There seems a bit of hypocrisy in the position of some NFL teams who insist that the pursuit of the Super Bowl trumps all when it comes to deciding who plays and who doesn't during those final few weeks of the season.
The Indianapolis Colts became the poster children for this approach when they pulled a great number of their starters - including quarterback Peyton Manning - and thus tanked thier game against the New York Jets, vaulting the Jets towards the playoffs and turnout out the lights on the prospect of a perfect season.
Then the next week, on an icy field in Buffalo, there's manning on the field throwing passes directed at Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark so that they can each get to 100 catches in a season. As soon as they did, both players left the game. (Just as an aside, what's the big deal about the obsession in sports with oval digits, I mean just because we were born with 10 fingers and toes ... )
So if it was too risky to have those guys play the fourth quarter against the Jets, how can it be okay to have them out on the field against the Bills in a move clearly all about padding their stats.
Same thing with the Arizona Cardinals who kept Larry Fitzgerald in to try to get to the magic 100-catch mark.
It all suggests that it's worth taking risks to achieve individual accomplishments. But not so to protect the integrity of the game.