The year they won it all, they, Manning threw for 220 yards in week 17 in a win over the Dolphins (grabbing the #3 seed in the AFC at 12-4 over the 12-4 Patriots).

Every year they've 'rested', they've lost.

So perhaps it was a little obsessive, but with ESPN.com having a ten year history, it took me about 15 minutes to look up the info.

Years missing playoffs ...

2001: 6-10 (missed playoffs)

Years going into playoffs without rest ...

2000: 10-6 (5 seed) Lost to Dolphins, 1st Rd. (0-1)
2002: 10-6 (5 seed) Routed by Jets, 1st Rd. (0-1)
2003: 12-4 (3 seed) Beat Kansas City and Denver, lost to Patriots in Champ. Gm (2-3)
2006: 12-4 (3 seed) Beat Chiefs, Ravens, Pats and Bears, won Super Bowl (6-3)

Years going into playoffs with rest ...

2004: 12-4 (3 seed) Beat broncos, lost to Patriots in Divisional Rd. (1-1)
2005: 14-2 (1 seed) Lost to Steelers in Divisional Rd. (1-2)
2007: 13-3 (2 seed) Lost to Chargers in Divisional Rd. (1-3)
2008: 12-4 (5 seed) Lost to Chargers in Wild Card Rd. (1-4)
2009: 14-1 ... to be continued ...

At least the Colts are making a great study case about whether teams should rest their players. Definitely did their best when they were fighting for seeding, and did their worst when Sorgi got most of the snaps in week 17, didn't even matter whether they won in week 17 or not. (Manning's first two trips to the playoffs not withstanding ... ).

As far as memories go, I think it was 2005 when resting really crushed their momentum (losing 2 of 3 before the playoffs).

Note ... holy smokes, what a great decade.