This totally sucks! There is NO valid reason not to allow the fans to bask in a perfect season....Is it just ME or do they have a history of this! I think they care nothing about the fans, and for THAT I am VERY mad! We pay their salaries, they should so some mutual respect! Fumming in Tennessee!

I agree with UTKRose! The fans deserved the best from the Colts. Every game, especially on a chase for real history. Many might say that the Super Bowl is the almighty goal, but how rare is that? If I remember correctly, someone wins that every year. But how often does a team do a perfect season thru the SB? Once, ever! How many have gone 16-0 and then won the SB? NEVER! You tell me, what's the better feat!?? Polian and Coach gave up, on their team, on their fans, on history. Period!

Oh, and be sure to get your starters rested, er, rusted up for the playoffs coach!

Why will no one ask the question on the set to Rodney Harrison after he says that Manning should be 'rested' or protected...then WHY DID BRADY/BRUSCHI/YOU/any other 2007 Patriot when they had nothing to play for against the Giants.

I am so sick and tired of watching great seasons go to crap because Polian has a freaking idiot button ever since Bennet got hurt with the Bills. Ever since then, Polian has been a freaking crazy man about resting the starters when there is nothing else to play for.

Okay...

2005 Colts...rested...beat by Steelers.

2006 Colts...could not rest...played the entire 16 games, 3 seed, won the Super Bowl.

2007 Colts...rested starters...beat by Chargers.

2008 Colts...rested starters...beat by Chargers.

2009 Colts...rested starters...demoralized team, again...will be beat by the Patriots or Chargers IF, and that is a HUGE IF, they get by the first game. Chargers will be the 2 seed and Patriots will be the 3 seed and luckily, the Colts will not play one of the two best teams in the AFC for the first game.

Would it not be ironic if the Jets get the 5 seed and beat the Bengals and come back to Indy to beat us again?

I have had it with this stupid mindset of 'resting' starters. It has NEVER worked. We won the Super Bowl when we DID NOT REST.

This is why the Patriots and Steelers are great organizations...they have the killer instinct, we still don't. Sure Peyton could get hurt in a game...he could also slip on some water in the lobby at Buffalo next week. Should he stay home? How about Practice...when he cuts, he could blow out a knee...should he sit out of practice for 4 weeks?

When you play to make sure you are healthy, well, i will let the above record speak for itself...

The Colts may have started a losing streak now, lose two more and they can go home early and rest up for the pre-season games next year. They should be rested up by then.

I'm not a Colts fan but let me say this:

This is a very tough call. They could be risking it one way or the other. No one knows how this is going to turn out, but for me I feel if they lose a game after giving their all then that's alright. But this being pulled from the lineup feels like they are walking away from finishing an extra important job left behind on the table. What was wrong with meeting the challenges of staying sharp, keeping spirited, and working your way through what may be an undefeated season? Isn't this part of the journey that gave the Colts part of their hunger, their effort, and their character?

Sure, rest your injured players. But resting your healthy starters too much may break their rythm, and risk loosing the timing that comes with the actual physical level of real-time games. The Colts will also be getting a bye week too? This carry some risks.

I'm pretty sure the coaches may have already thought about all that before they made their decisions, but I hope their decisions also may have been based on experience - the way Don Shula (Pro Football) or other undefeated Coaches (college level) in such similar situations may have experience it.

Say goodbye to the Colts. They went home in the third quarter til next season. Say hello to the DOLTS. They'll be playing for the Colts from here out.

I am REALLY MAD at Caldwell and Polian for robbing us fans of this...they need to realize they play for the fans!!! It was surreal to see this on TV in the 3rd quarter and I still had hopes that after Painter fumbled the ball that they would go back to Manning to preserve the win - I mean, how COULD YOU play to LOSE? I dont get it - Polian and Caldwell will really have to answer for this in the years to come if they dont win the Superbowl now - only if they win the Lombardi trophy will this make sense...any other scenario, they would like the two biggest goats on earth!

Having said that if the Colts get to play the Jets again, I dont think the Jets win - the Jets have no business being in the playoffs after beating the 2nd string quaterback.

Although I thoroughly enjoy NFL football, it will be difficult to get me back to Lucas Oil Stadium for a Colts game. I have never paid to watch ANY sports team lose. If the Colts leadership was true to their fans, they would try to win each and every time they step on the field - including in the rediculous preseason.

Just once, let them play for that elusive undefeated season! Few other things matter in pro football! The Colts have many records - but they will apparently never go undefeated. Super Bowls are available every year, as are undefeated seasons. The difference is, somebody always wins the Super Bowl.

I am a dolphins fan and have been since the early 70's. Even I found it fascinating watching the colts attempt to make history. But now that wont happen and i can honestly say that i am rather disappointed at the decision to roll over and play dead. I think that if a team is destined to win a championship, it will, whether or not a star qb gets hurt. And if a player or players gets hurt in the pursuit of perfection,and that team can't win the championship because of that, then they were never meant to win anyway. The 1972 dolphins completed a perfect season with an "old" backup qb and a no name defense, because that was the way it was meant to happen. The colts' coach's decision today was an attempt to "help" fate along. It just does not work like that. Obviously, the head coach of the colts does not believe that they were meant to win by playing all out. By the coach's decision to play it so close to the vest, the gods will see to it that the colts will get what the head coach was so afraid of---- DEFEAT!

P.S. If the lowly jets make the playoffs because of today's bonehead decision, then the football gods will make sure that the colts get paid back by enduring a hugely lopsided defeat. Maybe even at the hands of the jets. How would THAT be for karma?

Bill Polian made it abundantly clear that it's all about him and his fears, which he tries to dress up and call "philosophy". He doesn't give a rat's a** about the fans who paid big money to see the Colts extend their winning streak, or the players who would like to have been icing champaign in future seasons as some other team tried to break their 19-0 undefeated record.

I wonder that he doesn't recognize that more football fans can tell you who the undefeated NFL team is (even after more than 25 years) but couldn't tell you who the winner was of the Super Bowl of any given season.

And if Polian and the club were that solidly determined to blow off the streak, they certainly did a good job of being coy about it throughout this last week. If that was all along the "club philosophy", they should have said so loud and clear. But the only reason they didn't was because they knew that a good chunk of the paying Colts fans would have stayed home to watch on tv rather than brave snow and greezing temps and the Colts didn't want to risk losing money. Other than that, they don't give a poop about what those fans might have wanted.

I was at the game tonight, expecting exactly what happened. And it was the right call by whomever made it. There was simply no reason to risk further injuries to our team. We will be fresh, unencumbered, and ready for anything. And by the way, if you were one of the fans boo'ing when Painter took Mannings place, you should be ashamed of yourself. No matter what the coaches decision, you should never boo at your own team, it's simply unsportsman like and disrespectful to the people who gave you a fantastic season of football. See you at the Superbowl. :)

The League needs to do at least a cursory investigation...just to be sure there was no funny business..Whoever took the Jets and the points made money today. We need to be sure none of these gambling winnings went to Colt personnel ,nor any of their relatives, friends, associates, or affiliated entities,etc. Colt fans were bent over today for sure, but the League needs to be certain it wasn't for $$$$....

Im not a massive football fan, don't like the Colts, and always root for the un-defeated team to get blown out... but it kinda sucked to see it happen like this.

Theres no excuse what so ever. No need to risk further injury? The Colts had played 14 and a half games before Manning (and other starters) were pulled... I doubt a few more minuts would have amde much difference. And in thoes previous games the Colts starters were never pulled off the field to protect them, even in blowout situations. So why now? Why was Manning played till they had a lead (into the middle of the 3rd Quarter) but not put back in when Painter imploded? Seems kinda strange to me and almost certainly more about trying to lose then anything else.

Yea the Super Bowl is the most important thing to most of the players, and being undefeated adds extrea presure to the game... but still, the players had fought all year to get to 14-0 and give themselfs a shot at history, and its wrong to take it away from them so meaninglessly. They can give all the "party line" interviews they want but we all know every single one of the Colts was very angry at the way things went tonight... and they have a right to be. Work your ass off for a shot at history and have it taken away for no good reason? Thats simply not right. And its not right to pretty much throw a professional sporting event that thousands of fans had paid to see.

A team is obligated to their fans to give their best shot at winning, especially with history on the line (and a 23 regular season game winning streak, which was also a record)... and the Colts failed to do that. Its not just about winning the Super Bowl, but EVERY game your fans paid to see. As I said before I hate the Colts, and really wanted them to lose... but I wanted to see them get beat, not all but throw the game to, as it seems, intentionally avoid a shot at histroy. True winners never let off the gas.... and the Colts showed exactlly why they are going to be a one and out team yet again this year.

People...the power to fix this is in your hands! If the management doesn't care if they win a particular game, then YOU SHOULD NOT ATTEND THE GAME EITHER! Why attend a game where the owners or the coach or the players don't care if they win it or not? YOU control management with your attendence and your wallets! What a HUGE statement it will make to EVERY TEAM if the fans SIT IT OUT at home until there is a game played with EVERYONE INTERESTED IN WINNING! You can DOUBLE THE EFFECT by not even watching the game on TV so that the sponsors will apply pressure on management too. I mean, really, if they won't try to win a game with their best players then why watch them at all? You will only yell and scream and get upset and they still won't care. YOU are the people paying ALL the salaries. Put your money where your mouth is or just shut up. They depend on most of us just giving up and playing the game their way when WE are the ones paying the bills! STAY HOME TILL THE PLAYOFFS and watch a different football team who needs to win play the game the way it was intended to be played.

Hated to see Manning and other starters sitting on the sidelines, you could see in there faces that they were not happy.... Seems to me that going undefeated in a season would be EXTRA motivation for every game hence forth. I mean come on if the starters would have stayed in the Jets would have been toast, and then all thats left is the Bills.... lol . After that they have to win every game to get in the Superbowl anyway. Bad Decision

This team worked hard to win and today their leadership took the hard work away and stomped on it.

Absurd.

It's one thing to lose while trying, that's honorable, but to lose because you gave up, that's dishonorable.

I have to believe the Colts being as good they are this season (arguably the best they've ever been) could have taken at least a more convincing lead against a team like the Jets when they pulled Manning, but they weren't even up by one TD. Players deserve the chance to chase history.

Can COMMON SENSE and an ultimate Winning attitude prevail in this country?

RUSTED is not appropriate, the human spirit is the energy of the universe.

Being Afraid of one's shadow is absoutely stifling.

WEBSTER'S: Main Entry: ²stifle Function: verb

Inflected Form(s): sti·fled; sti·fling \-f(ə-)liŋ\
Etymology: alteration of Middle English stuflen Date: 1513
transitive verb 1 a : to kill by depriving of oxygen : suffocate b (1) : smother (2) : muffle
2 a : to cut off (as the voice or breath) b : to withhold from circulation or expression : repress <stifled our anger> c : deter, discourage

Hopefully, the repercussions will be obvious in the coming weeks.

Becoming a former Colts fan.

Main Entry: re·per·cus·sion Pronunciation: \ˌrē-pər-ˈkə-shən, ˌre-\

1 : reflection, reverberation
2 a : an action or effect given or exerted in return : a reciprocal action or effect b : a widespread, indirect, or unforeseen effect of an act