Times writers' take

Both teams need to look beyond resting their starters and think of the fans on this one. It's a Christmas Eve game, there will be lots of people at the stadium who got tickets for Christmas (including my best friend) and the coaches need to put their starters out there for at least a half. Give the people reason to come fout, even if the Colts have a loss by that time. The Seahawks, for their part, could be playing for home-field advantage in the postseason and we all saw how much of a factor that can be.

And that's just from a personal perspective. As far as football, both teams could really have a lot to play for. You have to keep your players up to speed as you head into the postseason, and resting them serves no purpose other than the possibility that they could be flat the next week or, even worse, not running on all cylinders when the playoffs start. If both teams rest their starters, you could be looking at not one but three weeks of inactivity because both teams have the best records in their conferences and at that point could have earned a first weekend bye.

Everything is a risk. Any player could get hurt at any time. Don't bite the hand that feeds you (the fans) and roll over. The Seahawks need to make the Colts earn that undefeated record. And players have to play because that's what they're paid to do.

Jose Miguel Romero

A quick glance at the Colts' remaining schedule shows home games with Tennessee, San Diego and Arizona, along with road games here in Seattle and at Jacksonville in two weeks. The prospect of the Colts going undefeated is certainly a possibility, and that's the most exciting part. That football fans in the Northwest might have the chance to witness history at Qwest Field. Whether the starters play will obviously impact the quality of the game, but only one team in NFL history ever ran through the season undefeated. Wouldn't it be cool to see the next undefeated team in person?

Greg Bishop

If the Colts do get to Seattle with nothing to play for, I would expect coach Tony Dungy to play his starters at least through halftime. And if the team -- Peyton Manning in particular -- has expressed a desire to go for the perfect season, Dungy might bow to their wishes and let them play. After all, they would still have the bye the first week of the playoffs. Plus, they would probably get plenty of rest in the finale against Arizona.

Chris Cluff