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Taking The Ball First - What I Liked Best About Smith


jlrfalcon

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The biggest thing I miss about Smith was that he would always take the ball first when we won the toss. Quinn is obviously the opposite.

Take the ball -

1) You give your offense time to put up points before the other team even touches it

2) You will get 2 series in 1st Quarter and a chance to at least score in one of the two

3) You could have a returned kickoff and immediately go up 7-0

4) You could have a long 10 minute drive to score and really have the other team down

5) Your offense can immediately show off any plays they have practiced all week

Give the other team the ball -

1) You get the ball first in Q3 which is good if you are down but this says you expect the team to be down?

2) It could be meaningless if you are already down by a large amount

3) Your defense might hold the other team and you get good field position after a punt but the other team could drive to the 50 before you stop them and you are instead pinned at the 10 yard line when you first get the ball

Why do we always give the other team the ball especially when our offense is considered to be our better side?

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  • 1 month later...

1) just because you score first doesn't mean you'll win

2) you don't know how many series we will get, even so the same could be said for the 3rd quarter late in the game where it really matters

3) you can do that at half too ya know

4) read #3

5) you can show off adjustments

Also

Just because you defer doesn't mean you expect to be down.

Our offense is trash.

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Same thread, same day, two weeks in a row...

Belichick prefers defer. You get two for one. If you control the clock correctly in the first half you'll get the ball right before halftime with a chance to put up points more, then get it again to start the second half.

Getting the ball first in the second half isn't fatalist thinking at all. If you're ahead it gives you to opportunity to throw the kill shot. If you are behind it gives you a chance to turn the momentum back your way.

Don't understand the line of thinking that there's a right or wrong way to do this football thing.

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Honestly Im a big fan of deffering almost regardless of team makeup. Something about knowing you'll have the the ball first in the second half either to pour it on or help erase a deficit with the advantage of second half adjustments.

This. It's helpful no matter whether you're up, down, or tied.

Always defer unless your offense is lethal and you want to set the pace. Our offense has been anything but lethal this year.

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I will also point out that we had kicked off to start the game in 5 straight games before today and had lost all 5 of them.

For the season, we are 4-6 when we kick off first but 2-1 (about to be 3-1?) when we receive first.

Correlation =|= causation

The biggest difference between the first 5 games and the last 5 is that they won the close games early and lost the close games since.

Its an interesting age old philosophical debate, but lets not pretend like deferring or taking the ball has made a major difference in the outcome of games. The teams play for the other drives has.

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