Open-and-shut case

I am not sure at what point the 1972 Miami Dolphins went from perfect champions to perfectly annoying, but it might have been during one of Mercury Morris' blowhard television appearances.

Hey, the Dolphins were great back in the day. Winning the Super Bowl as the only undefeated team in NFL history is a magnificent accomplishment. Even the idea that all of these old guys would quietly root for some recent juggernaut to trip up and preserve their place in history was amusing. At least the first 500 times I heard the story.

But years of one more Morris "interview," one more "back in our day" round of self-congratulation and one more silly champagne celebration as some likeable team (John Elway's Broncos, Tom Brady's Patriots) finally loses have been about as palatable as a DVD on the genius of the Matt Millen era in Detroit.

So, for the sake of my sanity and what should be fond memories of those Dolphins, I am begging Tony Dungy to go for it.

The Indianapolis Colts coach needs to go all in (even if his stack is three times bigger than his opponents) and take a shot at history and a perfect season. He needs to keep the Peyton Manning machine roaring even if a single blown gasket (or ACL) would make this the most second-guessed decision in league history.

If you haven't contemplated the great football debate for the ages – if the Colts are still undefeated when they wrap up home-field advantage, should they continue to play all out or rest the starters for the playoffs? – you will.

This is a question with no real, clear-cut answers, and that's ideal for newspaper columns and talk radio chatter.

The dreamers among us want the Colts to go for broke, even if 53 bad things (injuries) can happen as opposed to only one good one (perfection). And not even that is assured.

The cooler, calmer heads look at it as a no-brainer. Why risk the ultimate goal (Super Bowl) for a largely meaningless achievement – a 19-0 season? The risk-reward calculations do not favor exposing Manning to any more rolled ankles than necessary.

Dungy and his players, of course, are focused on the present, not the hypothetical. At 12-0 and heading into a major road test at 9-3 Jacksonville on Sunday, Indy is in "one game at a time" mode.

The remaining schedule is no breeze. If the Colts survive the Jaguars, they host San Diego, travel to Seattle and then finish at home against Arizona. Presumably they will need every weapon to run the table. But at 14-0, they would have nothing left to play for.

Back in November, Dungy told Sports Illustrated's Peter King he wouldn't press for perfection.

"Your whole plan is to win the Super Bowl," Dungy said. "While it would be nice to be 16-0, it doesn't change our plan. If we happen to be that fortunate, to have a chance to clinch home-field before the end of the season, the plan would be the same whether we were 12-3 or 15-0. We'd be playing to win, but we may be playing some different players.

"It's really kind of a no-brainer," Dungy continued. "As soon as the games aren't meaningful in the standings, (resting starters to preserve them for the playoffs) is something we'll think about. They don't give out rings for being 16-0. They give out rings for winning the Super Bowl. And everything we do will be with that goal in mind."

Dungy is correct. If the Colts were to lose a megastar to injury while chasing a record and subsequently lose in the playoffs, his decision would go down as a cautionary tale for the ages.

This debate would probably have a different feel to it if the Colts had been able to beat the Patriots and won a Super Bowl at least once in recent years. The 1996 Chicago Bulls, with three NBA titles already captured, made a concerted effort to set the NBA's regular season record (72-10) and won title No. 4 to boot.

But with no titles, Indy is still on pins and needles. No matter how dominant this team looks, in the back of fans' (and perhaps players') minds are doomed playoff runs past.

So Dungy the pragmatist shouldn't care about 19-0 because 18-1 is fine if the Colts win the Lombardi trophy.

But I am not looking for pragmatic. I am looking for peace and quiet. I am looking to be done with the Dolphins.

I understand they want to own the only perfect season. But at this stage of the game, classy record holders are supposed to recognize others' greatness and at least outwardly applaud being joined in the pantheon.

Even Roger Maris's family cheered Mark McGwire and his Andro bottle.

The Dolphins, though, root against, denigrate and pound their own chests. It makes you cringe. You wish they were better than this.

They aren't. Which is why the Colts need to go 19-0. Manning, Edgerrin James, Marvin Harrison and Dwight Freeney need to play. We know it isn't the smart thing to do, but we need to be saved from those old Dolphins.

And those great Dolphins need to be saved from themselves.