins and their cork-popping celebrations every time the last undefeated team goes down.
See, for anyone that's lived in a football cave, the Dolphins of 1972 were the only team to finish the regular season undefeated and win the Super Bowl. That year, they managed to finish 14-0 and they beat the Washington Redskins 14-7 in Super Bowl VII, which included the play where Garo Yepremian tried to throw the ball and it was intercepted and returned for a touchdown.
They were not the first team to finish undefeated, though, as the Canton Bulldogs went 10-0-2 in 1922 and 11-0-1 in 1923, but since there was no championship game, they were declared champions by having the best record. The same happened for the Green Bay Packers in 1929 when they went 12-0-1 and won the title with a lack of championship game. The Chicago Bears went 13-0 in 1934 and 11-0 in 1942, but they lost the NFL Championship games to the Giants 30-13 in '34, and the Redskins 14-6 in '42.
Thus, since the Dolphins of '72 are the only team in NFL history to perform such the aforementioned feat, they have a party when a team that has a chance to match and eclipse their record finally loses, such as they did when the Denver Broncos lost to the Giants 20-16 back in 1998, making them 13-1 and ending the last official threat to the storied record.
So, the question for Colts coach Tony Dungy is whether he plays his starters towards the end of this season after they've already clinched home-field advantage and risk injury, or essentially give up a perfect season and rest his players. In the next three weeks, they have three big tests to see if they will indeed attain perfection. This Sunday, they are visiting Jacksonville to play the Jaguars, a team they beat at home 10-3 in the second week of the season, and then they play host to the San Diego Chargers, in what many people are calling their best chance of losing a game this season, and that is followed by a visit to Seattle to face off against the NFC's possible number one seed in the Seahawks.
The Jaguars can afford to lose one more game this season, and finish at 12-4, which they probably will by looking at their schedule, and they'll be in good position to make the playoffs. Also, the Colts have just become monstrous recently, averaging over 35 points a game in their last nine games, so it's not looking like they'll have much trouble with that game. After that game, though, the Colts will have the division title, a first-round bye, and for all intensive purposes, home-field throughout the playoffs all sewn up.
The second game in this little set is against San Diego, and this could prove to be an interesting game because the Colts will most likely have everything taken care of, and the Chargers are going to be in the middle of a very strong playoff push. If the Colts manage to win this game then they probably wouldn't have too much trouble finishing undefeated. Then comes a game at Seattle, which has some of the same undertones to it. If for some reason the Colts don't have home-field taken care of by the game against the Chargers, and they manage to become 14-0, then you have to wonder whether Dungy will risk his players.
By that point in time, if the Bears keep winning their games, the Seahawks will be in the middle of their own race for home-field throughout the playoffs, because the Bears are one game behind them and hold the tie-breaker, thus the chance is very possible there that the Colts could lose their last game there. The way their schedule is working out, though, they probably don't have to worry too much about the last week in their season against the Arizona Cardinals, but you never know.
Dungy is in a lose/lose situation with this issue. If he plays all of his starters every game and one of them gets injured and they lose in the playoffs, then critics are going to say that he should have rested his players. If he rests his starters and they lose, then critics are going to say that he gave up the opportunity of a lifetime. The thing about this issue is, though, that every single player on the Colts roster got ready at the beginning of the season to play 16 games and then some, so why not play them?
Another thing that could happen if he rests the starters too much with their bye is that they'll be too rusty and they could lose before even making the Super Bowl even if they go 16-0. The fact is that the Colts are so good that if they play all of their starters every game, they will finish 16-0 and they will win the Super Bowl. If someone gets injured and they miss their chance, then it's not like there won't be another chance next season to win the Super Bowl, right?
Notes
* Apparently, Anna Benson is getting upset that the Mets are looking to trade her husband Kris Benson and she's saying that it's because she's trying to land a deal to pose in Playboy. Yeah, Anna, that's why they're looking to trade him, it's not because last season he was paid $5,333,333 and he only went 10-8 with a 4.13 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP, which is overpaying for essentially their fourth starter. It could be just me, but I'm not even interested in seeing Anna Benson naked. Maybe it's just because she seems more whore-ish than most that try to get into that magazine.
* A.J Burnett was just given a five-year, $55,000,000 deal by the Blue Jays. Well done, Jays, for spending $102,000,000 on a combined 65-69 record with 42 total saves. The upside for these two better be through the roof.
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