Should the New England Patriots Sit Their Starters Against Buffalo?

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The New England Patriots earned a first-round playoff bye with their win over the New York Jets this past Sunday. They were also handed home-field advantage throughout the postseason without even taking the field thanks to Peyton Manning‘s fourth-quarter collapse against Cincinnati on Monday.

Securing both a first-round bye and home-field advantage was undoubtedly a goal the Patriots wanted to accomplish coming into the year. Despite achieving that goal though, Bill Belichick and the Patriots find themselves in a unique dilemma as they prepare for their final game against the Buffalo Bills.

With the AFC playoffs set to come through Foxborro, Sunday’s game with the Bills is essentially meaningless. No matter the outcome, the Patriots’ playoff seed won’t be affected. With that said, the team needs to determine whether they should play their starters or not, and if they choose to do so, for how long.

Now playing the starters this week has its clear cut pros and cons. Following their sluggish offensive start against the Jets, Tom Brady, and the offensive line in particular, could use some fine tuning. On the flip side of things, the Patriots don’t want to risk losing a key player to injury on the cusp of the playoffs.

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So what should the Patriots do in regards to balancing out playing time?

I personally feel the Patriots cannot afford to sit their starters, but they don’t need to play all four quarters. Playing through the first half seems to be an ideal amount of time. It will allow the offense to build up some momentum following the several slow starts that have plagued them of late. The last thing the Patriots need is a sputtering offense heading into a two week layoff prior to the AFC Divisional round.

It’s not imperative that guys like Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, Darrelle Revis, Chandler Jones and Dont’a Hightower, log a ton of game action. The defense hasn’t been issue. Brady and the offensive line must establish working communication and consistency again. It’s absolutely vital to their success moving forward.

Over doing it isn’t necessary, but emerging from this final game with some positives to reflect on is hugely important. Far too often, top teams have cruised into the playoffs only to be bounced in the first round for taking Week 17 lightly. The 15-1 Green Bay Packers we’re eliminated in their playoff opener back in 2011 for doing just that.