After a few minutes Sunday stewing over the Indianapolis Colts’ lack of respect for NFL history — I guess I should have known that when the moving vans pulled out of Baltimore in 1984 — I began to hope the New England Patriots will use the same approach next weekend.

The situations are different, of course. Indianapolis still had a chance to become the first 19-0 team in league history as it played the New York Jets, and held a third-quarter lead before the Colts pulled the plug and removed all their stars from the game, presumably to save them for the playoffs.

The Jets not only won 29-15, but with the victory moved within one more win of clinching a playoff berth.

It’s really nothing new for the Colts. In 2005 Indy was 13-0 before sitting Peyton Manning and Co. The Colts soon lost in the regular season, then were one-and-done in the playoffs.

The Patriots had a similar brush with history in 2007 and chose to play their starters in a win over the New York Giants to end the regular season 16-0.

The Giants exacted revenge in the Super Bowl, but New England at least maintained its quest for immortality until the final game’s final 35 seconds.

The Patriots have no such historical issues this Sunday at Houston. They’ll finish either third or fourth in the AFC, meaning a home game for the first round of the playoffs followed by potential road games at San Diego and Indianapolis.

The Patriots are undefeated at home this season, so there’s less concern about the opponent for a first-round game than for the health of Tom Brady, Vince Wilfork and Ty Warren. For without that group healthy, there’s no chance for a trip to the Super Bowl.

Even with its stars healthy, that may seem like a longshot; but with no immediate history in the making, a conservative game plan for the regular-season finale seems prudent.

— Ernie Clark

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Play or rest them?

So now what do you do if you’re New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick?

You’ve clinched the AFC East and will be either the third or fourth seed in the AFC playoffs.

A win over Houston on Sunday or a Cincinnati loss to the New York Jets will earn the Patriots the No. 3 seed and a first-round home game against the sixth seed.

A win would then send the Pats to No. 2 seed San Diego.

If they wind up as the fourth seed, they will host the fifth seed and a victory would send them to top seed Indianapolis.

First of all, he should rest any starter with an injury that could be re-aggravated.

I would only have quarterback Tom Brady in for a half.

Secondly, I would use running backs Fred Taylor and Sammy Morris just like they did Sunday in their impressive 35-7 win over Jacksonville. Taylor is coming off an injury and needs to further refine his game timing and game shape. Morris and Taylor both ran well against the Jaguars and that bodes well for the playoffs.

An effective running game takes pressure off Brady and also opens up pass routes.

Laurence Maroney may have fumbled his way out of the rotation, but he should also get some carries against Houston. Since he has been running north and south with authority instead of finessing his way east to west, he has been very productive.

But you can’t afford to be fumble-prone in the playoffs.

Thirdly, I would use it to firm up my playoff lineup and do a little experimenting.

Try a few new plays on offense and a different defensive scheme or two, something you might use in the playoffs.

Although you don’t want to tip off your future opponent, you should first try something new in a regular-season game to see if it has playoff potential.

The playoffs are not a time to experiment.

— Larry Mahoney

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Optimism renewed

One game does not a postseason make, but it’s difficult not to view the Patriots’ playoff possibilities with renewed optimism after watching New England thoroughly dismantle Jacksonville Sunday.

For the first time in at least nine weeks, the Patriots put it all together — excelling on offense, defense and special teams — to embarrass a fairly solid Jaguars squad that lost to a full-powered, undefeated (at the time) Indianapolis team twice by a total of six points this season. And Jacksonville was not short on motivation as one of six 7-7 teams in the thick of the AFC fight for a playoff spot.

Still, the Patriots made them look silly by taking a 35-0 lead that could and should have easily been 42-0 if not for a Laurence Maroney fumble at the goal line in the first quarter. In fact, Maroney was about the only thing remotely sub-par regarding New England’s overall Sunday afternoon performance.

And yes, it bears keeping in mind this is the same Patriots squad that didn’t exactly conjure up visions of dancing sugar plums in their fans’ heads the previous four weeks with a 2-2 record. New England’s average margin of victory of 8.5 points and an average score of just 18.5 total points over that span was anything but inspiring.

Still, much of New England’s mid- to late-season malaise has much to do with a flood of injuries, and many of those DNPs are starting to not only suit up but play significant minutes.

As good as the offense looked, it was New England’s defense that really impressed against the Jaguars. Especially impressive was the way the Pats contained one of the best runners in the NFL in Maurice Jones-Drew and kept mobile quarterback David Garrard from scrambling and wreaking unscripted havoc, all without the services of Vince Wilfork — literally a huge loss — up front.

Yes, Indianapolis is still the favorite and San Diego is playing as well as anyone, but suddenly, the Patriots look like they’re marching into the playoffs to the solid beat of an accomplished drummer.

— Andrew Neff