01-18-2023, 09:26 PM
(01-18-2023, 08:35 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Payton Manning is lying out of his teeth, then. Or he's gone senile.
2015 Week 16, the Broncos had the gameplan of playing against AJ McCarron in man coverage. He absolutely shredded the hell out of them in the first half (3 drives, 2 TD and a missed 45 yard FG). Then after halftime they came out and switched to exclusively playing zone defense and absolutely exposed and dominated McCarron forcing the Bengals offense to punt on 4 straight drives out of the half.
Without that win the Broncos go from the #1 seed to losing their division to the Chiefs (and the Bengals become the #1 seed).
That was the year Peyton Manning got carried by his halftime adjusting defense to win his second Super Bowl while he threw 9 TD and 15 INT.
....unless I am remembering this COMPLETELY wrong. I feel pretty good about remembering it correctly, though. Also whatever changes Lou Anarumo does at halftime seems to work.
I think it depends on the team and players, honestly. The former college coach I am friends with has told me that halftime adjustments are a myth and they never did them, but that was just from his experience. Both Peyton and Eli have both said they are myths. J.T. O'Sullivan has confirmed that there are things that happen, but said that they are minor. I've heard another player, I can't remember who, said they don't exist because guys are running to the bathroom, getting a snack/changing clothes etc. It was a defensive linemen. I think Aaron Rodgers has talked about some things he has worked on with receivers at halftime.
I would be curious to see how the Bengals defense ends the 2nd quarter and how it correlates to the second half performances. Coaches are adjusting throughout the game obviously. It may be less of a "halftime" thing and more of a "2nd quarter" thing.
EDIT - Sean Payton and Brian Billick have also dismissed the idea, saying that they aren't really a thing. For the defensive linemen I mentioned earlier, it was Jason Pierre-Paul.
