12-28-2006, 07:01 AM
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| Bench Warmer | | Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 124
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 How long will the Bears starters play?
Up to the minute news about the Chicago Bears from GoTeamsGo. We'll find the latest Chicago Bears news so you can chat about here. Quote: Lovie won't reveal how long starters will play
PackersNews.com, WI - 1 hour ago
The Green Bay Packers only can guess coach Lovie Smith's plans for how long he'll play his Chicago Bears starters Sunday night, but the guess at least will be educated.
The 13-2 Bears have home-field advantage for the playoffs wrapped up, so Smith will be walking the fine line between the risk of getting key players injured and keeping his team sharp for the postseason. Among his considerations is, after this game, his team will wait two weeks until its playoff opener in the divisional round.
Smith was in a similar position last year, when the Bears went into the regular-season finale with their No. 2 playoff seeding locked in. He rested five starters and played several others for only a half in the last game. Then in the first playoff game two weeks later, the Bears were beaten at home by Carolina, and Smith appears disinclined to follow the same playing pattern for this year's finale.
In a teleconference with reporters in Green Bay on Wednesday, he wouldn't reveal how long he intends to play his key starters Sunday night. But he gave a clue last week at Detroit, when, with the best record in the NFC already clinched, he played his starters well into the fourth quarter. Perhaps he won't go that deep with them this week, but he doesn't appear set on the wholesale benching he tried last year, either.
Thu, 28 Dec 2006 10:27:00 GMT
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