2010 NFL Playoff Scenario - Controversy Over Benching Key Players Brett Favre, Payton Manning, Drew Brees

In the last few weeks of the 2009 NFL Regular Season, the scramble to secure the wild card seat has brought some major upsets causing the 2010 playoff scenario to continually change . Week 15 set the tone for some ongoing controversy within the league about pulling key starters from the final games. As coaches debated having their players on or off the filed, it was clear that each organization had their own philosophy about benching or playing their starters.

In traditional, old school football, quarterbacks and other key positions played until they were physically incapable of going on, or until the season was over. But after many key players were hurt and couldn't finish in the playoffs, it has now become protocol for the more conservative coaches to remove the key players at some point in the final few regular season games. Once a team has clinched a division seat, many coaches redirect their thinking. Winning a game takes second place to keeping their key players safe.

In week 15 of the 2009 season, controversy on this subject started with what the media was calling the "Minnesota Meltdown." The Vikings head coach Brad Childress, and star Quarterback, Brett Favre had a heated discussion in the middle of a game against the Carolina Panthers. The Vikings were up by one point, 7 to 6 and the Panthers were definitely playing better than the Vikings despite the one point lead. When Brad asked Brett to take the bench, he didn't agree with the call and went against Brad's decision. He wanted the opportunity to get his offense moving again. Despite the one point lead, they were obviously falling apart. Brett played with little support from his offensive line that was continuously letting Julius Peppers get through to the pocket. Julius Peppers was getting the best of Brett with several hard sacks and in the end, the Vikings lost anyway. READ FULL STORY HERE

Even the crew of analysts on the Fox NFL Sunday Show could not agree on how the call should have been made. Some tore into Brett Favre and Brad Childress, creating huge media hype about how Favre thought he was above the call of the coach and how Childress should have "made him" sit down. Terry Bradshaw said, "I don't care what you do" you have to "totally respect your head coach." Howie Long had a totally different take on the situation. He disagreed with Bradshaw saying, "I'm not coming out of the game, up 7 to 6, last week, after New Orleans lost Saturday night and the potential for home field advantage" could be lost by the Vikings. He said, "I'm on Brett's side on that." (See Full Clip at end of article under SOURCES)

While the analysts chose to take sides, the New Orleans Saints were lining up against Tampa Bay and the Indiana Colts were preparing to play against the Jets. They would prove later in the day that it really doesn't matter if you bench or play your starters. Sometimes it makes sense and sometimes it doesn't. There's no protocol that can cover every situation. But once you decide to pull them, you destroy momentum you can't get back.

The Indiana Colts are a great example of how pulling starters can really deflate a team.

In week 16, the Colts were facing the New York Jets with a perfect season in tow. They had won the last 23 games and were looking forward to beating the Dolphins record, with a perfect season. Coach Caldwell literally stole his player's dreams with one call. He benched Manning and key players with just a small 5-point lead in the game. The score was just 10 to 15 when Manning reluctantly, but cooperatively, sat on the sidelines without an argument. Payton later told the media, "It was the plan" going into the game and that he and the coach had discussed their philosophies about benching starters for safety reasons. Terry Bradshaw would have been proud of the respect that Manning showed his head coach, unlike Favre who demanded the opportunity to play. However, from the sidelines, you could see Payton trying to hide his severe disappointment as he watched the small lead slump into a sourly loss and the opportunity for a perfect season just washed away.

In his news conference after the game, Payton attempted to hide his disappointment and disagreement with the way things went down, but his anger at the situation was evident. If he had any negative words to say, he kept them to himself with his politically correct responses. When asked about Caldwell's decision to pull key players he simply said, "as players we support that." Had Payton refused the bench like Brett Favre, the Colts would probably still have their perfect winning streak of 24 games, and a record season.

Analysts from the Fox show are now changing their take on the call to seat key players. While Brett was scolded for not sitting, they turned around and said that Caldwell made a huge mistake in seating his players. So which is it? Should the players take the bench or should they continue to play?

In week 15, the Vikings were 11-2 and the Saints were 13 and 1. Other than bye weeks and home field advantage, these teams don't have a huge motivation to kill themselves for a win in the final games. The Colts were the only team of the 3 that really had a lot riding on their loss. Giving up a perfect season record to keep their players from injury was not an ideal situation for Manning, the team, or the fans that booed them from the stands when Manning was taken out of the game.

To point out the obvious inconsistencies of this practice, I encourage you to also look at the New Orleans Saints in week 16. They kept all key players in the game until the final score, which wasn't pretty, but they needed them and continued to make an effort at the win. While the Saints were close to having a first seed in the playoffs, there was still a possibility they could lose that seed to the Vikings depending on the final few games of the season.

The Saints played Tampa Bay with home field advantage and the Buccaneers really surprised them. Although the Saints had the lead, they missed a field goal in the final moments of the game and Tampa Bay would go on to win in over time with a huge upset. The Saints quarterback, Drew Brees said, "It's hard to explain, we started off fast, then, after that there was a big lull." He sounded like a repeat of Brett Favre from week 15 when he said, "The fact is we need to play better. I don't feel like we've played our best football in a while and there are definitely some things that need to be corrected."

There seems to be a certain degree of deflation in some player's motivation on the field once a team has clinched a division seat. It's almost as if they reached their goal and the reason for competition has been taken away. I noticed it in the Vikings first game after clinching a division seat. Their tackles were weaker, their protection for Favre was minimal if at all, and their aggression in the game turned to passive back yard play. You could tell a few key players were still giving it their all, but without the teams support, they were paralyzed from any effectiveness and that's how people get hurt. When your quarterback expects the same protection he has received all year and doesn't get it, having Julius Peppers, hungry, and "in your face", can be seriously dangerous. And most of the time, this happens when you are playing a team like the Panthers or the Jets who really need or want the win. The entire game is off balance when less than average teams are hungry and the stronger teams are deflated. This creates the upset. Pulling key players in this situation can be devastating as it was for the Colts.

Overall, the practice of benching starters doesn't have a good rule of thumb to follow when making the call. Like any other strategy, the coach must weigh all possibilities and consider the material results as well as the psychological effects on his team. You can go back and say, "Well, if Brett had pulled a win out of the game against the Panthers, then it would have been O.K. that he didn't take a seat" or "If Caldwell didn't bench Payton Manning, the Colts would have had a perfect season." But Drew Brees proved what Brett said in his media conference in week 15. He said, "You can be beaten any time, any place." He was absolutely right. We witnessed this in week 15 and 16 when our top 3 teams of the season lost to teams that were unexpected to win. Aside from the obvious technical problems of an inexperienced Colt backup team, the primary reason for these losses didn't have anything to do with benching the starters. It had everything to do with each person, playing to their greatest potential, and the motivation of the team as a whole.

SOURCES:

Fox NFL Sunday Show, December 27, 2009, "It's Not Your Call"

CLICK HERE TO SEE ANALYSTS RIP ON BRETT FAVRE