Weird Trend

[rko396]

The panthers have recieved the opening kickoff every single week except the week 3 monday nighter against dallas.

week 1 phi

week 2 Atl

week 4 BYE

week 5 Wash

week 6 TB

week 7 Buff

week 8 Ariz

week 9 NO

week 10 ATl

week 11 Mia

week 12 Jets

week 13 TB

Dono if it means anything other then whoever is calling the toss may be the luckiest man in the nfl. since the away captain calls it, we are 5-1 guessing correctly. we may not be very good at scoring, but we sure can dominate before the game starts

[AKPantherFan]

i hate that too.... Dammit, we need to be getting the ball 1st in the 2nd half because we sure as hell need something to be happy about after the 1st 1/2.

[magnus]

I seem to remember a lot of losing the toss and the other team deferring, too.

[PhillyB]

carolina ALWAYS elects to recieve... it makes sense, given their philosophy of scoring first, grinding away the time, and hoping the defense steps up big. first drives are critical for us because we're simply not built to come from behind.

[enolagay38]

I've thought this for a long time. When we get the ball first in the second half we seem to do better. But, what do I know, right Fiz? Effin NOOB! Baggage checked. 200,000 dead.

[Achilles]

If I'm the head coach I'm deferring to the second half every time, especially if I'm the Panthers. First of all our offense plays better when they know they have to score a TD, so getting behind in the first quarter is not such a big deal. Its protecting a lead that we CANNOT seem to do.

Also, it seems to me like, when we recieve the opening kickoff, it turns out that the other team ends up with the ball close to halftime. It is such a killer for a team to score a TD as the half ends and then to get the ball back on the 2nd half kickoff. Deferring eliminates this posibility and sets up the chance to have that for yourself.

Recieving the opening kickoff is stupid. Always defer if you win the toss.

Of course, the Panthers offense has been abysmal in the second half all season, so the point is kind of moot...the chances of us scoring on the drive are not very good. But at least we could avoid giving up 2 scores back to back without even touching the ball on offense. The New Orleans game comes to mind when I think about this scenario playing out. They scored just before half and again on the opening drive of the 3rd Q. We scored 3 points in the whole second half.

Defer!

[Baschski]

If I'm the head coach I'm deferring to the second half every time, especially if I'm the Panthers. First of all our offense plays better when they know they have to score a TD, so getting behind in the first quarter is not such a big deal. Its protecting a lead that we CANNOT seem to do.

Also, it seems to me like, when we recieve the opening kickoff, it turns out that the other team ends up with the ball close to halftime. It is such a killer for a team to score a TD as the half ends and then to get the ball back on the 2nd half kickoff. Deferring eliminates this posibility and sets up the chance to have that for yourself.

Recieving the opening kickoff is stupid. Always defer if you win the toss.

Of course, the Panthers offense has been abysmal in the second half all season, so the point is kind of moot...the chances of us scoring on the drive are not very good. But at least we could avoid giving up 2 scores back to back without even touching the ball on offense. The New Orleans game comes to mind when I think about this scenario playing out. They scored just before half and again on the opening drive of the 3rd Q. We scored 3 points in the whole second half.

Defer!

Do you have any idea what you're talking about? We are a run-first team that works best when leading. If we go behind, we have to pass. We always choose to receive the opening kick-off so that we can hopefully score and go ahead immediately. That way we can continue to run the ball, control the clock and cause turnovers on defense.

[Seamonk]

Do you have any idea what you're talking about? We are a run-first team that works best when leading. If we go behind, we have to pass. We always choose to receive the opening kick-off so that we can hopefully score and go ahead immediately. That way we can continue to run the ball, control the clock and cause turnovers on defense.

We're also a defensive team. Putting our defense out first wouldn't be a bad idea. And since the defense plays considerably better than our offense majority of the time, if our defense stops the other team early, it could help pump up the offense. I'm a fan of deferring to the second half (unless I'm playing madden on rookie, in which case it doesn't really matter )

[PuntJake]

we may not be very good at scoring, but we sure can dominate before the game starts

we're great in warm ups! you should see how many 60 yard field goals lloyd hits during warmups. one after another from the 50 through the UPPER half of the goal posts. his kicks might be good from 68. (with no defensive pressure of course)