Defying logic

A mostly cogent piece about the decision

And if injury was truly such a major consideration, why allow Manning to play at all? He could have broken his leg in the first quarter Sunday and could injure himself at Buffalo next week. In short, none of it really made sense.

Caldwell should not be fired, naturally. He is obviously a good coach, and clearly the decision to rest his players was not made alone. Colts general manager Bill Polian most likely was aware of the decision and had signed off. Manning said during postgame interviews that he knew being removed from the game was a “possibility.”

But even though the decision to take players out of the game was not malicious, the events of the afternoon struck at the integrity of the game. When bad teams are accused or not playing hard at the end of the season to receive the top pick, say, in the NFL draft, the outcries can be heard from Cleveland to Detroit to Oakland. If a player doesn’t play his hardest in meaningless games, to protect himself either for his next contract or the next big game, he is attacked for lack of professionalism, for not giving the paying fan his money’s worth.