Philosophies differ in the NFL on whether to play the starters or rest them late in the season with a playoff berth already clinched. None have proven to be fail-proof.
As Week 17 unfolds Sunday, several teams are taking different tacks.
The Ravens, who have clinched the AFC’s No. 1 seed, have been anything but coy about their plan for Sunday’s game against the Steelers. They will sit their stars, beginning with Pro Bowl quarterback and certain league MVP Lamar Jackson.
“It was pretty straightforward,” Baltimore coach John Harbaugh told reporters during the week. “It’s not a hard decision really, if you sit back and think about it. It’s a solid decision.”
That decision does not come without risk, though. The Ravens are riding an 11-game winning streak and are facing a desperate Steelers team that must win to even have a chance at a playoff berth. Could a Ravens loss, coupled with another week off as they have a first-round playoff bye, destroy the team’s momentum?
“There’s a strong case to be made either way,’’ Harbaugh conceded.
For Saints coach Sean Payton, there was no choice at all for Sunday’s game against the Panthers in Charlotte, N.C.
When asked if there was any plan to rest quarterback Drew Brees and receiver Michael Thomas, both of whom were listed as “limited’’ in Wednesday’s practice, Payton told reporters, “No, no, no, no, no, no, absolutely no. We’re still playing for the 1, 2 or 3 seed.”
The 12-3 Saints are most likely to land as the No. 3 seed in the NFC, but they would be the No. 1 seed if they win, the Packers (12-3) lose at Detroit and the 49ers (12-3) lose at Seattle. The Saints would be the No. 2 seed if they win and the Packers or 49ers lose.
The Saints faced a similar situation at the end of the 2010 season, when they had an outside chance at the No. 1 seed instead of the No. 5 seed. They played their starters, didn’t get the outside help they needed and, in the process, lost four key players to injuries and were knocked out of the playoffs the following week.
The Bills, who play the Jets on Sunday, are locked into the No. 5 playoff seed regardless of any results, yet their coach, Sean McDermott, told reporters that at least “a majority” of his starters will play, including franchise quarterback Josh Allen, whom they cannot afford to lose if they want to advance in the postseason.
The question, however, is how long McDermott decides to play those starters. It’s likely he’ll treat it like a preseason game and play the starters for a few series to get them some work.
“We’re going to be smart with that, but it’s important that we get work in fundamentally and in terms of execution and we stay as sharp as can be,” McDermott told reporters.
New England and Green Bay are both 12-3 and, in each case, a win Sunday (Patriots over Dolphins, Packers over Lions) assures them of a first-round bye. Every team that reached the Super Bowl over the past six seasons had a first-round playoff bye.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick told his players last week that he was treating the game against Miami like “a playoff game.’’
“I think our guys understand what’s at stake,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur told reporters. “This game has huge implications.’’
So, too, do the decisions these coaches make about who and who not to play in these final games.