Week 15:
Indianapolis Colts at Jacksonville Jaguars
December 15, 2009 by Marc Jerbs

The Jacksonville Jaguars may have caught the Indianapolis Colts in a quandary just in time for their scheduled match on Thursday. The Colts have already clinched their AFC division title and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Their main dilemma "rest or play their starters".

The Jaguars have the advantage come Thursday; they have their rowdy fans in-tow and have a chance for a spot as a wild card entry in the playoffs. They have nothing to lose but everything to gain. If I were the Jaguars, I'll show the Colts continuous hard physical defense. Surely, the Colts' management would likely pull its starters early in the game to spare them from getting unnecessary injuries as the playoffs is just around the corner.

Colts' coach Jim Caldwell has decided to play his healthy starters against the Jaguars. But he will rest injured players that needs time to heal their injuries and be ready for the playoffs. How long will Coach Caldwell let his healthy starters play on Thursday? Would they go for broke and play for a 16-0 record? These are the dilemmas that hound the Colts day after day. Resting their starters before the playoffs is a good thing, but the longer they rest, rust may set in come playoff time. Playing them sparingly as the season draws to a close is the only way to let their starters remain focus and hungry towards the playoffs. It is a fact that an injury to a starter may happen every minute of each game, that's the way life goes in the NFL.

The Colts definitely will play with a lot of pride and heart in this game. Rest or not to rest, the handicappers still installed the Colts as the favorite to beat the Jaguars on Thursday.