Reasons the Saints will not rest starters vs. Panthers

[MHS831]

The argument for Saints resting players vs. Carolina:  New Orleans coach Sean Payton could choose to rest 41-Yr old quarterback Drew Brees and several starters against the Panthers next Sunday. That would give most of his players a de facto bye before they host their first playoff game on January 9th or 10th. 

The argument against resting players vs. Carolina: However, New Orleans will need to beat Carolina to guarantee a number 2 seed. That would not only make a difference in their first-round playoff matchup but would also depend on whether the Saints would host or travel to either Seattle or Los Angeles for a potential division round game.  (It is unlikely that the Saints would rather travel out west vs. staying home.  Furthermore, the #3 seed is likely vs the Bears, where the #3 seed plays the Rams.

The other argument that supports the theory that the Saints will not rest players vs. Carolina:  If the Packers lose to the Bears (week 17) and the Seahawks beat the 49ers, it would create a 3-way tie for first place.   This scenario would have the Saints, Packers, and Seahawks all finish with 12-4 records. A three-way tie would nullify Green Bay's head-to-head win over the Saints and would require conference records to be used as the next tiebreaker. That would leave the Saints with a 10-2 conference record, with both the Packers and Seahawks finishing with 9-3 records against NFC opponents.  The Saints would then get the bye and #1 seed.  It is noteworthy that all three games (Bears vs. Packers, 49ers vs. Rams, Saints vs. Panthers) begin at 4:25 pm Sunday, so there will be no results of other games before kickoff.

[Varking]

They won’t because they can still get the #1 seed

[Moo Daeng]

They won't for obvious reasons.  Sean Payton's Vicodin is clueless 

[PantherKyle]

no reason for this thread, they obviously will not

[MHS831]

5 minutes ago, PantherKyle said:

no reason for this thread, they obviously will not

Well, there was some disagreement because nobody knew the details---but if true, what is the reason for your post?  Why did you open the thread?  Just curious.

[DaveThePanther2008]

1 hour ago, MHS831 said:

The argument for Saints resting players vs. Carolina:  New Orleans coach Sean Payton could choose to rest 41-Yr old quarterback Drew Brees and several starters against the Panthers next Sunday. That would give most of his players a de facto bye before they host their first playoff game on January 9th or 10th. 

The argument against resting players vs. Carolina: However, New Orleans will need to beat Carolina to guarantee a number 2 seed. That would not only make a difference in their first-round playoff matchup but would also depend on whether the Saints would host or travel to either Seattle or Los Angeles for a potential division round game.  (It is unlikely that the Saints would rather travel out west vs. staying home.  Furthermore, the #3 seed is likely vs the Bears, where the #3 seed plays the Rams.

The other argument that supports the theory that the Saints will not rest players vs. Carolina:  If the Packers lose to the Bears (week 17) and the Seahawks beat the 49ers, it would create a 3-way tie for first place.   This scenario would have the Saints, Packers, and Seahawks all finish with 12-4 records. A three-way tie would nullify Green Bay's head-to-head win over the Saints and would require conference records to be used as the next tiebreaker. That would leave the Saints with a 10-2 conference record, with both the Packers and Seahawks finishing with 9-3 records against NFC opponents.  The Saints would then get the bye and #1 seed.  It is noteworthy that all three games (Bears vs. Packers, 49ers vs. Rams, Saints vs. Panthers) begin at 4:25 pm Sunday, so there will be no results of other games before kickoff.

Yes I saw this scenario on ESPN yesterday.  This may have been why we were flexed to the 430 game so no one could tank the last game if they knew the results of the earlier games. 

[OneBadCat]

Hell the Saints are such chokers they might as well try and do something different and lose a seed.

[jackson113]

We’ll probably beat them either way...

[MHS831]

4 hours ago, jackson113 said:

We’ll probably beat them either way...

That would be just like us---and them.

However, due to the circumstance, New Orleans has to play to win.

There should be some way to monitor this---for one---and I hate to break up rivalries, but do not have division games during week 17.  Resting players is one incentive only, but to do it so that your opponent gets a less favorable draft pick is a strategy that needs to be stopped.

[Snake]

It would be a horribley bad idea but if beat the saints they would be fuged in the playoffs and we would be fuged in draft order. 

[Beerfacedlegend]

Don’t be shocked if we win