Panthers, Cardinals, Chiefs intend to play starters this week
Three teams that have already clinched playoff spots – the Carolina Panthers, Arizona Cardinals, and Kansas City Chiefs – intend to play their starters in week 17.
The Panthers essentially have no choice after their loss to Atlanta on Sunday. They have what is, on paper, a pretty straightforward home game against Tampa Bay to clinch home field advantage in the NFC Playoffs, but a loss and an Arizona win would ruin that.
“I wish I had that problem,” coach Ron Rivera said Monday on resting players, via USA Today.
For that same reason, the Cardinals don’t intend to rest anyone against the Seahawks, either.
"Don't think you get anything out of resting guys" Arians says "we're playing so well right now, we don't want to change"
— Kent Somers (@kentsomers) December 28, 2015
Chiefs coach Andy Reid wasn’t as firm, but confirmed that “as we sit here right now,” he intends to play his regulars, according to ESPN.com.
The Chiefs will have a chance to win the AFC West if they can beat the Raiders next week and Denver slips up against either Cincinnati or San Diego, so it stands to reason that Reid won’t be resting anyone.
“There are a bunch of scenarios out there,” Reid said. “I don’t really care about all of those. We’re going to focus in on the Raiders and make sure we get ourselves ready (to play against) a good football team.”
These coaches find themselves in pretty tough spots. They still have things to play for, but as the cautionary tale of Tyrann Mathieu demonstrates, there’s definitely a risk involved.
