The exchange between Blakeman, Slater:

Joey007 said:

But at end of the day, the defense could not make the needed stops.

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I mean, they sort of did. Until the refs intervened. That Butler DPI was ticky tacky. Especially since the refs were letting things go all game, such as grabbing Gronk's arm and jersey and never throwing flags. The refs give the players a feel for how they're going to call things all game long - they can't just suddenly change things around late in the 4th Q.

Then that pick play. The Jets ran a few legal ones throughout the game. But that pick that got them an enormous gain in OT was blatantly obvious.

Re-watch the footage and pay attention to the coin. It appeared to be tails, but Clete said it was heads.

The Patriots called heads. Slater was not aware of the fix apparently, he thought they had lost the coin toss and said "we'll kickoff that way" or something to that effect. When he heard they had won the coin toss, he then tried to tell the referee that they wanted to receive.

They're fixing the games.

aluminum seats said:

It was an unorthodox decision, which tends to flummox the masses when something doesn't work. The Pats scored one offensive TD all day, and it was highly doubtful they'd go the length of the field there. The choice was to kick. If the defense prevents a TD, it's all beneficial then to the Pats:

--If it's a three and out, a fg wins, and the Pats have good field position. If it's any stop at all, fg wins.

--If the Jets kick a fg, the Pats can use all 4 downs repeatedly, knowing they need to score.

--If the defense gives up a td, pats lose. That's what happened. Risk reward.

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yup..and I agree with the call 100%

LivinLovin&Breathin_Brady said:

Re-watch the footage and pay attention to the coin. It appeared to be tails, but Clete said it was heads.

The Patriots called heads. Slater was not aware of the fix apparently, he thought they had lost the coin toss and said "we'll kickoff that way" or something to that effect. When he heard they had won the coin toss, he then tried to tell the referee that they wanted to receive.

They're fixing the games.

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Slater said they wanted to kick in a postgame interview. Belichick told him to.

LivinLovin&Breathin_Brady said:

Re-watch the footage and pay attention to the coin. It appeared to be tails, but Clete said it was heads.

The Patriots called heads. Slater was not aware of the fix apparently, he thought they had lost the coin toss and said "we'll kickoff that way" or something to that effect. When he heard they had won the coin toss, he then tried to tell the referee that they wanted to receive.

They're fixing the games.

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Congratulations this is the most convoluted conspiracy theory I've ever heard.

The media is getting this one wrong people....Slater did NOT make a mistake by choosing to kick. That was what he was told to do. The confusion had to do with the direction. The Pats wanted wind at back and to kick in specific direction. The ref allowed the Jets to pick the direction. If Slater made a mistake, and I'm not sure if he did, it was that he wasn't clear that the direction was his top priority, not kicking it.

Froob said:

That's kind of stupid considering the Jets punting was killing it today. Whatever though....Bengals probably don't win tomorrow.

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Which is where the wind was maybe coming into the equation.

We can have a discussion on the merits of kicking / receiving if your team struggles to pick up third downs. But I cant stand how people are making fun of a fully reasonable decision without picking up the very obvious reasons why it happened.

Slater in an interview clearly states Bill told him to defer to definitely kick off. Period. . !

My friend who was there said there was no wind. Sounds like it all might be moot unless Metlife is built weird.

Danger Zone said:

Not sure if OT rules are the same as Kickoff rules.

• Which goal his team will defend: Instead of receiving the kickoff, the captain may elect to kick off and choose a goal to defend. Captains sometimes take this option if they believe that weather will be a factor in the outcome of the game. For example, in choosing which goal to defend, the player believes that his team will have the wind at its back for the second quarter and the crucial final quarter of the game.

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That's not correct. In particular, "the captain may elect to kick off and choose a goal to defend" is wrong. A team cannot both choose to kick off and pick the direction.

Leaving off deferral (not relevant in OT) the winner can only do one of the following three things:
1) Pick a goal to defend (in which case the other team chooses to KO or receive).
2) Choose to kick off (in which case the other team chooses the goal to defend).
3) Choose to receive (in which case the other team chooses the goal to defend).

There is no way to choose both a goal and to kick off. The best you can do is pick the goal you want to defend and hope the other team chooses to receive (assuming you really want to kick off).

Matt Chatham ‏@chatham58 38m38 minutes ago
Clete says "u want to kick" before Slater echos that phrase. Meaning official had been told what Pats wanted prior to toss. That's typical

QuantumMechanic said:

That's not correct. In particular, "the captain may elect to kick off and choose a goal to defend" is wrong. A team cannot both choose to kick off and pick the direction.

Leaving off deferral (not relevant in OT) the winner can only do one of the following three things:
1) Pick a goal to defend (in which case the other team chooses to KO or receive).
2) Choose to kick off (in which case the other team chooses the goal to defend).
3) Choose to receive (in which case the other team chooses the goal to defend).

There is no way to choose both a goal and to kick off. The best you can do is pick the goal you want to defend and hope the other team chooses to receive (assuming you really want to kick off).

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Right...better choice would probably have been to give the Jets the wind.

robertweathers said:

Not in OT. Slater had a brain fart

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We had done it once before

It's not sabotage. The patriots wanted to kick,

Go watch the replay, Bellichick is telling Slater to take one of the sides of the field, which would let the jets choose to kick/receive.

The mistake here is that slater should have said we want to defend in a direction, not "we want to kick that way"

Froob said:

Slater said they wanted to kick in a postgame interview. Belichick told him to.

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What else is he going to say?

Watch it over and listen to Slater at the end. He didn't realized they won the toss, and technically, they didn't win the toss. But Slater already screwed up at that point.

smurfalarm said:

Congratulations this is the most convoluted conspiracy theory I've ever heard.

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Look at the coin and tell me I'm lying. It was tails. Sound crazy, I know, but I saw what I saw.

Danger Zone said:

Not sure if OT rules are the same as Kickoff rules.

If that player calls the toss correctly, his team gets to choose one of three privileges:

• Which team receives the kickoff: Generally, teams want to start the game on offense and have the opportunity to score as early as possible, so the team who wins the toss usually opts to receive. They’re known as the receiving team. The referee, swinging his leg in a kicking motion, then points to the other team’s captains as the kicking team.
  
  
• Which goal his team will defend: Instead of receiving the kickoff, the captain may elect to kick off and choose a goal to defend. Captains sometimes take this option if they believe that weather will be a factor in the outcome of the game. For example, in choosing which goal to defend, the player believes that his team will have the wind at its back for the second quarter and the crucial final quarter of the game.
  
  
• When to decide: The team that wins the coin flip can defer,giving it the right to choose between kicking and receiving the second-half kickoff.

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Froob said:

Was it really windy out there? Why would they kick off?

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There was about a 20 yard difference between kickoffs with and against the wind at times. I noticed it before. Both kickers boomed them out on one side and some failed to reach the goal line on the other.

The dumbass referee is supposed to ask what your choice is, not if you want to kick.

I am a high school referee for which I know it is different in the NFL but I wanted to try and clarify some things that may be confusing people.

The opening coin toss of the game there are 4 options:

Kick - You elect to kickoff which obviously means that the other team will receive and they get to choose which direction they want to go. The other team will also get the option in the 2nd half and will receive both halves if you choose this option.

Receive - You elect to receive the ball.

Defer - You are deferring your option to the second half for which you can kick or receive to start the 2nd half but obviously you will receive.

Defend - You can choose which end to defend but that is your option so the other team will receive ball both halves.


In OT you have 3 options:

Kick - Your option is to kick meaning the other team will receive based on your option and then their option is which end they want to defend.

Receive - You receive the ball.

Defend - You select which end you want to defend and then the other team gets the decision of receive or kick. This is what Slater should've done if they were playing the wind.


Now in answer to why Blakeman asked Slater do you want to kick wasn't to coax him into a decision at least we hope. As officials we always ask both head coaches at the beginning of the game and before OT (if it gets to this point) what is your option if you win the toss. That is why I believe Blakeman asked him because the Pats had already informed him that they wanted to kick if they won the toss.

bigcountry75 said:

Now in answer to why Blakeman asked Slater do you want to kick wasn't to coax him into a decision at least we hope. As officials we always ask both head coaches at the beginning of the game and before OT (if it gets to this point) what is your option if you win the toss. That is why I believe Blakeman asked him because the Pats had already informed him that they wanted to kick if they won the toss.

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Can you tell me what you would do if someone would say "we want to kick that way" ?

From an amateur perspective I would tell the player that you can't choose both.. to kick and a direction and make him explicitly tell me what he wants. I honestly think that because Blakeman was informed of the kicking decision beforehand he didn't listen as carefully to what Slater was saying and didn't realize that Slater's intent was to kick into a specific direction (e.g. defend).

Not blaming Blakeman at all because he did everything by the rules but I find it a bit surprising that it happened despite Slater's clear intent on choosing the direction. Yes the phrasing should have been better but to me the intent was still clear.

Danny said:

Because the Patriots won the toss and chose to kick. The Jets then get to choose which end of the field they get.

What Slater meant to do was choose which end to defend.

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That's not what BB has said. Maybe he's just covering for his guy, but in his presser he said that he instructed Slater to choose to "kick."

I posted this in another thread, so apologies if you've already read it.

When a team "defers" after winning the coin toss, it is deferring its opportunity to receive the ball until the beginning of the second half. Since there is no additional OT in a preseason or regular season game, where the game is reset as it is at halftime, there is, by definition, nothing to which the team that wins the toss can "defer." So, the correct thing to say was "Kick" or "Receive." Slater said exactly the right thing. He also said it on direct instructions from BB. He was just confused momentarily about the fact that he did not also get to choose the goal the Patriots would defend. The official handled the situation correctly. Once he said, "Kick," Slater's role was over. The official was right to ignore him; he's the Referee of a high stakes transaction between adults, not a nanny who has to explain the rules to one of them.

Here's what the rule book says:
Rule 16, Section 1, Article 2:
ARTICLE 2. END OF REGULATION
At the end of regulation playing time, the Referee shall immediately toss a coin at the center of the field, in accordance with rules pertaining to a usual pregame toss (4-2-2). The visiting team captain is to again call the toss. [my emphasis in bold]

Rule, 4, Section 2, Article 2 (see bold above)
Rule 4, Section 2, Article 2: Not more than three minutes before the kickoff of the first half, the Referee, in the presence of both team’s captains (limit of six per team, all of whom must be uniformed members of the Active List) shall toss a coin at the center of the field. Prior to the Referee’s toss, the call of “heads” or “tails” must be made by the captain of the visiting team, or by the captain designated by the Referee if there is no home team. Unless the winner of the toss defers his choice to the second half, he must choose one of two privileges, and the loser is given the other. The two privileges are:
a) The opportunity to receive the kickoff, or to kick off; or
(b) The choice of goal his team will defend

However, unless it is a postseason game, in OT there is nothing to which to defer.

The arrangements are different only in the postseason (Rule 16, Section 1, Article 5):

ARTICLE 5. OVERTIME IN POSTSEASON

The following shall apply to overtime games in the postseason:

1. If the score is tied at the end of a 15-minute overtime period, or if the second team’s initial possession has not ended, another overtime period will begin, and play will continue, regardless of how many 15-minute periods are necessary.
2. Between each overtime period, there shall be a two-minute intermission, but there shall be no halftime intermission after the second period. At the beginning of the third overtime period, the captain who lost the coin toss prior to the first overtime period shall have the first choice of the two privileges in 4-2-2, unless the team that won the coin toss deferred. [my emphasis in bold again]