[LLXC]

@ Jaguars (+) over Colts Selection and Analysis by Kevin O’Neill
With three weeks still to go, the Colts have clinched home field advantage. And this is a franchise that has no interest in a quest for 19-0. No interest in that at all. At least the head coach and GM don’t want to do that. Bill Polian always felt that resting and freshening was important to the success of the Bills in the playoffs back in the day, and that’s the attitude here now. Some players and the owner may disagree. But that’s the way it is. As clever Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz Monday column was headlined, “Nice Winning Streak Guys, Now We’ll See You in 34 Days.”
The thought was that Peyton Manning will play a series or two, just to keep his career-long consecutive games streak alive. Veteran Jim Sorgi may be an OK option (who knows, really), but he’s out for the season and Purdue rookie Curtis Painter would play the bulk of this game. But then coach Jim Caldwell said on Monday that healthy starters would play. But what does that mean? 13 starters were on the injury list heading into this game. The thought is that Manning and his WR’s will likely play, but Colts defensive starters who are banged up will sit. Will the offensive players go the whole game? We’ll see. Understand the reluctance of the sports books to put a line up on this puppy.
On a short week the desire to keep everyone safe is enhanced. The Sunday/Thursday turnaround is brutal for the road team late in the season, and that difficulty is enhanced when the home team was also home the previous week. The performance of these road teams on Thursdays has not been impressive.
The Jags have a chance to make the playoffs and should play very hard off of their loss to the Dolphins. Mike Sims-Walker has been a productive wideout for the Jags this year, though his production has dipped lately. But he showed a lot of backbone in playing Sunday when he wasn’t expected to due to injury. In his last four games Maurice Jones- Drew has been pretty mortal, going for 3.4 yards per rush. But against a team that is playing merely to not have anything bad happen and resting defenders, those two should get back on track. Go with the playoff-hungry team against the team that is likely sitting defenders and is possibly just going through the motions. Jags by 3.

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