Team to kickoff first in Super Bowl

This bet is one that "perhaps" someone with inside information can beat. It is not beyond the realm of possibilities that a reporter had an off the record conversation with a coach who said--- "Of course I'd take the ball against an offensive powerhouse like the Pats", or , "I would always defer against a team with a pass rush like the Giants". That would make the bet 100% if you bet on the Giants receiving the ball.

Giants are going to want to keep Brady off the field. I say they take the ball.

Quote: SOOPOO

This bet is one that "perhaps" someone with inside information can beat. It is not beyond the realm of possibilities that a reporter had an off the record conversation with a coach who said--- "Of course I'd take the ball against an offensive powerhouse like the Pats", or , "I would always defer against a team with a pass rush like the Giants". That would make the bet 100% if you bet on the Giants receiving the ball.

I doubt a coach would reveal their strategy to a reporter, even if pretty obvious. You can see on TV how coaches cover their mouths with a piece of paper when they talk, evidently to prevent lip readers with binoculars in the stands from telling the other team what they are saying. So, secrecy seems to be taken pretty seriously.

On the other hand, this would be juicy inside information if somebody had a connection to one of the coaches.

Quote: FinsRule

Giants are going to want to keep Brady off the field. I say they take the ball.

They are going to have to let them start with the ball one half or the other. However, I've heard the theory that they won't want to let the Pats score first and then play from behind. Personally, I poo-poo these psychological arguments as effective, but know teams make decisions for bad reasons up to the highest levels.

Quote: cclub79

Recently (last 10 years?) a player accidentally said "kick" and not "defer", and the team indeed lost the ball there and to start the second half. So you want to receive or defer in the first half, and only receive in the second half.

This happened to my team in high school. We played in the lowest division in the state (1A 8-man) since we were so small, and I'm pretty sure for years the refs had done the coin flip at the beginning of the game, and whoever won the flip would just say "kick or receive" and then they would reverse it at half time, much more simplistic than the "defer" procedure. Now technically I think the rule book was written the same way as the NFL one, but the refs at our level were not exactly the most highly-trained individuals so probably no one really cared. But before one game the other team won the flip and said "defer." My buddy and I were both captains but he was the one elected to speak in the pre-game meeting, and said we'd kick off since we wanted the ball in the second half. Lo and behold, we ended up kicking off to start both halves since we didn't understand the rules. Even our coach didn't know what was going on, since for his entire coaching career at our school (which spanned a good 5 or 6 years) they just reversed the decision at the beginning of the 2nd half no matter what.

Anyway, just a personal aside there. I say my buddy made the mistake to defer blame from myself, but I probably would have done the same thing, haha. From that point onward we figured it out.

According to ESPN:
Amazing but true: The NFC team has won 14 consecutive coin tosses

There was an AFL championship that went into overtime. I forget the teams involved, but one coach told his players to pick one specific side because he wanted the wind at their backs, even if they had to kick the ball. So they win the toss, and the player in charge says "we'll kick the ball" rather than "we pick the east side." So they kicked first, and the other team picked the side the first team wanted :)

I forget what happened next.

Quote: slyther

According to ESPN:
Amazing but true: The NFC team has won 14 consecutive coin tosses

Do they show the breakdown?
It would be more interesting to see how many of the 14 were because the NFC actually called the winning flip.

I read that in 2008 Brady was injured on their first possession after electing to receive and, since then, N. E. has won the coin toss 28 times and deferred every time

guido: it did not.
john: yes I read that too.

Quote: AcesAndEights

Lo and behold, we ended up kicking off to start both halves since we didn't understand the rules.

That's an amusing story. Were there any arguments between the coaches and refs? Did the ref warn you that you might be making a mistake when you chose to kick?

I agree, the decision should just be "kick or receive," with the understanding the other team does you chose in the second half.