There have been no winks or sly smiles from Falcons coaches or players this week, no hints that they don’t really mean what they say.
The Falcons insist they really are “playing to win” their regular-season finale Sunday against the Buccaneers, as coach Mike Smith said. The game may not matter for their playoff standing, but to the Falcons, that’s not the same as saying the game doesn’t matter.
The Falcons (13-2) earned home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, and losing to the Buccaneers (6-9) wouldn’t change that. But a bad performance, even in a relatively unimportant game, could sap the momentum from their big victories against the Giants and Lions.
“I think it’s very important for us to finish regular season off in the right way,” Smith said.
That doesn’t necessarily mean Smith will play his starters for all or most of the game Sunday. It does mean the Falcons want a sharp, spirited effort from their key players before they begin a bye week in advance of the divisional playoffs.
“You don’t ever want to get off the gas, especially now,” tight end Tony Gonzalez said. “Now is not the time. We can’t go cool now. We haven’t done anything. We have got to finish strong and keep building and make sure when we hit that first game, we are at our best.
“They say you are only as good as your last game.”
Recent history shows that most of the teams in the Falcons’ situation played their starters for at least part of the game. Since the 2000 playoffs, 13 NFL teams have had the top playoff seed clinched before their final regular-season game. Five of those teams didn’t play any or most of their key starters in the finale.
There’s no clear pattern to suggest if that’s the right or wrong approach.
In 2004, the Steelers won their final regular-season game without their starters and made it to the AFC Championship game. That same season the Eagles sat their key players for the finale and lost, yet they ended up making it to the Super Bowl.
Tennessee’s backups lost 23-0 to the Colts to end the 2008 regular season, and then the Titans lost their first playoff game, 13-10 to Baltimore. But the Saints rested their starters in the 2009 finale, lost their third consecutive game — and went on to win the Super Bowl.
The Packers appeared to have the best of both worlds last season when they defeated the Lions 45-41 behind a record-setting day from backup quarterback Matt Flynn. They still lost to the Giants in the divisional round.
Even if the Falcons play poorly against the Buccaneers, it doesn’t mean they will do the same in their playoff opener. The opposite is true, too: Gonzalez notes that the Falcons pounded Tampa Bay 45-24 in the final regular-season game of 2011 before losing 24-2 to the Giants in the playoffs.
“I don’t know the answer is, but I do know we need to come out focused because it’s habits,” Gonzalez said. “And you don’t want to have bad habits going into the playoffs.”
Even worse for the Falcons would be an injury to a key player just before the postseason. That’s usually the main argument against teams playing their key players in games that can’t affect playoff seeding.
That nightmarish scenario happened to the Patriots during the 2009 playoffs.
New England had won the AFC East and couldn’t improve its seeding, yet coach Bill Belichick sent out his starters for the last regular-season game. One of them, standout wide receiver Wes Welker, suffered a season-ending knee injury.
For the Falcons, the worst-case scenario probably would be a serious injury to Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Ryan.
“That could happen any game,” center Todd McClure said. “He’s been healthy for 15 weeks now, so we are not going to worry about that.”
The bigger worry for the Falcons is ending the regular season with a lethargic effort. That’s why they plan to go all out against the Buccaneers.
No kidding.
“We are not going to change the way we approach this game,” safety Thomas DeCoud said. “We are going to attack it like it’s Week 3. We’re all expecting to play and all expecting to play well. We have to put our best foot forward before the postseason.”
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