The Broncos and Colts are great examples of teams that secured everything early, shut it down to wait for the next game that mattered and then lost when it came. That approach doesn't work in the NFL. The days of enough depth on a team to win without playing most of the starters are over too.

The '07 Giants, '05 Steelers and last year's Packers show that teams with their backs to the wall facing elimination do better than these so called "rested" teams. The Packers should do whatever it takes to keep their edge for it's the wrong time of year to let it go then try to get it back.

poorlittlesquealers wrote:

If by "rest" one means "don't play them at all", then I think its a really bad idea.

If they come out sharp, then playing them a half and taking them out might make sense.

Besides, if they come out sharp (or what passes for sharp on defense), they'll have a big lead by halftime anyway.

[grin1]

On the other hand, if the OL is playing like crap, I'd probably suggest taking Rodgers earlier rather than later, regardless.

Originally Posted by: Wade 

Last night Mike McCarthy all but said he is going to be resting starters next week. This concerns me. Here is a post from a commenter on ESPN that pretty well expresses what I think about this issue:



Come to think of it, has any team ever won the Super Bowl after resting its starters late in the season? I can't think of one.

Then again, no team has ever sniffed the Super Bowl giving up over 400 yards a game either. I guess there is a first time for everything.

Originally Posted by: Nonstopdrivel 

The Lions are cheap shot artists, and they'll probably be coming after our guys due to the Suh fiasco.

Originally Posted by: nerdmann 

Sunday night after the game I walked past the practice facility. The outdoor field Nitschke had a layer of snow and ice on it. It really looked nice but it shows that they do not practice outside in the winter. It is good and bad. It is good in the fact that the coaches and players can concentrate on the playbook and preparing for the up coming opponent without worry about frostbite. It is bad when you realize practicing inside does minimize the home field advantage a little bit. The inside facility is artificial so they are no better than the northern dome teams in that respect. They may open the doors to let some of the cold air in but it is not exactly the same as running the plays outside.

Originally Posted by: wpr