Bengals don't need Momentum, aka 2005 Patriots, 1988 49ers, etc.

[OSUfan]

Originally Posted by khamla

To be bluntly honest whatever we do we probably still will lose. I don't think we are better than any of the AFC teams.

So Scrooge is a Bengals fan.

[Bengals Mike]

Originally Posted by BengalYankee

Patriots opted for healthy and to avoid the Steelers. Maybe just to avoid the Steelers

In the season of 2005, Bill Belichick opted for seed 4 instead of seed 3. Seed 4 would have gotten them the Steelers, seed 3 got them Jacksonville. We all knew the Bengals turned it to be seed 3 and faced the Steelers. The Bengals also did not want seed 3 and played their worst game of the season getting blown out by the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Pats played Miami in New England on Jan 2, 2006 on the last game of the season. The Pats were heavy favorites with a lot of streaks on the line. This game was NOT the same where the Bengals are now. We are locked in as the 6th seed. In 2005, the Pats could have been seed 3 or 4. The Pats rested their starters and did not give a damn about momentum.

Look, everyone knows that Belichick is a genius. No one questions whether he is a great coach. He let his starters rest their last game, heck in all honesty that game against Miami was a dive. He let his 2nd-3rd stringers against Miami's first stringers. He let Doug Flutie do a drop kick!!!!!!

Alll this talk about momentum is foolish. The Pats wanted no part of the Steelers and preferred Jacksonville to come into New England to play in the cold. In the end, Bill was right, Jacksonville had to play in New England on a COLD SATURDAY NIGHT!!!!
Pittsburgh went on to win the Superbowl.

BTW, Miami is a rival to Pats.

Enter 2012, it is a long shot and ironically, the Pats would have to lose to Miami again but if they did and we "lose" to the Ravens. We get the Ravens instead of the Patriots.


Many would argue about momentum but I remember the 1988 49ers losing on purpose their last game of the year against their rivals the Rams to keep the Giants out of the playoffs via the wildcard. The 49ers were locked in the second seed and that last game against the Rams was in in Frisco that night. The 1988 Superbowl Champion 49ers got crushed by the Rams in Frisco, 38-16.

Yeah, momentum

For all those who want to put their heads into the sand and don't want to remember the 88 49ers, recently the Saints of 2009 loss their last THREE games of the season after into the playoffs with no momentum and came out Superbowl Champions. Let me repeat that for the hard of hearing, the Saints loss their last THREE games.


Now back to the 2005 Patriots who took a dive to avoid the 3rd seed. The reference is from New England sources.

Originally Posted by BengalYankee
Please read these and get back to me.

http://patspulpit.blogspot.com/2006/...-28-recap.html

"I don't think it looked that convincing. I think, when it came down to it, Belichick wanted the No. 4 seed, and with Kansas City beating Cincinnati, and beating them well and easily all day, Belichick sent in the "dive." No chance a running back stumbles through a hole and sends the game to overtime. A nice little throwaway that no one could conceivable catch, and there's your fourth seed. "





How is it that the Patriots can send in their 2nd and 3rd stringers against Maimi's 1st stringers, yet we can't do the same?
See the link below.

http://nwe.scout.com/2/484340.html


http://patspulpit.blogspot.com/2006/...en-thread.html

All this is very moot, the Ravens wont be 'fighting' for anything when they can get the better game of 2 rounds simply by losing, if you were the Ravens I know what my choice would be

Win, host the Bengals and Guarantee a trip to Denver with a win
Lose, host the Colts and get a Probable trip to Houston with a win

After what we saw Sunday everyone would want to play the Colts right now and nobody would want to see the Bengals, and I dont think anyone wants to go right to Denver if they survive the Bengals but I'm pretty sure they wouldnt mind going to Houston after seeing that the likes of Christian Ponder can win there


and the Bengals do need the momentum for once, aka the 2005 Bengals, 2009 Bengals and the 2011 Bengals

[EyeOfTheTiger]

Originally Posted by BengalYankee

Patriots opted for healthy and to avoid the Steelers. Maybe just to avoid the Steelers

In the season of 2005, Bill Belichick opted for seed 4 instead of seed 3. Seed 4 would have gotten them the Steelers, seed 3 got them Jacksonville. We all knew the Bengals turned it to be seed 3 and faced the Steelers. The Bengals also did not want seed 3 and played their worst game of the season getting blown out by the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Pats played Miami in New England on Jan 2, 2006 on the last game of the season. The Pats were heavy favorites with a lot of streaks on the line. This game was NOT the same where the Bengals are now. We are locked in as the 6th seed. In 2005, the Pats could have been seed 3 or 4. The Pats rested their starters and did not give a damn about momentum.

Look, everyone knows that Belichick is a genius. No one questions whether he is a great coach. He let his starters rest their last game, heck in all honesty that game against Miami was a dive. He let his 2nd-3rd stringers against Miami's first stringers. He let Doug Flutie do a drop kick!!!!!!

Alll this talk about momentum is foolish. The Pats wanted no part of the Steelers and preferred Jacksonville to come into New England to play in the cold. In the end, Bill was right, Jacksonville had to play in New England on a COLD SATURDAY NIGHT!!!!
Pittsburgh went on to win the Superbowl.

BTW, Miami is a rival to Pats.

Enter 2012, it is a long shot and ironically, the Pats would have to lose to Miami again but if they did and we "lose" to the Ravens. We get the Ravens instead of the Patriots.


Many would argue about momentum but I remember the 1988 49ers losing on purpose their last game of the year against their rivals the Rams to keep the Giants out of the playoffs via the wildcard. The 49ers were locked in the second seed and that last game against the Rams was in in Frisco that night. The 1988 Superbowl Champion 49ers got crushed by the Rams in Frisco, 38-16.

Yeah, momentum

For all those who want to put their heads into the sand and don't want to remember the 88 49ers, recently the Saints of 2009 loss their last THREE games of the season after into the playoffs with no momentum and came out Superbowl Champions. Let me repeat that for the hard of hearing, the Saints loss their last THREE games.


Now back to the 2005 Patriots who took a dive to avoid the 3rd seed. The reference is from New England sources.

Originally Posted by BengalYankee
Please read these and get back to me.

http://patspulpit.blogspot.com/2006/...-28-recap.html

"I don't think it looked that convincing. I think, when it came down to it, Belichick wanted the No. 4 seed, and with Kansas City beating Cincinnati, and beating them well and easily all day, Belichick sent in the "dive." No chance a running back stumbles through a hole and sends the game to overtime. A nice little throwaway that no one could conceivable catch, and there's your fourth seed. "





How is it that the Patriots can send in their 2nd and 3rd stringers against Maimi's 1st stringers, yet we can't do the same?
See the link below.

http://nwe.scout.com/2/484340.html


http://patspulpit.blogspot.com/2006/...en-thread.html

Because our fans are not playoff caliber. Fans believe all this stuff about history and not having won in x amount of years. Players don't. Like AJ said - he doesn't know about the past 30 years, only the last 2. To a player, they care nothing about the 49ers SB loss - some weren't even alive then. Fans think players are like them, but they aren't. This is their livelihood. I am SURE their are a lot of players that would love extra time to prepare. In fact - that is the whole reason for tge existence of the first round bye. You would think teams would avoid it like the plague if they believed some of the people on these boards talking about momentum.

Just imagining Green with an injury is enough to bench him. We lost those 3 other times because we were the worse team. Period. The Jets defense annihilated us. Palmer's injury was insurmountable. But hey at least he was there to start! What if he had been injured in tge game before? Marvin actually made the wrong choice this time. The Ravens want to lose to get the Colts. They want to do now what will help them out THIS week. They can't control the opponents after that but they can control who they play next.

This just shows me how bad of a game manager Marvin Lewis is.

[TheLeonardLeap]

In 2005, Tom Brady was a 6th year QB with 1.86:1 career TD to INT ratio, a 58-22 WL record (plus a 9-0 record in the playoffs), and oh yeah.. was the winner of THREE Superbowls.

Not to mention in 2005, they lost in the divisional game, so that's not even a good reference.

As for the '88 49ers, they had a two Superbowl winning QB in a little known guy named Joe Montana, and a okay WR named Jerry Rice. Not sure if you've heard of them, but if not, no biggie.

------------

Andy Dalton in comparison is a 2nd year QB with a 1.58:1 career TD to INT ratio, a 18-13 WL record (plus a 0-1 record in the playoffs).

Nothing against Dalton, I like him, but I really really don't think you can compare at that point in Brady's career to this point in Dalton's short career. He's young, still developing, and isn't to the point where he can be allowed to take games off yet. He simply doesn't have the confidence/skill/experience/offensive synch to be able to pull that off.

[BengalYankee]

Originally Posted by Bengals Mike

All this is very moot, the Ravens wont be 'fighting' for anything when they can get the better game of 2 rounds simply by losing, if you were the Ravens I know what my choice would be

Win, host the Bengals and Guarantee a trip to Denver with a win
Lose, host the Colts and get a Probable trip to Houston with a win

After what we saw Sunday everyone would want to play the Colts right now and nobody would want to see the Bengals, and I dont think anyone wants to go right to Denver if they survive the Bengals but I'm pretty sure they wouldnt mind going to Houston after seeing that the likes of Christian Ponder can win there


and the Bengals do need the momentum for once, aka the 2005 Bengals, 2009 Bengals and the 2011 Bengals

You know that I agree with you about if I was the ravens I would rather be the seed playing the colts. But I am looking at it only through rosé colored Bengal glasses.

[EyeOfTheTiger]

Originally Posted by bengalfan74

If our offense was clicking on all cylinders I'd say sit it out. But we're not and very much need a confidence builder and momentum ! We should play 1st string the whole game like it was a have to win.

This is being played both ways...

Have confidence and a winning streak? Keep playing or you will lose momentum

Don't have confidence and on a losing streak? Play and try to gain confidence

Not losing confidence/gaining confidence

How about just not getting hurt?

[Bengals Mike]

Originally Posted by EyeOfTheTiger

Because our fans are not playoff caliber. Fans believe all this stuff about history and not having won in x amount of years. Players don't. Like AJ said - he doesn't know about the past 30 years, only the last 2. To a player, they care nothing about the 49ers SB loss - some weren't even alive then. Fans think players are like them, but they aren't. This is their livelihood. I am SURE their are a lot of players that would love extra time to prepare. In fact - that is the whole reason for tge existence of the first round bye. You would think teams would avoid it like the plague if they believed some of the people on these boards talking about momentum.

Just imagining Green with an injury is enough to bench him. We lost those 3 other times because we were the worse team. Period. The Jets defense annihilated us. Palmer's injury was insurmountable. But hey at least he was there to start! What if he had been injured in tge game before? Marvin actually made the wrong choice this time. The Ravens want to lose to get the Colts. They want to do now what will help them out THIS week. They can't control the opponents after that but they can control who they play next.

This just shows me how bad of a game manager Marvin Lewis is.

Whether the team 'needs' this game or not, teams have won games they 'need' injury free, is it a guarantee that someone will get hurt? you're calling this a bad idea based on imagining, well it goes both ways too, imagine how well we can do with winning 7 of our last 8 games? how well have we done losing our way into the playoffs? teams that avoid playing players before the playoffs tend to lose more often now so this is no guarantee for playoff success either

winning with momentum has worked well for a lot of teams in recent years (2005 Steelers, 2006 Patriots, 2007 Giants, 2008 Ravens, 2009 Jets, 2010 Packers, 2011 Giants - not all these teams won the Super Bowl but they do have something in common - they all won at least their last 2 before playoffs and would win at least 2 in the playoffs having to play on Wildcard Weekend) and it'd be nice to for the Bengals to try this for once, especially for a team that hasnt won a playoff game in 22 years

[Housh]

Originally Posted by McC

I understand all the arguments on both sides. But, all in all, we gotta play it safe and let the starters watch from the sidelines.

Id say going up against NE or getting the Colts is reason enough to play to win. Going through INDY, DEN sounds way easier than going through BAL and NE

[Housh]

we wont rest starters simply because we dont have the chemistry as the other teams have. Dalton has had 3 #2 WRs this year, I mean...honestly, we need the practice.

[BengalYankee]

Originally Posted by TheLeonardLeap

In 2005, Tom Brady was a 6th year QB with 1.86:1 career TD to INT ratio, a 58-22 WL record (plus a 9-0 record in the playoffs), and oh yeah.. was the winner of THREE Superbowls.

Not to mention in 2005, they lost in the divisional game, so that's not even a good reference.

As for the '88 49ers, they had a two Superbowl winning QB in a little known guy named Joe Montana, and a okay WR named Jerry Rice. Not sure if you've heard of them, but if not, no biggie.

------------

Andy Dalton in comparison is a 2nd year QB with a 1.58:1 career TD to INT ratio, a 18-13 WL record (plus a 0-1 record in the playoffs).

Nothing against Dalton, I like him, but I really really don't think you can compare at that point in Brady's career to this point in Dalton's short career. He's young, still developing, and isn't to the point where he can be allowed to take games off yet. He simply doesn't have the confidence/skill/experience/offensive synch to be able to pull that off.

I am not comparing Dalton to any one of those great QBs.

I may have been watching football before you did. So I know about Montana and Rice.

My point is when people say stupid statements like Brady/Belichick would always go 100% and try to win every game. That is foolish and Jan 2, 2006 against Miami is proof.

Anyone who saw the game or even read about the game who felt the Patriots wanted to win that game is stupid. Those who never saw the game or never read about the game should STFU!

When in the history of sport do you play your 3rd stringers against another teams 1st stringers and you use drop kicks in your game and you really want to win?

To those foolish people who think Belichick was trying to win that game STFU!

[McC]

Originally Posted by Housh

Id say going up against NE or getting the Colts is reason enough to play to win. Going through INDY, DEN sounds way easier than going through BAL and NE

I see getting to the SB as a monumental march no matter where the path goes. Bring 'em all on. Other people would have to lose no matter what we do. We have so little control over any of that. One thing we do control is to not get key players hurt playing for something that may or may not happen.

[TheLeonardLeap]

Originally Posted by BengalYankee

I am not comparing Dalton to any one of those great QBs.

I may have been watching football before you did. So I know about Montana and Rice.

My point is when people say stupid statements like Brady/Belichick would always go 100% and try to win every game. That is foolish and Jan 2, 2006 against Miami is proof.

Anyone who saw the game or even read about the game who felt the Patriots wanted to win that game is stupid. Those who never saw the game or never read about the game should STFU!

When in the history of sport do you play your 3rd stringers against another teams 1st stringers and you use drop kicks in your game and you really want to win?

To those foolish people who think Belichick was trying to win that game STFU!

Hah, I wasn't commenting on anyone's age, or how long they have been watching football. I was being sarcastic because even casual football fans know about Montana/Rice and I was feeling mightily lazy and didn't feel like looking up their career stats up to '88.

I think people who refer to the Patriots going 100% (I am one of them occasionally) are more referring to the fact they go 100% in a game, not in a season. They keep scoring points even if they're up by a ton. Everyone knows that if they have nothing to play for, they won't play their starters at the end of the season. It's why I stopped drafting Patriots players in fantasy for years. They'll kill you in fantasy football postseason if they get rested.

[Bengals Mike]

Winning with momentum has worked well for a lot of teams in recent years, in fact at least one in each of the last 7 years:

2005 Steelers
2006 Patriots
2007 Giants
2008 Ravens
2009 Jets
2010 Packers
2011 Giants

Not all these teams won the Super Bowl but they do have something in common - they all won at least their last 2 games before the playoffs and would win at least 2 games in the playoffs having to play on Wildcard Weekend and it'd be nice to for the Bengals to try this for once, especially for a team that hasnt won a playoff game in 22 years,. We've played the 'play not to get hurt' card before and it got this team nowhere and teams lose more often doing this now and injuries are not a guarantee either, Players could easily get hurt off the field too and teams play games without playing hurt across the league so if people are so worried about a history of players getting hurt then the same history of not winning when doing this should apply as well

As for this week of course the starters wouldnt play a 60 minute game but I would be more than satisfied to see 2-3 quarters out of the starters and with the Ravens probably doing even less than the Bengals seeing as losing secures them a better path in the playoffs (Colts then Texans with a loss or Bengals then Broncos with a win?) the Bengals can accomplish having the starters play sharp and entering the playoffs with winning and momentum for once

[BengalYankee]

Originally Posted by EyeOfTheTiger

This is being played both ways...

Have confidence and a winning streak? Keep playing or you will lose momentum

Don't have confidence and on a losing streak? Play and try to gain confidence

Not losing confidence/gaining confidence

How about just not getting hurt?

Rashad Jeanty

Here is where many members fail in their argument.

Jeanty played the last meaningless game against the Jets in 2009 and had an injury[broken forearm I think]?

In any event Jeanty never played another game again in the NFL!

A meaningless game and he got hurt, also chad had tripped and hurt himself also in that game.

I guess members don't care if a player gets hurt. But if a major star gets hurt look out for all the threads for Marvin's head.

[BengalYankee]

Originally Posted by TheLeonardLeap

Hah, I wasn't commenting on anyone's age, or how long they have been watching football. I was being sarcastic because even casual football fans know about Montana/Rice and I was feeling mightily lazy and didn't feel like looking up their career stats up to '88.

I think people who refer to the Patriots going 100% (I am one of them occasionally) are more referring to the fact they go 100% in a game, not in a season. They keep scoring points even if they're up by a ton. Everyone knows that if they have nothing to play for, they won't play their starters at the end of the season. It's why I stopped drafting Patriots players in fantasy for years. They'll kill you in fantasy football postseason if they get rested.

If the pats can score a 100 on you they would. But in 2005, they did not want to win that last game because it was beneficial for them to lose. The same can be said of the 49ers in 1988. I saw both games, the 49ers vs rams was laughable. The media in NY was upset, but what made them not complain about the 49ers game was the fact that the Jets beat the Giants the last game of the season and most of the NY media were talking about that. Some were complaining about the 49ers lying down like dogs in Frisco getting blown away by a rival.

So many years a team loses on purpose.

I am still waiting for anyone to present a game where a seeded team which is stuck in a slot beat another team that was making a move for the playoffs?

Anyone????

[BengalYankee]

Lol,


How about you name me a team that was stuck in a playoff seed and played another team that was gunning for the playoffs and that seeded team played their starters beating that team who was gunning for the playoffs?

Here let me help you

2010 Colts seeded lost to jets gunning for playoffs
2007 colts seeded lost to titans gunning for playoffs result browns eliminated

1988 49ers seeded lost to Rams gunning for playoffs result giants eliminated

Now it's your turn name me teams that won and were seeded and stuck and knocked off gunning teams?

[BengalYankee]

Originally Posted by BengalYankee

Lol,


How about you name me a team that was stuck in a playoff seed and played another team that was gunning for the playoffs and that seeded team played their starters beating that team who was gunning for the playoffs?

Here let me help you

2010 Colts seeded lost to jets gunning for playoffs
2007 colts seeded lost to titans gunning for playoffs result browns eliminated

1988 49ers seeded lost to Rams gunning for playoffs result giants eliminated

Now it's your turn name me teams that won and were seeded and stuck and knocked off gunning teams?

Lol Bengals 2009 seeded lost to jets eliminating Houston

[TheLeonardLeap]

Originally Posted by BengalYankee

Rashad Jeanty

Here is where many members fail in their argument.

Jeanty played the last meaningless game against the Jets in 2009 and had an injury[broken forearm I think]?

In any event Jeanty never played another game again in the NFL!

A meaningless game and he got hurt, also chad had tripped and hurt himself also in that game.

I guess members don't care if a player gets hurt. But if a major star gets hurt look out for all the threads for Marvin's head.

You sure that his never playing in the NFL again was because of his injury and not the fact that in 2009 he had all of 20 tackles in 15 games, and was an undrafted former CFL player who just wasn't all that great?

[BengalYankee]

Originally Posted by TheLeonardLeap

You sure that his never playing in the NFL again was because of his injury and not the fact that in 2009 he had all of 20 tackles in 15 games, and was an undrafted former CFL player who just wasn't all that great?

He got injured against the jets and was never a Bengal again!

He maybe the worst Bengal ever, he still got hurt the last game of a meaningless game.

[Who-Dey-Steve]

I agree with you Bengals Mike. First, The Steelers in 06, the Giants in 07 and 11, the Cardinals in 09. All these teams had momentum going into the playoffs and made the Super Bowl. 2nd, we only have a 53 man roster to draw from and in some cases your asking them to play both special teams and a normal position on offense or defense and that is just asking for an injury. If anything history tells us Pat Sims is more likly to get hurt from playing all snaps like Peko does then it does for them to split time. If anything you play it like the 3rd preseason game were you play them for 3 quarter's and sit them the 4th. Now if Green, Andy, Whit or Atkins get hurt during practice don't force them to play, but if they can play then play. I'd play them all four quarter's if it was me, unless the game is all ready won (Like having a 35-7 leading heading into the fourth).

[BengalYankee]

Originally Posted by Who-Dey-Steve

I agree with you Bengals Mike. First, The Steelers in 06, the Giants in 07 and 11, the Cardinals in 09. All these teams had momentum going into the playoffs and made the Super Bowl. 2nd, we only have a 53 man roster to draw from and in some cases your asking them to play both special teams and a normal position on offense or defense and that is just asking for an injury. If anything history tells us Pat Sims is more likly to get hurt from playing all snaps like Peko does then it does for them to split time. If anything you play it like the 3rd preseason game were you play them for 3 quarter's and sit them the 4th. Now if Green, Andy, Whit or Atkins get hurt during practice don't force them to play, but if they can play then play. I'd play them all four quarter's if it was me, unless the game is all ready won (Like having a 35-7 leading heading into the fourth).

Lol, read what you just wrote. Of course those teams had momentum going into the playoffs. They could not afford one loss during their stretch run or they would not even made the playoffs!

That is COMPLETELY, different than already clinching a spot in the playoffs and being locked into a position!!!

The Redskins are a team that have momentum they can't afford to lose. The falcons are locked in the top seed. I bet Atlanta takes it easy this week, while the Redskins will be fighting for their lives.

[EyeOfTheTiger]

Originally Posted by Bengals Mike

Whether the team 'needs' this game or not, teams have won games they 'need' injury free, is it a guarantee that someone will get hurt? you're calling this a bad idea based on imagining, well it goes both ways too, imagine how well we can do with winning 7 of our last 8 games? how well have we done losing our way into the playoffs? teams that avoid playing players before the playoffs tend to lose more often now so this is no guarantee for playoff success either

winning with momentum has worked well for a lot of teams in recent years (2005 Steelers, 2006 Patriots, 2007 Giants, 2008 Ravens, 2009 Jets, 2010 Packers, 2011 Giants - not all these teams won the Super Bowl but they do have something in common - they all won at least their last 2 before playoffs and would win at least 2 in the playoffs having to play on Wildcard Weekend) and it'd be nice to for the Bengals to try this for once, especially for a team that hasnt won a playoff game in 22 years

Good question. How many injuries are there on average for a team in a game?

Probably at least 1. Look how many players the Steelers lost against us. Miller. Batch. This is season ending stuff.

I think if the Steelers had been in our position, they would be ecstatic of a week off. You think the Cowboys wouldn't rest their starters after seeing Bryant injure his hand? we have to be the dumbest team in the league. Here comes the laughingstock label again if an important player goes down.

[EyeOfTheTiger]

Originally Posted by BengalYankee

If the pats can score a 100 on you they would. But in 2005, they did not want to win that last game because it was beneficial for them to lose. The same can be said of the 49ers in 1988. I saw both games, the 49ers vs rams was laughable. The media in NY was upset, but what made them not complain about the 49ers game was the fact that the Jets beat the Giants the last game of the season and most of the NY media were talking about that. Some were complaining about the 49ers lying down like dogs in Frisco getting blown away by a rival.

So many years a team loses on purpose.

I am still waiting for anyone to present a game where a seeded team which is stuck in a slot beat another team that was making a move for the playoffs?

Anyone????

Which is why the Patriots are a smart team. Running up the score? Who cares? Stuff like that is important. In offensive rankings, etc. If it causes teams to gameplan against you differently because you are a top 10 offense - good! Take the advantage.

It's also a tie break for playoffs - points scored.

Belicheck knows this. Bengals are about moral victories.

[OSUfan]

Originally Posted by EyeOfTheTiger

Which is why the Patriots are a smart team. Running up the score? Who cares? Stuff like that is important. In offensive rankings, etc. If it causes teams to gameplan against you differently because you are a top 10 offense - good! Take the advantage.

It's also a tie break for playoffs - points scored.

Belicheck knows this. Bengals are about moral victories.

Sure you as aren't a Patriots fan?

[Bengals Mike]

Originally Posted by Who-Dey-Steve

I agree with you Bengals Mike. First, The Steelers in 06, the Giants in 07 and 11, the Cardinals in 09. All these teams had momentum going into the playoffs and made the Super Bowl. 2nd, we only have a 53 man roster to draw from and in some cases your asking them to play both special teams and a normal position on offense or defense and that is just asking for an injury. If anything history tells us Pat Sims is more likly to get hurt from playing all snaps like Peko does then it does for them to split time. If anything you play it like the 3rd preseason game were you play them for 3 quarter's and sit them the 4th. Now if Green, Andy, Whit or Atkins get hurt during practice don't force them to play, but if they can play then play. I'd play them all four quarter's if it was me, unless the game is all ready won (Like having a 35-7 leading heading into the fourth).

Thanks for adding the Cardinals among those teams, I forgot about them but regardless of need in the final week those win streaks have been parlayed into deep playoff runs more than the pampering of avoiding injury