I love Bill Polian.

I love Bill Polian for his football acumen, his eye for talent, his unwavering stance that what he believes is right.  I love Bill Polian because he has always told the fans the truth, regardless of popular opinion, what he was going to do when making his plans known would not otherwise hamper the team.  I have defended him for years on a variety of stances; his stance on free agency, his stance on promoting from within; his stance on keeping key players as a foundation and building around them.

In 2006, with a new CBA up in the air, Bill Polian said that Reggie Wayne was a priority and if there were sufficient funds left, the team would try to sign Edgerrin James.  They signed Reggie Wayne, there wasn’t enough money for James, and he left for Arizona.

In 2007 he said that re-signing Dallas Clark was a priority.  He said that Dallas wasn’t going anywhere.  He said the same about Kelvin Hayden in 2008.  Both players were re-signed shortly thereafter.

This morning, I am a scorned lover.

 For the first time, I feel directly lied to.  And this is not a “we hope Marvin will be back this week” lie.  This is a lie without benefit to the team, and a lie that is not attributable to optimism.

Like many, I was disappointed in the decision to rest the starters on Sunday.  Like many, I called in to the weekly Bill Polian Show on Monday evening.  Like few, I got through and was the second caller to get to ask a question.

My question was simple; why is it that the team is willing to risk starters in Week 17 in meaningless games for individual milestones (Marvin Harrison in 2008 to pass Cris Carter for #2 all-time in receptions, Reggie Wayne in 2007 to lead the league in receiving yards, Peyton Manning year in and out with both 4,000 yard games as well as his consecutive start streak, etc.) but was unwilling to take those same risks for a team milestone.

The answer I half-expected was that the team’s goal is a Super Bowl Championship, and that anything that may have looked like it was pursuing a team or individual milestone was simply the result of the team going to its playmakers in one last fine-tuning of the offense before the playoffs.

To my pleasant surprise, there was an express acknowledgement about concentrated efforts to let players meet individual milestones.  Then, to my sheer amazement, the most shameful avoidance in my immediate recollection was given (and I’m a lawyer!). 

To-wit:  The answer was that it depends on what you consider to be a team milestone.  To Mr. Polian, 16-0 was never a milestone.  Therefore, individual milestones never trumped team milestone. 

QED.

Now keep in mind that up until this point, Mr. Polian had continued to stress that amongst the team’s great accomplishments this decade was the 23 game consecutive win streak as well as having the winningest decade (in terms of total regular season wins, I believe) in the history of the NFL.

The direct point that was never pursued wasn’t the merits of going 16-0 (or 19-0, which was completely ignored in lieu of focusing on 16-0).  The point that if the team set the record for consecutive regular season wins at 23 is a good thing, then setting it at 24 is a better thing (with 25 being better yet, etc., ad infinitum).  Similarly, if being the winningest team in a decade is a good thing, then having to two more wins in the decade is a better thing.

Therefore, even if we ignore the pursuit of 19-0 (and necessarily by extension 16-0), the team still had at least two milestones (as explicitly stated) that could have been extended and were not.

This leaves us at two possible outcomes.  First, the team views milestones as only a milestone until it is minimally passed, at which point there is no purpose in pursing to exceed that milestone.  In other words, do enough to just exceed the record and then stop.

I fail to believe that this is the reality at all.  First off, both records had already been exceeded, and so under this theory there would be no need to continue to play on last week against Jacksonville.  However, more philosophically, Bill Polian did not become the talent evaluator he did by merely doing what was necessary to keep a scouting job.  Bill Polian isn’t the great GM that he is simply by doing enough to not get fired.  Peyton Manning didn’t become great simply by trying to be good enough for the NFL (and then stop).  When drafting players, I’m sure Polian looks for the kids who are trying to maximize their potential, rather than simply make it to the NFL.  Success is not defined by merely achieving your goal.  Success is defined by maximizing your potential.  If you set a goal of having the all-time consecutive regular season win streak, then pursue it with pride, full effort, and diligence.  If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.  I’m 100% positive that no one that reached the NFL (at least on the Colts) in any capacity has any different opinion.

The only other logical outcome is that Polian is flat out lying; either about the consecutive regular season win-streak mattering or about individual milestones not trumping team achievement.

There’s no competitive advantage to keeping secret why individual records trump the pursuit of team achievement.  If you’re truly afraid of injury, show it consistently.  If you feel that a consecutive regular win streak or the most wins in a decade is important, then pursue it continually.  But saying those achievements, both team and individual, are important while only pursuing one makes you either an idiot or a liar.

I fail to believe that Polian is an idiot.

That’s more disappointing to me than anything that happened Sunday.  If there was a good reason for the team’s actions on Saturday, say so and stick to it proudly, like has been admirably done in the past.

Just don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining.