By this time next week, the first week of NFL playoff match-ups will be abundantly clear, and the media landscape will be lousy with speculation – prediction: an unnecessary amount of people picking Philly or Dallas to make a dark horse Superbowl run. As it stands right now, 10 of 12 teams are at their very least in, with two spots in the AFC no less than wide open. Of those 10 teams, seven are playing games in the last week of the season that have some sort of playoff implications. Even so, after the Colts conceded victory vs. the Jets on Sunday, one can’t help but wonder who of the teams that are in regardless plan to rest their starters in the final contest of the regular season.

As I see it, you can eliminate three teams from that debate instantaneously, and a few others fairly quickly. The top seeds in their respective conferences, New Orleans and Indy, each backed their way into resting their starters in Week 17. And San Diego didn’t have to earn it – and they did beating up on Tennessee – but with a firm hold on the #2 seed they’ll sit their first string too.

The obvious candidates to play their starters this Sunday are Philly and Dallas, who meet to decide who takes the NFC East title. It’s just as much of a no-brainer for Minnesota and Arizona to put their starters out there. Minnesota needs to win to stay eligible for a bye. If a few things fall into place (MIN loss, PHI loss), Arizona can play their way to a bye to the following week.

That leaves three teams to consider – New England, Cincinnati and Green Bay. All three of these teams are playing a game on Sunday that affects the playoff picture, just not necessarily in a huge way personally. None of these teams have a chance at a bye, and Green Bay has no chance to get higher than a fifth seed. For New England and Cincy, on the surface it’s really only a question of rest – beneath the surface it’s a question of how bad do we not want to go into Indy in the divisional round?

Here’s the brief on GB, NE and the Queen City’s match-up on Sunday, and the context of each. Hit the poll at the bottom on who you think most needs to rest their starters on Sunday:

New England

vs. Houston

Implications:

Houston needs to win to get in. And realistically, they need so much help that the round-the league scoreboard will garner as much attention as Tom Brady and Randy Moss. The third seed in the AFC is New England’s to relinquish with a loss and a Cincinnati win. However, at this point it’s hard to wish for a second-round jaunt to the left coast to face San Diego over a rematch with Indy, who’ll be dusting off considerably for that divisional game.

I say sit the A-team at half time, Bill – who, ever the contrarian, called a QB dive with Brady twice on the final drive vs. Jacksonville on Sunday, up 35-7 in the fourth.

Cincinnati

vs. Jets

Implications:

Jets win, and their in. And with the Jets playing at home and the master of their own destiny, Cincy can count on getting the Jets’ best punch in the mouth. Still, if the Bengals knock out the Jets and a few other chips fall their way (NE loss, BAL win), they could be set-up to take on Baltimore in the first round, who they swept in the division during the regular season. Sounds complicated, but really it’s really as simple as living by the out-of-town scoreboard – if at any point New England wraps up Houston and that third seed is, pull Palmer.

Green Bay

vs. Arizona

Implications:

Arizona wins, and Minnesota and Philly lose, the defending NFC champs all of a sudden earned a week off, which is great for them, but does it really do anything for Green Bay? Rodgers and crew are looking at the 5th or 6th seed regardless of what happens on Sunday. But somehow, other than New Orleans, they’ve managed to have the least to play for this week. And, it’s almost a sure thing, that no matter where they’ve got to go in the first round, they’ll face a third or fourth seed that either played their way or got themselves beaten down into that position. May not hurt to be the rested team in that scenario.

…

My smart money prediction: Green Bay conducts business as usual, and plays the starters, New England and Cincinnati pull the first string at half time.

Vote for the team you most think should rest their starters this week in the poll below.

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I love Chad. I love Chad for getting behind the Bengals being featured on HBO Hard Knocks when he easily could have gone the route of The T.O. Show on VH1. But, as he demonstrated in a radio interview with KGOW in Houston earlier this week, he’s not exactly a new media visionary. I took a few quotes out of context from his take on Twitter:

“You know, it’s funny – I like it… I have my own application coming out where people will be able to (drumroll, puhlease!!) interact and follow me.

Rebuff:

Either Chad’s a genius and he managed to convince somebody to create “his own application” based around the sole purpose of the original tool (and we’ll all be chadderring by 2010), or he just doesn’t know what Twitter actually does.

“…when the season starts, it’s going to get even worse. I’m going to really make it fun. I’m using Twitter during games, during halftime, after the games. I’m going to be taking it to the next level.”

Rebuff:

Read: I’m going to get fined a lot this season.

Chad ‘Ocho Cinco’ Johnson Ready To Just Play (Sports Radio Interviews)

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