The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

Probably a short thread.

PAC @ WAS:

Every account I've seen says PAC won the toss and chose to receive. So we chose to go with the wind on the kickoff. That had us against it in 2nd quarter.

We had first choice to start the second half. We could have chosen the wind but doing so would have had us kicking off again.

SJ - Do you think we should have chosen to go against the wind in the 3rd quarter knowing this would have meant us kicking off to start both halves? Just asking.

DE - Now I know what game you are talking about with regard to Belichick. It was overtime. The Pats won the toss. Apparently, under Belichick's orders, Slater said "We want to kick, that way." This was a brain fart. He said "We want to kick" before he said "that way." That was the key.

Slater on Sunday told reporters that the confusion revolved around whether the Patriots could choose the direction of their kick. He said he confirmed multiple times with Patriots coaches that they wanted to kick off if they won the toss.

"Before we went out for the toss, Coach told us that if we won the toss, we wanted to kick off," Slater said. "So obviously, as a player, you ask three or four times to double check because you want to make sure you get it right. ... The only confusion was whether or not we got to choose which direction we got to kick the ball."

Blakeman (the ref), with his microphone off, replied, "You elected to kick." Had Slater said he wanted to defend a specific end first, his choice would have been granted, but because he said "kick" first, he wasn't allowed to pick which end to defend.

Naturally, if he had said "We want this direction" then the Jets would have elected to receive. Live and learn, I guess.

I thought about this some more and was wondering ... the ref could've helped the guy out because he surely knew what Belichick wanted ... but what a great chance to stick it to the Pats with the letter of the law.

So dude says "We want to kick, that way" and the ref turns to the Jets and with great glee asks "Well, they want to kick. Which goal do you want to defend?"

DarthMonk wrote:I thought about this some more and was wondering ... the ref could've helped the guy out because he surely knew what Belichick wanted ... but what a great chance to stick it to the Pats with the letter of the law.

So dude says "We want to kick, that way" and the ref turns to the Jets and with great glee asks "Well, they want to kick. Which goal do you want to defend?"

You're correct in all you said...and yes it was funny when Slater said no we want to kick that way and the Ref pointed to him as if to say, you made your choice... shut up!

P.S. i think the great Belichick was the one who get it wrong!!

As for the Skins, I don't have any problem with how they played it. Gruden wanted a fast start because he knew they were playing a better team. And you're not going to give Rodgers a extra posession by electing to have the wind in the fourth quarter!!

Where do I remember reading about this topic? Oh yeah! viewtopic.php?f=6&t=41208

DarthMonk wrote:Probably a short thread.
SJ - Do you think we should have chosen to go against the wind in the 3rd quarter knowing this would have meant us kicking off to start both halves? Just asking.

short answer = NO!

however ... early in the game, after I saw the first GB punt go nowhere, I was mad at the thought that we would be against the wind for a long FG to end the half and again to end the game - I now understand the ramifications and TOTALLY agree with the decision we made


Aaron Rodgers did have a great second quarter and IMO it helped him regain the confidence that had not been evident for many games ...
that could have been solely because our D played terribly but I prefer to think the wind also helped - hey, what do I know

DEHog wrote:

DarthMonk wrote:I thought about this some more and was wondering ... the ref could've helped the guy out because he surely knew what Belichick wanted ... but what a great chance to stick it to the Pats with the letter of the law.

So dude says "We want to kick, that way" and the ref turns to the Jets and with great glee asks "Well, they want to kick. Which goal do you want to defend?"

You're correct in all you said...and yes it was funny when Slater said no we want to kick that way and the Ref pointed to him as if to say, you made your choice... shut up!

P.S. i think the great Belichick was the one who get it wrong!!

As for the Skins, I don't have any problem with how they played it. Gruden wanted a fast start because he knew they were playing a better team. And you're not going to give Rodgers a extra posession by electing to have the wind in the fourth quarter!!

Agreed on all counts.

Deadskins wrote:Where do I remember reading about this topic? Oh yeah! viewtopic.php?f=6&t=41208

Perfect. Thanks. Never saw this thread.

Side Note:

I was on an Intramural Championship team years ago at GMU. Two memorable moments:

The center was an eligible receiver (flag football) and I played center. We usually called center fly as our opening play. On a muddy field I was picking up the ball and wiping it off before every snap. On an early 1st down play, I walked to the line and picked up the ball to clean it. A defender immediately ripped off my flag and the ref said "2nd down." I protested to no avail. On the next play, without telling anyone, I walked to the line, assumed the snapping position, and suddenly snapped it to myself and bolted for a TD. Naturally, it was called back. So I said, "I can't run?" The ref said "Of course not." Whence I said "Then how could I be down on the previous play?" We got 1st down restored.

In the title game it was very windy. We won the toss and I said "We defer." The other team chose to receive and we took the wind. When the 2nd half was about to start the ref asked the other team if they wanted to receive or not. I said "What the heck is going on?" He said "You chose to kick." I said "No I didn't. I said "We defer" which means they had first choice in the 1st half while we get 1st choice in the 2nd half. We had to call in another ref but got our way.

It just hit me...why didn't we take the wind in all 4 quarters !!!

DEHog wrote:It just hit me...why didn't we take the wind in all 4 quarters?

you've not been yourself lately ... must be that slower, lower stuff ...

sorry, had to get rid of a bunch of fluff ...

DarthMonk wrote: In the title game it was very windy. We won the toss and I said "We defer." The other team chose to receive and we took the wind. When the 2nd half was about to start the ref asked the other team if they wanted to receive or not. I said "What the heck is going on?" He said "You chose to kick." I said "No I didn't. I said "We defer" which means they had first choice in the 1st half while we get 1st choice in the 2nd half" We had to call in another ref but got our way.

it's very hard to get good help these days ... and the officiating has been terrible under the current administration as well

time for a change ....

DEHog wrote:It just hit me...why didn't we take the wind in all 4 quarters !!!