Being great in September is not as important as being great in late November/December.
Some teams shoot out of the gates and are about as good in game 1 as they are going to get. They peak early and then decline a bit towards the end of the year.
Other teams struggle out of the gates and only get their acts together in the last 4 or 5 games as they fight for a playoff spot.
If I could make a general characterization of the way the Pats have approached it under Bellicheck, it is that they steadily get better as the year progresses, with a GOAL of peaking at playoff time. Pats often use rookies in various places in their line ups, no doubt as cap control. And so these young players develop over the year. And, the Pats tend to sort of reinvent themselves each year according to their players ability but also to where the league is trending.
I'm not saying that McVay is necessarily following that model; but I think he is borrowing from the overall concept. Because if you want to be hot in game 1, you better play lots of your starters in preseason. Otherwise, regular season games 1 and 2 especially are your "preseason games". But if you want to be good at the end of the year, then you better keep your best players healthy, and you better give your younger players plenty of minutes to develop.
A complex balance to achieve.
