The NFL Can Stop Restings its Starters: Here's How

The NFL is in quite a quandary. What are they to do when teams that are resting peacefully in the playoffs find themselves still stuck with regular season games? If you're the Colts and Saints this year, you sit the starters to stave off injuries, or rather sit them to maintain records (Drew Brees's season completion percentage) or start then sit them to maintain records (Peyton Manning's consecutive starts).

That philosophy doesn't fly well with fans.

So the NFL is exploring what possibilities it has to make these final games a bit less like pre-season cake walks. The opportunities of maintaining the status quo yet compelling the Colts and Saints of the world to play on with their starters are bleak. Should the NFL demand teams NOT in the playoff picture play their established starters and eschew giving backups and rookies a chance? Additionally, how long would a mandate last after Tom Brady gets his Bernard Pollard on again and a playoff contender loses a valuable contributor (oops, there goes Wes Welker)? In short, the NFL has no way to (and never would) demand that teams play "starters." That would only add an additional layer of Belichick-esque gamesmanship as the league tries to quantitatively define what is a "starter."

So, what's a league to do? I have three options.

THE MODEST FIX - Stop seeding all divisional winners 1 through 4.

Take the Green Bay Packers. They're stuck in the NFC 5 seed at best. Despite their win/loss/tie versus Arizona today, they cannot play into the top 4 and gain a home game because Minnesota already has the North division locked up thanks to the Vikings dominance in head-to-head. Yet if the Packers beat Arizona (head-to-frickin-head) the Pack is still in 5th place even though their record is better than the Cardinals, who are resting the aged Kurt Warner (possibly because of osteoporosis).

If the league allowed the teams to be seeded on their overall record, a Green Bay win today might mean a home game for the Packers. That's definitely something worth playing for (even if the Packers are playing to NOT be the 6 seed). Equally, Arizona would definitely need to play for their seeding. Still guarantee a spot for division winners, but take away a bit of the spoils for such a feat because like it or not, winning the NFC West isn't the same as winning the NFC East.

While this scenario is meaningless to teams locked into top seeds like the Colts and Saints, it could potentially remove the impetus for lower seeded playoff teams to rest starters. Give them more to play for.

THE MODERATE FIX - Weeks 15, 16, and 17 are exclusively divisional matchups.

After head-to-head, the next tiebreaker for two divisional teams is the division record. For the Colts, these 6 games finished in week 15. For the Saints, week 17. Green Bay knocked out 2/3 by week 10 with both Chicago games left in weeks 12 and 16. So teams looking at playoff opportunities may have tiebreakers decided relatively early. (I know, I know. If you want the playoffs, win the games.)

If the final three weeks are round-robin divisional matchups, then both top tiebreakers come into play. If a team lost the earlier matchup, then they get a chance to knot the head-to-head total. At the same time, 50% of the weight of the second tiebreaker (division record) is still in flux entering week 15.

Now, I'm woefully ignorant on what it takes to schedule a 256-game NFL season, but I think they could find someone to make this division-only flurry work. Hell, maybe even pride might compel teams like Dallas not to rest starters against rivals like the Eagles.

THE NUCLEAR OPTION - Add a team. Three conferences with no divisions, top four from each advance.

Why not blow the place to hell. Here's a wild solution that reaches in lock-step with the NFL's plan of world dominance. The Jaguars move to Los Angeles and the league expands internationally with the new London/Montreal/Mexico City franchise to push the total teams to 33. Abandon all divisions and say adios to the AFC and NFC.

Welcome to the Western, Central, and Atlantic Football Conferences, each one comprised of 11 teams. The newly realigned league will now play a round-robin divisional schedule (5 home, 5 away) along with 3 teams from each of the other conferences. The top four teams from each conference will advance to the playoffs and be seeded 1 to 12 with the top 4 getting first round byes.

The head-to-head tiebreaker may or may not survive the lack of home and away matchups. But the season-ending divisional flurry (maybe only the final two weeks) would remain. This would make a division championship all the more impressive (10 games vs. 6) and worthy of playoff fates.

What might it look like?

Western: Seattle, San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, San Diego, Arizona, Denver, Houston, Dallas, Kansas City, St. Louis.

Central: Minnesota, Green Bay, Chicago, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Tennessee, Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Buffalo

Atlantic: Philadelphia, New England, NY Jets, NY Giants, Baltimore, Washington, Carolina, Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Miami, Mexico City/London/Montreal

* * *

The key to all of these options is making the final weeks' games pivotal and not so easily meaningless. With no way of forcing starters and stars to play, the whole season must be re-envisioned. The playoffs (12 teams, 4 rounds) are sound and don't need much tweaking after they get going. But the NFL must solve the problem of sneaking more full-price, pre-season games into weeks 16 and 17 or the fans will start voting with their feet.

Your New AFC

If the word coming out of Jacksonville is true, and the Jaguars are headed to a slightly larger TV market, then the AFC is going to need a bit of a shakeup.

I was never too sure how the Colts ended up in the AFC South while Cincinnnati and Baltimore fit into the AFC North. If we're going to have geographic divisions, why not follow geography? Sure, one might notice that the Dallas Cowboys are in the NFC East, despite being further west than thirteen NFC teams - including St. Louis who is in the NFC West - but the Cowboys have a bit of historical precedence of success and rivalries. The same cannot be said of the relative spring chickens we have in the AFC's Titans, Jaguars, and Texans.

This Jag jump to the left coast can mean only one thing: AFC realignment. While it's not a science, here's how the divisions could break down:

AFC East

• New England
• New York Jets
• Baltimore
• Buffalo

AFC South

• Houston
• Tennessee
• Miami
• Cincinnati

AFC MidWest (formerly North)

• Cleveland
• Pittsburgh
• Indianapolis
• Kansas City

AFC West

• Oakland
• San Diego
  
• Denver
• LA Jags

Sure we'd lose the biannual battle for Ohio, and the Patriots will stomp 6 - 0 through their division, and in the end it would just be change for change's sake. Who cares? It's the NFL. It'll still be awesome.

By the way, Plan B is swapping the Jags to the NFC West and putting St. Louis in the AFC South. Bring on that twice a season Peyton Manning & Marc Bulger gun-sling-off.

15 - 6

I didn't know Civil War generals had garage sales.

Bottom Line

What Can Stop the Bleating?

I'm from Indianapolis.

We're pushing 800,000 people, three marquee auto races a year, great cost of living, a ridiculously beautiful minor league ball field, a Final Four every five years or so, the Pacers and since 1984 the Colts.

Those same Indianapolis Colts will take on the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL playoffs this afternoon, yet matchups have not been dominating the coverage. Sure, there's been the requisite talk of Ray Lewis's defense versus Peyton Manning's offense, but too much time and ink have been devoted to the indignation Baltimore has against Indianapolis for the 1984 departure of the Colts.

If you don't know how moment-to-moment and profound that instance was, take a listen to this audio.

Evidently, Baltimorians-ites-philes-ists still hold a grudge for the Colts's move 22 years ago - When Reagan was president, Thriller was king, stamps were 20 cents, and both the Raiders and Redskins could make it to the Super Bowl. Who could blame such disgust when the team slips out in the middle of the night? Who could blame them then? But as of now, Baltimore really should have moved on. Some reasons for closure

• Rohn Stark, punter and last Baltimore Colt to wear the blue and white in Indianapolis, left the organization in 1994 spending three more seasons with Pittsburgh, Seattle & Carolina.
• February 8, 1996 Art Modell moves the then Cleveland Browns to Baltimore filling the 13 year NFL-less void.
• Robert Irsay, the man who moved the team to Indianapolis, died on January 18, 1997.
• The Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV in 2001.
• Johnny Unitas openly swore his allegiance to Baltimore and not the Colts organization.

Whether or not Baltimore decides to move on is up to their fans. I've been to Baltimore - and not just the inner harbor mind you - and I've trapsed through many of its 4,000 or so documented neighborhoods (the actual number may be lower). I've had crab cakes at Phillip's. I've been openly gawked at for being the only white man on the street car. I've had beers in some awesome pubs while meth heads are being rounded up on the curb. It's a neat town, a unique town, a place most people would visit but only a select few would stay. And those few are the Baltimore loyals, committed to their city's image even more than Hasim Rahman.

So what will it be Baltimore? Will a loss today finally settle the score? Will a victory prove your inherent dominance? Will Ed Reed return a pick-six and point at Unitas and Art Donovan's numbers enshrined at M&T Bank Stadium?

Or will Robert Irsay continue to be a spook story you tell your kids - "If you don't eat your meat, ole' Bobby Irsay will come and move your parents to Indianapolis in the middle of the night. And you won't have anyone to love you for 13 years or until some other team craps on their city and moves downtown."

It's really looks like Baltimore is too happy with disgust. So, what's it gonna be?

Dwight Freeney? Never Heard of Him.

That's Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney dominating the front page of Sunday's Indianapolis Star. The Colts and the entire city celebrated the 23 - 8 victory thanks mainly to an unrealistically amped up Colts defense. Freeney was a major part of that success getting great pressure on Trent Green and being the anchor for the Colts pass rush.


Freeney is well-entrenched in the hearts of his fans despite leading the league's worst rush defense. Evidently, he hasn't made that big of an impression on the copywriters at his local rag though.


Hopefully Freeney doesn't feel slighted. Lil Ronnie was listed as starting long snapper.