Game Narrative This Week

[Nepa]

(01-21-2023, 12:47 AM)BillsGuy1986 Wrote: I think we've had enough hardships lol, hope one of us finally punches through.

Your point about aggression makes sense, you'd think that would be what football is all about. 

Although, at some point the Bengals will have a turnover or punt on the first drive, and then the pressure flips if the other team scores. I always thought the logic of deferring made more sense but its been working for you guys so who cares.

Years ago, when I first started to watch (I became a Bengals fan in 1968), teams always received the ball first. That's because the rules then didn't allow one to defer when winning the coin toss and thus if a team kicked off to start, the other team would choose the side they wanted to defend for the kickoff and then also get to choose to receive the second half kickoff. That all changed sometime in the 2000s. with the option to defer to the second half. 

In recent memory, with the option to defer, teams generally choose to kickoff to start the game and then receive the second half kickoff. I really think this was because of the success the Patriots and Brady had. It seemed they were always ending the first half with the ball and then starting the second half with the ball. I don't like when announcers talk about getting two for one. That's a phrase that fits in basketball, not in football. It's a lazy phrase. It's really getting the ball two times in a row.

But the Bengals have been receiving first. Why? I think because of what another poster said -- confidence. They are not intimidated by the crowds and noise and brightness of the stage, but do like the opportunity to put the other team in a hole to start. I think here is also an intimidation factor in that it goes against what other teams have been doing-- a kind of "we're not afraid to take the ball first." And I also think because the Bengals are really good at adjusting their defense for the second half of games, so kicking off the second half is not all that detrimental.

And, let's be honest, always ending up with the ball at the end of a half and beginning of the next half is not a thing. Teams have just as much a chance to kick off to start a game and still end up  with the ball at the end of the first half.