In case you didn't know bb is a genuis!

[robbomango]

Choosing to make Manning and co go into the strong 20 mph crosswinds, where they'd be limited in their passing, along with any potential of a long FG.

Of course this also allowed us to have the wind at our backs, where Brady would utilize the wind benefit, along with any shot at a FG from Gostkowski.

Due to the recent OT rule changes, this made the gamble a bit easier to swallow, due to only having to trust the defense to hold them to a FG or less.

So if we took the ball 1st we would have gone into the wind? Sorry Supa I'm obviously confused, didn't know the toss decides what end of the field to start from.

I'm so confused
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[BKBroiler]

That wind had a huge impact on STs. I don't think people watching on TV realized how much it was gusting at points. Watching Gost and Prater warm up was unreal. Both were struggling to hit from 40 yds into the wind. So effectively, taking the wind was forcing Denver to get to the 23yd line to have a good chance to kick a FG. BB rightfully believed that his defense could keep them from getting there (and they did...twice).

I doubt taking the wind the help Brady out was even part of the motive because stats from the game showed that the offense was more effective going into the wind than going with it.

 

[supafly]

So if we took the ball 1st we would have gone into the wind? Sorry Supa I'm obviously confused, didn't know the toss decides what end of the field to start from.

I'm so confused
http://gifsoup.com

Yes, sir. You've got it perfectly.

Go back to the previous page and see my post near the bottom in response to you; the second one may explain it more clearly than the first.

Post #19 on page two.

You've got it down though.

 

[BKBroiler]

So if we took the ball 1st we would have gone into the wind? Sorry Supa I'm obviously confused, didn't know the toss decides what end of the field to start from.

I'm so confused
http://gifsoup.com

If you win the toss you can either choose to receive / kick or select which side to defend. The Pats chose which endzone they wanted to defend, which gave the Broncos the choice between receive / kick. If I'm not mistaken, BB has done this before against Buffalo in Buffalo when the wind was just out of control.

 

[robbomango]

Yes, sir. You've got it perfectly.

Go back to the previous page and see my post near the bottom in response to you; the second one may explain it more clearly than the first.

Just read it, big thanks, never knew that little nugget after all these years. The decision makes a bit more sense now...

 

[supafly]

I doubt taking the wind the help Brady out was even part of the motive because stats from the game showed that the offense was more effective going into the wind than going with it.

Normally, having the wind at your back helps pretty significantly as opposed to driving right into the heart of it.

Tonight may have been nothing more than a coincidence due to having 3 shortened drives of 35 yds or less that came off of turnovers/poor punts.

You could easily tell on the kickoffs that kicking into the wind made the ball stop and hang at about the 10-15 yd line. It's definitely a huge factor in the kicking game and FG attempts.

 

[Joker]

krist, one Denver kickoff the guy put the friggin ball in the stands behind the goal post. In warmups, Gost kicked a 35 yarder that went to his left about 35 yards, no shyt.

 

[supafly]

If I'm not mistaken, BB has done this before against Buffalo in Buffalo when the wind was just out of control.

Yes, you are certainly correct. On top of that, he just recently took the wind into account during the MIA game about a month ago. We were able to take advantage of it and came roaring back in the second half. Actually, this is now the 3rd game in the past 4 (including last Monday night) where the wind played a factor. It's getting kind of old to me personally, but I can't argue with 2/3 wins.

Of course I don't believe that he had ever done it in overtime before though, but the new rules from the past 2-3 yrs have allowed for that kind of risk.

Watch--I guarantee you that others will be making the same decision now too. Belichick doesn't get the credit that he deserves sometimes, but I honestly believe that he is the greatest coach in many, many years. We've seen many other coaches kind of "copy" off of BB's choices, and I'd imagine that him having the balls to make this call will make it easier for them too also.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

If you win the toss you can either choose to receive / kick or select which side to defend. The Pats chose which endzone they wanted to defend, which gave the Broncos the choice between receive / kick. If I'm not mistaken, BB has done this before against Buffalo in Buffalo when the wind was just out of control.

Yep. Winning the coin toss allows you to decide which of two decisions to make first: (1) whether to kick or receive first, OR (2) which end zone to defend at the start of the half. You also have the choice of deferring that decision to the start of the second half. Whichever choice you DON'T make, your opponent does. [So, if you defer, your opponent gets to make the first decision, and then you get to make the remaining one.]

So, in this case, having won the toss, BB elected to defend the north(?) end zone. That meant the Donkeys got to choose whether to kick or receive.

As you noted, Belichick made a similar decision in Wind Bowl I. When he had the choice to start the second half, he chose to defend so that Cassel would have the wind at his back in the fourth quarter.

 

[supafly]

krist, one Denver kickoff the guy put the friggin ball in the stands behind the goal post. In warmups, Gost kicked a 35 yarder that went to his left about 35 yards, no shyt.

Was the place decently loud tonight, as opposed to the norm? Or did a lot of people give up and leave at halftime?

Maybe a bit of both I'd imagine.

 

[Joker]

Watch--I guarantee you that others will be making the same decision now too. Belichick doesn't get the credit that he deserves sometimes, but I honestly believe that he is the greatest coach in many, many years. We've seen many other coaches kind of "copy" off of BB's choices, and I'd imagine that him having the balls to make this call will make it easier for them too also.

If THIS doesn't make the ESPN/NFL hate brigade take it down a notch, nothing ever will. We even got the PI call called exactly like the PI call in Carolina was called...what the hell are they going to use NOW for excuses? "Oh, well, against the Patriots is OK, for them?..that flag MUST be negated for ..uh...well...er...um...anyway..NEGATED!!!"...yes I'm still jerked about that travesty. Ironic, the NFL got a great contest tonight, legendary in fact, and it contains the very issue they tried to say never happened. Sweet irony.

 

[supafly]

Yep. Winning the coin toss allows you to decide which of two decisions to make first: (1) whether to kick or receive first, OR (2) which end zone to defend at the start of the half. You also have the choice of deferring that decision to the start of the second half. Whichever choice you DON'T make, your opponent does. [So, if you defer, your opponent gets to make the first decision, and then you get to make the remaining one.]

So, in this case, having won the toss, BB elected to defend the north(?) end zone. That meant the Donkeys got to choose whether to kick or receive.

As you noted, Belichick made a similar decision in Wind Bowl I. When he had the choice to start the second half, he chose to defend so that Cassel would have the wind at his back in the fourth quarter.

Once I saw Ninkovich and McCourty looking at each other rather confused, as if there were some sort of debate I immediately knew what was going on

Luckily it worked out. I'd have hated to read the headlines of "Belichick out thinks himself once again" tomorrow morning.

 

[Ozymandias]

I'm not understanding the sentiment that coach B would've gotten hate for this if it didn't work out the way that it did. It was absolutely the right call to make. Denver was scared to even try a long field at the end there because of the strong winds, hence why they punted instead.

Coach B plays the elements better than anyone out there. If anything he should be getting huge praise for this whether it worked or didn't. Honestly, it was the difference in this being a win or a loss. How people can't see that is baffling to me.

 

[mrscruff]

there was one really questionable play call to me. the decision to throw it deep after the (what should have been) jammer PI against thompkins (3rd and 4 i believe)

And It seemed to me that it was a deliberate ploy to go after Jammer after Brady demonstrably berated the refs and even burned a timeout . Brady knew the refs would not change their mind but made sure the officials kept the incident in mind in future "50-50" decisions.

And going after Jammer again after he had in fact committed PI means there may have been the slight possibility he played the next play a little softer but although that was not the case, if the ball had landed in the field of play, I wonder how the refs would have called the incident.

 

[Poker]

BB made the right call last night for sure with the wind factor.

However, do some of you remember that when the overtime rules first changed to the current system two years ago, there was a lot of analysis and debate about whether to take the ball first or defer was optimal, even in perfect weather conditions? It is not obvious. There were a lot of articles like this one http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/06/sports/football/06overtime.html?_r=0

Basically, from a quantitative view, there is a lot more value in the second possession than meets the eye. The wind tips the scales.

 

[DarrylS]

This much heralded, record setting, ready for canonization offense had to punt 8 times last night...

And this was with a patchwork defense...

 

[convertedpatsfan]

I'm not understanding the sentiment that coach B would've gotten hate for this if it didn't work out the way that it did. It was absolutely the right call to make. Denver was scared to even try a long field at the end there because of the strong winds, hence why they punted instead.

Coach B plays the elements better than anyone out there. If anything he should be getting huge praise for this whether it worked or didn't. Honestly, it was the difference in this being a win or a loss. How people can't see that is baffling to me.

I agree. I would have defended this decision even if we lost.

You're basically trading one opportunity to win the game outright with a TD vs. a huge advantage for the rest of the OT period.

With the wind at your back, a touchback was likely to start the possession, meaning anything less than 80 yards given up makes it worth it. If they kick a FG, you get a chance to tie or win, with the bonus that the wind pushes their FG range further and yours closer. This was a major factor that prevented Prater from even attempting that long FG.

Brady wasn't as affected by the wind, but there were definitely some Manning ducks that hung up a bit. Colquitt's first punt only went 40 yards while Allen's first punt went 51.

So for a lot of reasons, it was the right decision. I'm sure if we lost, BB would get killed for it, and if he had to make this decision 9 more times in similar games, he'd definitely lose at least one or two of them. Nothing is 100% guaranteed in football. But the decision was an excellent one, regardless of the outcome.

 

[RoughingthePasser]

One comment I really like is what Scott Pioli said regarding the Broncos:
Scott Pioli on the Patriots on NBC before the game and what they need to do to win: “First thing they are going to have to do is slow down this illegal pick play that they (Broncos) have. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if Bill Belichick and his assistant Ernie Adams are in there talking to the officials right now, and talking to them about looking out for this pick play because the offense under Peyton Manning is a little bit different than it used to be. He is throwing more shorter passes. He’s doing a lot of things underneath. So, I think they will be trying to slow those things down.”
It Is What It Is » What pundits were saying about Patriots on Sunday

and it's not a "RUB" as Collinswrth was saying

Peyton Manning as always been privileged.

Family, friends in the league....he and mini-forehead (lucky eli) were GROOMED like so many of those privileged kids you grew up with that had fixed marriages, home down payments, free cars, trust funds and entire college tuitions ...

Peyton, Irsay, Polian... have previousy had the defensive interference calls changed to make football more pass friendly for the Mannings.

 

[PatsBoy12]

This is the type of call that usually galvanizes a team. I was losing my mind a bit when I saw the Pats weren't going to receive. That's why they're paid to coach and play, and I watch the games at home for free, I guess.

 

[Bella*chick]

In the calmness and rationality of today, I agree completely. You make the call ten times out of ten. The wind was horrific and that was even down here in Northern VA.

However what separates BB from the rest of all of us and even the rest of those employed as NFL head coaches is he sees the situation calmly and rationally in the thick of the moment. He doesn't do stuff based on pure emotion. Our team is so very lucky to be guided by someone like this. It's super rare, imo.