Anyone who knows me knows that I am an avid Indianapolis Colts fan. From the Colts caps, tees, and sweatshirts that I wear to the license plate on my car it is obvious.

As I Colts fan, I heard music to my ears last night on SportsCenter. The Colts head coach, Jim Caldwell, stating that all the starters will continue to start barring any health issues. “With the playoffs on the horizon and nothing left to play for, why would that be good news?”, you might be thinking to yourself. Here is why.

One word: 2006. That was the year that Pittsburgh came into town against one of the best Colts teams in recent years and left with a playoff victory. This came after the Colts had not given their starters any meaningful minutes in a game for about a month or so. The rust that accumulated on the Colts offense was incredibly evident and indeed they took almost three quarters to get in sync. Of course, by then, it was too late.

The Colts success in the regular season has been unprecedented throughout the decade. But with that has come the annual decision on whether to rest your starters or not for the last 2 or 3 meaningless regular season games. It has not worked so well, in my opinion, having won the Super Bowl just once in the last six playoff appearances.

Being a Colts fan, no-one was pulling harder against the Patriots during their 16-0 run in 2007 than I was. But the one thing I did admire is the fact that their best players and starters played the entire regular season and playoffs. They did not end up losing the Super Bowl (another euphoric moment for another day) because of that decision, in fact I would hazard a guess that they played better in the playoffs than they would have if they had rested.

So for a head coach, being undefeated at this point in the regular season becomes a blessing and a curse. You have accomplished your goal each and every week so far, 13-0. You have clinched home field throughout the playoffs. Do you give in to your fan base and go for the undefeated season? Or do you take your foot off the gas to eliminate risk of injury and damage your Super Bowl hopes?

Again, as a Colts fan, nothing would give me more joy than to see the Colts go unbeaten and do what the Pats could not. And here is my thought on what Caldwell should do. Go for it. For two reasons.

First, you are chasing history. No team has ever finished the season unbeaten and winning it all with an unblemished record. Winning the Super Bowl would be that much sweeter with a “0″ at the end of the record than a “1″ or even a “2″.

Second, being undefeated gives you cover in the eyes of the fans. Not one fan is going to scream bloody murder if a star player gets hurt chasing the unbeaten season. The media might give you a hard time, but the fan base will forgive you.

I heard a pundit this weekend compare the Colts to the Atlanta Braves this past weekend for making the playoffs so many times and only having one ring to show for it. The one year the Colts won it was the year they were a Wild Card team and had no choice but to play everyone in every game. I would hope that there would be lessons learned from that run.

Trust me, the vast majority of teams in the NFL would like to have this problem each and every year. But I sure would like to see them take a “go for broke” mentality this year, like they may never have this chance again.

I guess the coming weeks will tell the story.

Go, Colts!