Opening Kickoff - why did we elect to receive?

[GrogansArmy]

Granted, with how we played it wouldn't have made much of a difference overall. Still tho, it was a bit of a head scratcher. BB ALWAYS defers and this time he elected to receive? I can only presume he wanted us to score quickly and quiet the crowd. Did he forget the statistics though? The team that defers more often than not wins due to scoring at the half and getting it back again right away at the start of the 2nd half.

Am I missing something? Why would BB change that up all of a sudden when its worked so well for us for a long time?

 

[gronkykong]

we did a lot of weird stuffs today bud. That was one of it. Onto next season.
Why we did not play press but 10 yards off wr in first quarter was also a problem....

 

[saspack]

Denver is a weird place, it makes people act abnormally.

 

[BradyisGod]

Aside from just being strange, this decision actually did work out. Patriots got the first possession, and then killed the Denver drive to open the second half, which, if they were playing better, would have netted them a benefit.

 

[TinhWoodhead]

Aside from just being strange, this decision actually did work out. Patriots got the first possession, and then killed the Denver drive to open the second half, which, if they were playing better, would have netted them a benefit.

but Donks got a fg before the half..

 

[Pessimistic Pete]

Why did we dropkick against the Eagles?

Why did we elect to kick-off in overtime against the Jets?

Why did we elect to ****ing completely GIVE AWAY the #1 seed (and in turn a Super Bowl appearance) by letting the dreadful and dead Dolphins defeat us with the worst called game of Belichick's career?

Belichick is obviously the greatest coach in the NFL (this isn't even up for debate), that being said, I can't think of another year where he had as many decisions that I feel legit lost us games.

Obviously, there's been worse overall teams (2002, 2005, 2009, etc.) but this year it hurts even worse because despite the injuries, this team was the best team in the AFC and they way their December performance was honestly disgraceful.

 

[TinhWoodhead]

just like the red hoodie in the SB... wtf Bill?

 

[ViperGTS]

Why did we dropkick against the Eagles?

Why did we elect to kick-off in overtime against the Jets?

Why did we elect to ****ing completely GIVE AWAY the #1 seed (and in turn a Super Bowl appearance) by letting the dreadful and dead Dolphins defeat us with the worst called game of Belichick's career?

Belichick is obviously the greatest coach in the NFL (this isn't even up for debate), that being said, I can't think of another year where he had as many decisions that I feel legit lost us games.

Could it be he is slipping a bit? It's not a shame to say it but boy was this an off year.

 

[GrogansArmy]

He's only like 66, he can't be slipping yet, not till like 80 or something.

 

[Pessimistic Pete]

Could it be he is slipping a bit? It's not a shame to say it but boy was this an off year.

Again, I want to make it clear I wouldn't want anyone else in the league and give Bill all due respect.

But now I will no longer have that In Bill We Trust" automatic reaction to his decisions on the field.

Will I still trust him most of the time? Sure. But all of the examples I mentioned above are not in retrospect, they were all "WTF?" decisions in the moment and ended up having "WTF?" results.

The Dolphins game is still the most bizarrely called regular season game I've seen of the BB era. It was called like a week 2 preseason game despite EVERYTHING (aka the #1 seed) being on the line.

 

[bedford1974]

Stop

BB has proven to be right more than wrong

But yes he messed up

 

[festy1986]

Prolly have something to do with the sun

Or bill out coaching him self again like he has done for 2 months in a row

 

[LightSkinSmurf]

Belichick out thought himself. He did something he doesn't do 99 percent of the time in the biggest game of the year.

 

[Todd Bradley]

Why did we dropkick against the Eagles?

Why did we elect to kick-off in overtime against the Jets?

Why did we elect to ****ing completely GIVE AWAY the #1 seed (and in turn a Super Bowl appearance) by letting the dreadful and dead Dolphins defeat us with the worst called game of Belichick's career?

Belichick is obviously the greatest coach in the NFL (this isn't even up for debate), that being said, I can't think of another year where he had as many decisions that I feel legit lost us games.

Obviously, there's been worse overall teams (2002, 2005, 2009, etc.) but this year it hurts even worst because despite the injuries, this team was the best team in the AFC and they way their December performance was honestly disgraceful.

I know picking on Bill is considered blasphemy on this board, but I couldn't agree with this any more. Sums up my feelings exactly.

Legitimately every game we lost this year was due to some serious head scratching coaching decisions....

This team honestly could and should be undefeated heading into the Super Bowl.

@ctpatsfan77 How about you actually add to the discussion instead of throwing around a disagree button like a child. Tell me what exactly you disagree about....

 

[PatsGirl2011]

I thought he was trying to get a lead to send a message. It didn't work and obviously set the tone for the game. Arrogance,imo!

 

[captain insano]

Could it be he is slipping a bit? It's not a shame to say it but boy was this an off year.

hes getting up there in age. and it does happen.

 

[Gronkowski123]

such an arrogant decision from the GOAT

not the first time we've seen it this year.

 

[patriotfantyler]

I thought he was trying to get a lead to send a message. It didn't work and obviously set the tone for the game. Arrogance,imo!

This. I thought that he wanted to get out to a lead to force Manning to throw from the get go, not a bad strategy if we would have scored. Apparently some people on this forum could have stopped watching the game after the coin toss because they knew that it would cost the Pats the game

 

[ViperGTS]

I know picking on Bill is considered blasphemy on this board, but I couldn't agree with this any more. Sums up my feelings exactly.

Legitimately every game we lost this year was due to some serious head scratching coaching decisions....

This team honestly could and should be undefeated heading into the Super Bowl.

@ctpatsfan77 How about you actually add to the discussion instead of throwing around a disagree button like a child. Tell me what exactly you disagree about....

I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

[Todd Bradley]

I wouldn't hold my breath.

We're all fellow Pats fans on a message board, all sulking after a hard loss. Not all of us will feel the same about the outcome. But instead of conversing, some here just press a stupid disagree button and add nothing to the conversation.....So dumb and annoying.

I never press that button because it kills the point of even being on this message board. If I don't like what you say, I'm going to tell you why. Not press a button and hide.