Bear with me on this but why not bench most of the starters for this Falcons game? Load management works in the NBA. Try it for football.
The main reason why this is a perfect game to rest guys is:
a) it’s an outlier team that the Rams and Seahags don’t face, so it won’t bite us in strength of schedule should we lose.
b) it’s right before the bye week.
Minn is undefeated, but we play them in a few weeks, and THAT is a much more important game. In Mexico.
No, they won’t do it, but given our record and how the rest of the league not named Minnesota is struggling, and even they are offensively challenged, it would behoove us to try and get healthy for the playoff seedings push after the bye.
And, you want to know something funny? The LEAGUE is talking about implementing this very thought. If (WHEN) they go to 18 games, they are talking about making the starters sit out one game. Or add another bye week and expand rosters so teams have more cannon fodder (players) available.
Point being if we play Evans and lose him for the rest of the season, it’ll be devastating. I hope at least he sits. If not Kittle, CMC, Purdy, Bosa, and Trent.
This type of game where we travel 3 time zones east at this point is the season is ripe for us to lose anyway. Give Dirty Mac a start.
I suggested 3 players (including Evans) be sat for our last game . . . and you, along with others disagreed. Regardless, I have no issue with what you suggested. We’re going to lose at least 1, perhaps 2-3 more games. Ergo, why not roll the dice on the next game and even if we lose, we have the bye week, along with this week to get the “walking wounded” prepared for the Norsemen. Likewise, we get to see what our supposed “cannon fodder” players look like, i.e, we might have a gem or two. Who knows?
The Washington game had a lot more impact as to the Rams and Kawks play them as well. Wash beat Seattle to it was important for us to beat them. Since rhe Falcons aren’t on the Rams or Seahawks schedules, we can rest a lot of guys.
I mean, I don’t think the Rams recover from this nosedive but I think Seattle can. But they have KC and Chicago coming up. So, we really could put some distance between us and Seattle.