Why did the Redskins choose to Receive the ball on the opening possession?? (NOT complaining, just wondering)

[DM72]

If given the chance, I hope they defer Sunday.

[RandyHolt]

Its funny, I was dogging Shanahan and his research showing deferers win 60% of their games. We were failing at it.

My thinking was, why in the world would he keep trotting out our defense and see them get fleeced for a long slow score in all likelihood, and in doing so, has his best player on the bench, cold, and when he finally gets in there, is already feeling pressure to score. And feeling pressure from defenses that could be more aggressive up a score.

The Bengals game, RG3s first home game, we deferred and got instantly torched. All the energy sucked out of the crowd before RG3 could even get on the field. That was the tipping point where I saw it was failing. The fans were there to see RG3. RG3 was there to win anxious to do well, why make everyone wait?

I want RG3 out as early and often as possible to pressure teams, and looks like Mike agrees.

[Timmy Smith]

yeah i prefer deferring, especially at home in the playoffs. the crowd is just so, so amped at kickoff.

[RandyHolt]

My experience is that the crowd often hasn't even made it to the seats when the game starts. One first down or big play, the crowd grows quiet.

Our 12th man took a big hit when we left RFK anyways. While we will be amped up for the playoffs, I still think its wise to put your best foot forward.

That foot belongs to one RG3.

[Bubble Screen]

I don't get why this is such a big deal to fans. What difference does it make if you defer or receive to start the game? None. Because if you kick off to start the game, then you get the 2nd half kickoff. My theory, if I were a head coach, would probably be to defer. But only if I had a top flight defense. We don't have that. We have a top notch offense. So it's understandable why Shanahan would choose to receive.

[Hitman21ST]

Receiving puts the other team on its heels early. If we get the ball first and score, the other team is playing catch-up.

This isn't anything groundbreaking, but our defense plays better with a lead. Why not take the chance to give them an early lead?

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

we overanalyze everything on here. Just a couple of weeks ago, we were complaining about constantly deferring

[Bubble Screen]

Receiving puts the other team on its heels early. If we get the ball first and score, the other team is playing catch-up.

This isn't anything groundbreaking, but our defense plays better with a lead. Why not take the chance to give them an early lead?

True. But how often do teams take the opening kickoff and drive (usually 80 yards) down the field and score. And like I said, I can understand why Shanahan does it, because we have a really good offense. Conversely, if a team has a stout defense, why not kick off and play the field position game, because you get the opening kickoff of the 2nd half, anyway.

All I was saying is it's not a big deal either way. Not to the point that most fans seem to think.

[Hitman21ST]

True. But how often do teams take the opening kickoff and drive (usually 80 yards) down the field and score. And like I said, I can understand why Shanahan does it, because we have a really good offense. Conversely, if a team has a stout defense, why not kick off and play the field position game, because you get the opening kickoff of the 2nd half, anyway.

All I was saying is it's not a big deal either way. Not to the point that most fans seem to think.

True. I was just answering the OP though - nothing directed at you.

[Saqs]

What a lot of peeps opposing getting the ball first dont realize is that it's giving us a better chance to see how teams are choosing to defend us. We went with a lot of Zone/Read PA passes initially and saw that the Cowboys were simply sitting back and not biting at all. We know what happened in the second half.

[Rocky52Mc]

In Madden i always defer

And it's smart to do that. Because it's one person controlling the decision in a MUCH shorter time span. Thus, possessions = wins.

IN real football, the Redskins have strategy, can easily make someone punt on their first possession after halftime. Has absolutely nothing to do with Madden, it's confidence in your dynamic offense and defense to cover the field position.

[NLC1054]

The first half of the season, we would defer, the opposing team's offense would be on the field for eight minutes, and whether they scored or not it'd suck the wind out of our offensive gameplan.

Even if we go 3 and out on a first series, it gives us an idea of how the defense is going to play us, and the next series is (usually) better. Those opening drives are really about trying to figure out how a defense is going to play you so you can adjust accordingly.

Putting our defense out first kept getting us beat. Mike adjusted. We've won 7 in a row. Complaining about it now seems kinda silly in light of that.

[skinsdomination09]

Just for the record - as the title states, I was just wondering. I'm not complaining lol.

[kleese]

I'm going strictly off memory here, this might not be perfect, but lets analyze.

Deferred/or lost toss and kicked (and the results of each first drive):

Saints: No points, short drive
Rams: Defensive TD
Bengals: TD
Bucs: Decent drive, no points
Falcons: No points
Vikings: FG
Giants: No points
Steelers: TD
Panthers: No points
Eagles: Interception
Eagles: TD

So, over the first 10 games, we kicked off each time. In those 10 games, we have up two TDs on opening drives and one FG. We also scored one TD defensively and forced a turnover that setup another short TD. The Eagles won the toss the second time and scored a TD.

So, 11 games = 24 points surrendered, 7 points earned, and directly responsible for 7 more.

In the games we've received:

Cowboys: Three and out
Giants: Three and out
Ravens: TD
Browns: Three and out
Cowboys: Three and out

In five games we scored one TD and went three and out the other four times.

I'd say deferring has worked better for us. Especially when you consider that our drives to start second halves has been much better than our drives to start games