Pete Prisco | January 5, 2010

Jim Caldwell should stand on a box and scream out to the media and anyone else who will listen to a certain message that he needs to deliver, just to get them off his back.

That message is this: Now you know why.

Now you know why Caldwell sat down his starters last week in the second half against the Jets and then played them a little in Sunday's blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills, even though an unbeaten season was possible.

Two words tell us why he was right: Wes Welker.

The New England Patriots lost Welker Sunday with what is being reported as a torn ACL and MCL in their 34-27 loss to the Houston Texans. Welker went down as he made a cut, looking as if the ligaments turned into spaghetti. The Patriots were noncommittal on the specifics of the injury -- shocking, right? -- but it's clear Welker is gone for the playoffs.

Welker's injury is Exhibit A on why you sit key players in meaningless games.

It's not about the regular season.

It also begs the question as to why Patriots coach Bill Belichick put Tom Brady back in the game in the second half after taking him out. Did he lose his mind?

If Brady had gone down with an injury, it would have made Fourth-and-Jackass in Indianapolis look like shear genius by comparison -- and we know better.

Some will say the New England game meant a possible No. 3 seed, but the reality is that matters little.

Caldwell took an endless stream of abuse last week for blowing the Colts' perfect season by sitting down his starters while beating the Jets. It was the right decision to make, but he was lit up like your Christmas lights, the ones you still haven't taken down.

Nothing else matters but the health of your team when you're a coach. That's why the Colts' decision to sit down players didn't deserve the Tiger Woods-like firestorm it created. Sean Payton did the same thing with Drew Brees Sunday against Carolina, and nobody said a word. Other starters sat elsewhere after brief stints on the field, and there was no outcry.

After seeing Welker go down, there shouldn't be.

The venom directed at Caldwell was so bad that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Sunday that the league would look at the issue of sitting players. He also indicated there could be incentives to keep teams from benching starters.

Sorry, Roger. There is already too much incentive to keep sitting them. It's called the postseason. And doesn't the league want the stars playing in the playoffs? I would think it would.

In our CBSSports.com Weekly Grades, we usually just give out team grades. But this week I want to give Caldwell an A for his handling of his team the past two weeks.

So go ahead and sleep well, Jim. You were right.

Validation came Sunday. Sadly for the kid, and for the New England Patriots, it came from that injury to Wes Welker.