Time to Start the Rampant “Who Will Sit?” Speculation
So what’s the deal with the Colts? Who will they play and who will they rest? Colts Prez Bill Polian left some clues recently on a radio show.
Colts president Bill Polian has suggested recently on his weekly radio show that injured starters would be rested when the top seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs were secure. The Colts accomplished that with a 28-16 home victory over Denver on Dec. 13.
The Colts listed almost 30 people on the injury report last week, with 20 as probable (they practiced and played), here’s the ones who were more serious last week from the Jags game.
OUT
CB Jerraud Powers (hamstring)
RB Donald Brown (chest)
S Aaron Francisco (ankle)
WR Anthony Gonzalez (knee)
K Adam Vinatieri (right knee)
QUESTIONABLE
DT Eric Foster (back)
DE Dwight Freeney (abdomen)
OT Charlie Johnson (foot)
DE Robert Mathis (quad)
51 Responses to Time to Start the Rampant “Who Will Sit?” Speculation
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SackDance99 says:
The Jets have a power running game inside and to the right. Mathis has a quad and Foster has a back. If I were the Colts, I’d consider resting them because one tweak and they’re out for awhile. Freeney can come in on just passing downs, so he’ll play. As for Johnson, Peyton could have Vern Troyer at OT as long as he has Saturday in there. So, who cares?
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Malone says:
I want the Colts to play their starters especially on offense. I want to see how Ryan’s defense holds up against them. More intriguing is Revis vs Peyton and Wayne
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dmazz
I disagree with Beningo. Yes, I’ve been a Jets fan for half the years he has, but the Jets are not what he makes it out to be. Not only that, the Jets didn’t even have the worst loss on sunday. The Packers and Broncos had more devastating losses that the Jets.
The Broncos fail to score a TD with 1st and goal from the 2 with 3 minutes left. Then they let Jamarcus Russell beat them with 30 seconds left.
The Packers got a gift from Tomlin who goes for an onside kick when hes leading in the 4th quarter. Then they give up a long TD throw as time expires.Furthermore, you can even argue the Dolphins had a worse loss than the Jets. Although they came back from being down big, they were able to tie it up, send it to overtime and then get the ball first but they lost the game.
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How about this everyone for the offseason.
We trade Braylon Edwards and someone else or a draft pick to Oakland for N. Asomugha. -
Shamik says:
No way we can take on Aso’s contract. That being said, if that happened, and you get even average play from Sanchez I think we can make a damn good run.
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Deven says:
Ronnie, He wasn’t saying it in that sense, yea maybe those losses are worse for one week, But its the same story every year with the jets, those other teams have won super bowls and don’t put their fan through near the misery of Jets fans. They get our hopes up and than stick the knife right in your heart. Its the overall disgust with the team after another heart breaking season. Its like we invent ways not to win.
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Inagodadavida says:
How about we trade Sanchez? It would be the “greater fool” theory at work. We just need to find a bigger fool to take him off our hands.
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I cant stand Joe Beningo at all. He is what I hate about being a Jet fan…. The cry baby, poor me, SOJ attitude… Nobody takes these losses harder than I do but this guy is a clown and his Jet/Met drama has become part of his act. Its lame and tired.
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It was also a class move by Beningo today to have Cotchery on his show and tell him flat out… You have zero chance of winning this week.
The guy is a idiotic clown
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Does anybody know who this Ira from Staten Island. Everytime I listen on the radio to Jets talk, he’s always the 1st caller its amazing. Besides that, he seems to go to every Jets game home and away. He should be representing us Jets fans and not people like Beningo.
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Ed says:
I agree with Malone. I want to see everything they got.
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CA JetsFan says:
This team does not deserve to make the playoffs. The defense is so much fun to watch, but the offense is just awful.
I truly believe if we had a veteran QB (not KC, but a Jeff Garcia even), and ran a west coast offense with a strong running game, we would be in the playoff hunt. This defense is unstoppable and it would have given Mark a chance to sit and learn for a year instead of throwing 20 plus whatever Indy and Cincy grabs interceptions this year. The rookie single handedly lost us:
Buffalo
New Orleans
Jax
NE
and..Atlanta gamesHe has not won us any games (granted a rookie)…the best buy for this offense would have been Chad. I believe with this line he could have stayed healthy with a running game too.
He would have been such a great teacher for Mark too. Damn woody is so worriedabout PSLs he does the Farve experiment and demands to find the face of the franchise…
How about ride this defense with a veteran QB and make the playoffs!I hope the Colts give useverything…give our D a chance to shine again,a nd watch Darrelle shut down Wayne!
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chris says:
The problem is that we are the top rushing team in the league because this league has clearly become a PASSING league. With all of the advantages of passing (if the ball is not completed rest assure there is a flag somewhere on the field). We need to get a few more WR’s who can spread the field along with a top Pass rusher….We have absolutely no pass rush without bum rushing the QB every down. How about Seymour from the Raaaaiders? I am sure he would like to stick Bellichek back where it hurts…Long suffering jet fan,,,,
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“defense is unstopable”… “rookie single-handedly lost us”
please — I try not to be overly critical of posts…but
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Chris, I can see Adalius Thomas coming here but Seymour may be too expensive. Remember we have to resign Leon and Edwards. Also, soon we will have to give new (big contracts) to D’brick, Mangold, Harris and Revis
One thing that has to be done is cutting Faneca and have Turner, Slausen or Hunter take over for him.
Furthermore, Brian Thomas has got to go.
We have to pick up the option on T. Jones and look to deal him. Many teams will be interested in him. Hopefully we can get a 3rd rounder which we traded away. Greene and Leon can carry the workload. Also, deal away Rhodes- whatever we can get will be fine. Ryan will be able to find guys on his own who will fit his scheme and not people left over from the previous regime.
Lastly, a veteran QB is a must. -
ryan says:
i just wrote out the playoff scenario for the jets and if we win this i believe we will be controlling our own destiny coming into cincy. the only game that worries me is miami v. houston
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CA Jets fan
You say the Jets don’t deserve to make the playoffs. But neither do the Texans, Jags, Dolphins, Steelers, Titans and even the Broncos. They all have lost horrible games to horrible teams just like us.
Ryan,
We are not worried about the other teams losing for us, we are worried about us not winning our games. That’s the biggest thing. -
JayM says:
I’m tired of Joe Bozo and his crap about being a Jets Fan, I wish he would just follow the Giants already. And can the guy give it a rest with the “BRO” already? Every other word out of his mouth is “BRO”, just an old guy trying to act cool, pathetic.
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Bent says: If there’s no cap, then why get rid of anyone? Dumping guys like Thomas and Faneca isn’t going to improve the team in the short term, so keep them on board, even if they are set to lose their starting role.
If there isn’t a cap, then Seymour cannot be signed without giving up picks because he’ll be an rfa. Even if there is one, the raiders could franchise him.
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Bent,
If there’s no cap and a team goes crazy in the offseason signing players (probably the Redskins), what will happen if the cap is reinforced the following season? Do they have to cut all their players? -
Bent, If there’s no cap and a team goes crazy in the offseason signing players (probably the Redskins), what will happen if the cap is reinforced the following season? Do they have to cut all their players?
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WOJF says:
Coach was quoted that the ten days have provided plenty of time for guys to get healthy, so many will start.
I’m sure they want to give them reps and try to keep the perfect season going, question is, how long will they play? If they Jets have a lead, or it is close, do they keep them in?
I assume so.
As as someone else stated, this is not the 2007 Patriots that blow everyone out of the building, they have made the plays when it matters to win mostly close games. They are beatable.
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Off Topic
Is there a web site that gives the penalties called on players? I would like to know the penalties called on Charles Woodson compared to Revis. tia
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Bent says:
JayM – I’ll get those numbers for you in a few minutes.
Malone – sort of. I think we’ll see some one year deals and deals where the entire first year is guaranteed so they can restructure, but there are restrictions on frontloading in an uncapped year, plus many would-be unrestricted free agents will be restricted, so it’s not that easy to go on a spending spree. I don’t think we’ll see a situation where a team has to dump that many players but there might be some restructuring to be done to get back under the new cap.
In the specific case of the skins, the Haynesworth deal was done assuming 2010 would be uncapped. They’ll have to restructure that if a cap is agreed after all.
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Bent says:
Pro Football Focus says Revis has been called for two (both illegal contact penalties on TO in the first Bills game iirc) and Woodson has been called for 5.
Revis has overtaken Woodson (comfortably) overall on that site and that’s before including this week’s games.
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BC says:
We will see one of three games on Sunday that we’ve already seen all season. Game A – Jets fall behind, Sanchez throws multiple picks, blowout ala New Orelans and New England losses: Odds – 75%. Game B – defense keeps it close, Jets suffer critical breakdowns in offense, defense or special teams in 4th quarter, leading directly to close loss. Odds – 25%. Game C – Jets put it all together, don’t choke, and come up with a victory against best team in AFC. Odds – in your dreams.
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Will says:
No Manning = No Problem
I say we send the house at Manning play number 1 and hit the crap out of him and make them think long and hard about keeping him in to long
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Thank you Bent plus I can remember 2 pass interference penalties (there maybe more) called on the WR’s that Revis was covering, which could of led to 2 more Revis picks. Makes me wonder why Adam Shine who gets to vote on the Defensive Player of the Year would pick Woodson over Revis.
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JayM
They weren’t accidental offensive passing interference. They were blatant because Revis would’ve had the pick. We saw it this week again with R. White.
This Revis guy is amazing.
If you look at sites where they rank by position the best fantasy players for a given week, they are putting R. Wayne way down on the list. Partly because they’re not sure how much he’ll play but mostly because Revis (” Reggie Wayne presumably has to deal with Revis this week, which explains his drop to No. 21″) – you gotta love it -
They have to change some rules.
For example, offensive passing interference should lose you a down as well as lose yardage. Also, defensive holding is an automatic first down. I think offensive holding should also lose you a down (on passing plays). -
BigKatFan says:
Aaron Francisco?????? since when is he still in the league????
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Pro Bowl fan voting results are out only 1 Jet made the leading vote getter Alan Faneca
http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d81448298&template=with-video-with-comments&confirm=true
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greg sec 130 says:
I believe from the way Caldwell said it Monday, every player with an injury will sit this week and next. In a game where they were playing it “straight” against Jags, the injured players were on a snap count, and this week Caldwell seemed to be leaning even more towards that. To me, that means the “more serious’ ones will sit or again be on a 10-15 snap count, and the minor ones will se how they feel but most likely be pulled sometimes in the second half. They have no reason to play 60 minutes of football and risk a late game injury.
And to CA Jet Fan, who a few weeks ago laughed at me when I said they could very easily get in at 9-7 if they lost the Bucs or Falcon game, it’s too bad you chickened out of that bet. :)
And lastly, Bent — if there is no cap I agree you might as well keep everyone, unless there is someone who you want off the team longterm that is going to otherwise hurt your cap in the future when the cap returns, and the dumpage now, without the cap, doesn’t hurt as much (less of a hit with no cap?). I dunno, maybe a certain first round linebacker who liked to flex his muscles at the combine…
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BC — that type of thinking is exactly why late in home games the fans’ feelings are palpable and the players choke.
The only constant over the last 40 years, from the owners to the stadium to the ball boys, are the FANS. Enough with the Beningo, whoa-is-our-team, we will find a way to lose attitudes! I honestly and firmly believe it is a self-fulfilling prophesy. I am there, and late in these games I can literally feel (and hear) the negativity. Here we go again is both said and felt, and the players, whether their first game with the Jets or their 100th, feel it too.
I understand it’s a tough cycle to break — and a chicken and the egg situation where when the Jets win the Super Bowl, fans will hop on board for every game for the next 10 years — but I also thing as fans we have to fight the temptation to be so negative.
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Jason says:
Why is anyone worried about Peyton playing. Our defense can stop anyone. This is the game I think we let Mark air it out.
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Oh please, no fans are/were more negative than Saints/Bengals/Eagles fans, and they do just fine. These players don’t give two toots about what the fans do or think. These guys are millionaires who will do whatever they want. If they feel like rising to the occasion, we’ll win. If they lose their focus and don’t really care, we’ll lose, simple as that.
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Brendan says:
Shamik that was a very Lombardi-esque speech there.
These players DO care about what the fans think. They care about what everyone thinks. The more money they get the more they were about people’s perception of them. They getting a bigger status and know more eyes are on them. I can’t agree that it’s as simple as “if they care they win, if they don’t they lose”. Last week they cared. You could see it when Mangold and Moore sprinted downfield to back up their teammate who was getting manhandled by a gang of Falcons and blast some bodies off him. You could see it when after the game Rhodes was visibly upset that the team lost when it had the chance to make up so much ground. Don’t say these guys don’t care about anything but being rich, they care about what we see them as.
And Jets are one of the most negative fan bases in all of sports, not just football, it’s pretty much common knowledge at this point.
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Rudibager says:
Ohhh yes they are doing just fine!
The Eagles have won how many superbowls?
Surely the Bengals have won more than them… No? Oh okay.The Saints have never even made it to the Superbowl.
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Shamik — how many Super Bowls have the Saints, Bengals and Eagles won? The Siants are on of five teams to never even reach the Super Bowl. Yeah, they’re doing just fine.
Do you go to the games? I am betting you do not. The stadium is audibly different late in games and ex-players have said that they feel the negativity from fans. But I guess I’ll believe you, who believes they are emotionless millionaire robots, and not the players themselves.
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Sorry Rudibarger — didn’t read your post before typing mine.
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Greg/Brendan
I don’t live in the New York area anymore and can’t go to the games, but please, don’t put the players’ performance on the behavior of the fans in the stadium – that’s just outrageous! These are football players for God’s sake. You really think they have some hippy dippy sensitivity to the Karma in the stadium, and that this is going to affect their ability to make plays? If that were the case, how could a team ever win a road game when the fans in the stadium aren’t supporting them? How do you explain the Cubs 100 years of futility with a loyal and supportive fan base year after year? The players know that there will be nothing better than winning a Superbowl with the Jets. Our fan base, after all of these years of suffering, will literally treat those players like Gods for the rest of their lives if they ever make it happen. Until that day, fans pay good money to watch, either in person or on Direct TV like I do, and we have every right to let the players hear it when they don’t play well. This year’s team has earned my pessimism. Want my optimism? Go earn it!
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Here is what I mean:
I believe that when the Mets are on the field winning 3-2 in the 9th inning and a man gets on base, the fans grow silent, nervous, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Meanwhile, on the other side of town, with the team losing by 4 runs in the ninth inning and no one on base, Yankee fans turn up the volume. The effect that has on a team is enormous. Players feel the energy — if you think they don’t you are crazy. Not to mention the opposing team feeling the intensity of a stadium that believes — and KNOWS — that their energy has an impact on the game.
I personally don’t think the Patriots game this year was all that loud — it was the ENERGY that the fans were emitting. A feeling that we can maybe, finally be the better team. There was no feeling of whao-is-me and “this is where we blow it, bro” from fans that can’t seem to ever believe in themselves, and like I said, I can’t blame the fans at Shea vs Yankee Stadium, or Jets vs other teams. I don’t blame you for being pessimistic. It is a chicken and the egg thing at this point. If the Jets ever win, the fans will come around. But I truly believe it is a lot easier to win when the 80,000 people watching you believe you can win, and not believe that you will fail. That’s human nature. But while I don’t blame others for feeling it, I just wish they would fight against it and try to support them with optimism like the Pats game earlier in the year.
You ask how an opposing team can win a game? The fans watching them are rooting for the other team. It’s not that they don’t believe you can win, it’s that they don’t want you to. It’s completely different than people who love you thinking you will fail. When the Colts visit the Bucs, every fan there is expecting Manning to march down the field, because he’s done it every time, so the road team doesn’t feel the passion and energy in the cheering. It is a different cheer when you believe, trust me.
How do I explain the Cubs losing? You are walking right into that one. The fans may be loyal, but they believe the team is cursed and will not win. That belief permeates to the players. The media is essentially telling them they always lose, so you better expect it. Other teams prey off that emotion. “We’re going to lose, I’m a Cub” — “We’re going to win, I’m a Yankee!”
Can the Cubs never win? No. Can the Yankees never lose? No. But I do believe (other than the money spent, I am talking in general) that fan BELIEF, whether in the home team or road team, is a major factor in how a team performs.
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What it boils down to is that sports is played with a combination of talent and confidence. Can you win with all talent? Sure. But a lesser talented team can win with extra confidence. And when the 80,000 people around you don’t have confidence in you, it’s easy to lose confidence in yourself. Sure, they are big boys and millionaires, but confidence is not something you can buy, and it is the crux of sports — from hitting streaks to winning streaks to almost everything. And it speaks to everything I wrote above.
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And I correct myself — the Pats game was LOUD, but it was the energy that made the impact.
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Bent says:
“And lastly, Bent — if there is no cap I agree you might as well keep everyone, unless there is someone who you want off the team longterm that is going to otherwise hurt your cap in the future when the cap returns, and the dumpage now, without the cap, doesn’t hurt as much (less of a hit with no cap?). I dunno, maybe a certain first round linebacker who liked to flex his muscles at the combine…”
Actually, it makes little difference from a cap perspective. Since the Jets have to pay him anyway, it’s more likely they keep him and get what they can out of him (even if he continues to be an unspectacular backup lineman occupier), rather than throw away all that money for nothing. In the meantime, maybe he’ll show enough potential to merit either sticking around (maybe with a restructured deal) or to earn a pick in a trade). He improved since last year (following his first full offseason of camps), maybe he will again. If he doesn’t, it won’t have cost them any extra.
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Greg
So it’s not the volume of the crowd, or what they are saying, it’s how they are feeling deep down inside, their “belief” in the team, that changes how football players perform on the field? You’ve convinced me. This Sunday I will be hovering over my TV, believing in the Jets. Maybe if we all believe hard enough, the Great Pumpkin will rise up from the 50 yard line and lay a huge hit on Peyton Manning.
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BC — you can twist what I said all you like and try to joke your way out of not understanding what I am saying, but as someone who is at the games and has spoken to ex-players on the subject, I am confident that what i am trying to explain to you is true. Believe the players are emotionless robots that don’t care if his home team thinks he sucks, continue to listen to Joe Beningo tell Jerricho Cotchery that they have no shot to win this game, and continue to think it doesn’t make a difference. I was just trying to enlighten you.
But that said, based on your view it’s not surprising that you would react to my posts by trying to make me feel bad about myself. But I am a robot that was not hurt by your sarcasm.
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Gregbot,
You’re taking my posts way to personally. Lighen up, and have a Merry Christmas (because chances are it won’t be a merry Sunday after Christmas, if you know what I mean)
JesusRevis 
One of the few sports radio personalities I enjoy oozing everything we feel after Sunday. It actually made me feel better knowing that others out there are as maniacal as me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBGsCuLGdaU&feature=player_embedded