Coin toss Question... Do you take the ball or pick a side?

With the crap weather that is supposed to hit tomorrow around game time with gusts up to 45+mph, I think special teams will end up playing a huge role tomorrow.

Question for you guys:

If we win the toss, do you take the ball or choose which direction you would want to finish the game in?

I re-watched the Philly-Saints game from last week last night, and Shane Graham could barely make his kicks reach the end zone, and if he kicks into the wind Percy will have a great running start.


I would choose a direction personally.. :mrgreen:

defer..at home.. always defer. Crowd is pumped, loud..ect
Sometimes when we get the ball first at home the crowd is either too loud for the first few snaps, and if we go 3 and out, the crowd isn't quite as loud.

Pick a side, always pick a side, especially when wind is involved.

Typically, Pete likes to defer to the second half, which i think is a good strategy for this team regardless of the weather. Our strategy of wearing down defenses in the first half and then capitalizing in the second half, means that we want the ball to start the second half more than to start the first. It is a bonus that we can choose direction.

So would I.

I'd want to have strong winds in the face of my opponent at the end of the 2nd half and at the end of the game.

Defer. I have a feeling that Peyton is planning an onside kick when we least expect it.

Defer.

It might mean kicking off in both halves, but we can also choose the wind in the second half (it might change mid-game, risky to choose a side based on how the wind MIGHT be in 3-4 hours time).

Opponents at Centurylink almost always choose to receive anyway in order to "quiet the crowd", but given we haven't conceded points on a single opening drive this year, it's a futile strategy.

If you would choose direction, wouldn't you want to choose the wind in the 2nd half? So you'd take the ball if you win the toss, and pick your side the 2nd half, right?

I'd defer in the first place, so it just works out that much better. I think it would be a good idea for Nola to defer as well and make our offense prove themselves instead of dealing with the D and crowd right away.

It's a toss up!!

GoHawks

themunn":369rlyf0 said:

Defer.

It might mean kicking off in both halves, but we can also choose the wind in the second half (it might change mid-game, risky to choose a side based on how the wind MIGHT be in 3-4 hours time).

Opponents at Centurylink almost always choose to receive anyway in order to "quiet the crowd", but given we haven't conceded points on a single opening drive this year, it's a futile strategy.

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Not sure where you are coming from here. If you Defer, you never kick off in both halves (at least not intentionally). That only happens if the team receiving the deferred choice says stupidly "we'll kick" or for some dumb reason the Hawks chose to kick when their choice comes up on the second half.

Always let the other team start with the ball. If the defense holds, you win immediate field position. More importantly, at the end of the half, two things can happen: The other team had the ball and now you get it, you had the ball and now you get it again. In the former situation, if they scored to end the half, you still get the ball as you normally would have so no loss. If they didn't score, the end of the half acts as a change of possession. In the latter situation, if you had the ball and didn't score, you get it back again for another go. If you scored to end the half, you get the ball back and the end of the half acts like a turnover. Either way, 50% of the time, the end of half is like a turnover in your favor and giving them the ball to start the game, with our defense, is like establishing instant field position. Plus, the defense gets a much longer breather after the half.

pmedic920":3jw1n57s said:

It's a toss up!!

GoHawks

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This is too funny.

I was thinking I would receive to give our offense some mojo and confidence, especially with Percy playing, but with the wind factor I go with pick a side.

They switch directions every quarter not half. Because the defense is the strength of team, it seems the preference is to defer.

hawkfan68":3oz0qxdp said:

They switch directions every quarter not half. Because the defense is the strength of team, it seems the preference is to defer.

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Defer also works better at home. The raising of the 12th Man flag always gets the crowd super hyped, and if we start on offense, it's hard to get the crowd calmed down... unless we go three and out, which sucks, and then we have trouble getting up for the first defensive series.

There's no downside to defer and starting on defense, unless the other team drives the length of the field and scores... but even in that case, when our offense goes out for the first time, they know what kind of game it's likely to be, and know that they need to drive.

FYI, that's never happened...

"They are the only NFL team not to give up any points on an opening drive and set a club season record for fewest points given up, so the New Orleans Saints will have their hands full when they visit Seattle for a divisional playoff game Saturday."

http://www.latimes.com/sports/football/ ... 2976.story

If we defer, we get the strength of our football team out there first, when the crowd is super hyped up. Like someone else mentioned, usually it gives us better field position as well. I'd say do this if we're really confident that we're going to have a lead in the 4th quarter. Wind won't affect running the ball as much.

Other than that, with that wind, I'd usually go for the wind at my back in the 4th quarter. This is a strategy I'd use vs. the 49ers, not the Saints. I honestly don't think it's going to be close enough to matter in the 4th tomorrow.

Generally defer.. But this one time I'd be tempted to take the ball first if I think Harvin would get a return. Even a 30 yard return by him would really
set mood in the team...can you imagine if he took it further? The place would go nuclear.

No team this year has scored on the Seahawks in their opening drive. Defer.

Defer. Keep in mind, no team has scored on their opening drive against us this year.

Ian Furness had an awesome idea,

knowing the over-thinking saints, they probably are going to defer (not in their repertoire).

he said we leave harvin off the field and just have our ST line up for the kick, then bring out Percy to stand in the end zone, I bet payton would be like
"no no we wanna receive now, we change our mind!"

I always prefer to kick. See how the game is going and make your adjustments and come out and execute. Then if you're going into half time down by a score you have the confidence of knowing you can get right back in the game. Or if you're already leading by a score or two, you can demoralize the other team by piling on. We've been a pretty good two-minute team this year. So you also run the possibility of doing something awesome like scoring right before the half then getting the ball right back after.