Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, has on many occasions stated that Dallas would not rest its starters. Some backups might be given a go in the second half of the game, but starters will be there, on the field. Mark Sanchez even might get some snaps in the second half of the last match of the regular season.
Cowboys rested some players almost a decade ago when Tony Romo and Terrell Owens were leading the way. The hungry Giants team came to Dallas and beaten the Cowboys 21:17, ending their season and potential Super Bowl run. Jerry said that he had learned the lesson from that season and this time he won’t bench teams’ best players as two weeks of rest might cause the team to be rusty in Divisional round.
This might be the best decision that he can make at this point of the year. The fact that this duel doesn’t have a meaning for the Cowboys doesn’t change the fact that this is still a regular football game and that the danger of some players getting injured doesn’t rise just because they do not have to play in that match.
Resting players is not always the best choice, especially for a crew like the Cowboys who will have a bye week and a chance to go slow during the Wild Card Weekend. That rest time will hit the spot for the ‘Boys so they don’t have to risk that rust which can occur from time to time when squads are away from the action. It will be interesting to see how Dallas manages the time spent on the field of their players on Sunday.
