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At halftime there is a new choice, one team chooses who recieves the kickoff, the other chooses the direction, then they switch directions in between the 3rd and 4th quarter.

Confusing a bit. There is only one instance of choosing who kicks off. That is at the pregame coin toss. In the second half, the team who received the opening game kick off, kicks off to commence the second half.
 
Confusing a bit. There is only one instance of choosing who kicks off. That is at the pregame coin toss. In the second half, the team who received the opening game kick off, kicks off to commence the second half.
Teams don't choose to kick, they choose to defer their choice to the second half.

If a team chooses to kick to start the game, that means the other team can choose to receive at the start of the second half, meaning they would receive the kick to start both halves.
 

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The confusing part of this for many people is that the 2nd half kickoff does not simply reverse roles from the 1st half kickoff.

Your options when you win the coin toss are one of the the following:

1. Kick off
2. Receive
3. Defend north endzone
4. Defend south endzone
5. Defer your choice of 1-4 to the beginning of the second half

If Team A wins the coin toss and chooses option 1 or 2, the other team chooses 3 or 4. When the second half starts, Team B then has their choice of options 1 to 4.

If Team A chooses to defer, they are making the decision of options 1 to 4 at the beginning of the 2nd half. Team B then gets to choose at the beginning of the 1st half.

For all practicality, you should never choose option 1 because it gives your opponent the opportunity at the beginning of the 2nd half to choose option 2. The most popular choice is choosing to defer. This basically forces the other team to choose to receive the 1st half kickoff because they know they are not going to receive the 2nd half kickoff otherwise

Another thing to consider why all this is confusing to many people is the game Madden. For 30+ years EA has not properly had the opening coin toss or the full range of options at the coin toss in the game, so people often just mistakenly think everything is reversed for the 2nd half kickoff.
 
Thanks for clarifying....so if you defer after winning the coin toss, you have to elect to receive in the second half...its not an automatic swap.
Yeah all depends on the situation too. Maybe the snow/rain/mud is so bad it's better to kick off twice. Maybe it's better to defend north endzone twice as you have the very strong wind all game. Maybe al your away fans are at the south endzone so won't suffer red zone noise. Etc with reasons. All else even, if you choose to kickoff you run the risk of the other team choosing to receive for the 2nd half when they get to use their 1-4 options.

In the Texans-Chiefs game, I'm assuming the team (whichever they were) decided to defend a particular endzone for their choice....why the teams didnt swap ends for the start of the 3rd
 
Seems an over complication for something that should be straight forward. I mean in a game that revolves around ball retention, putting yourself in any situation where you don't gain rightful possession seems daft.
 
Thanks for clarifying....so if you defer after winning the coin toss, you have to elect to receive in the second half...its not an automatic swap.
You don't HAVE TO choose receive, but you would likely choose to receive after you deferred at the coin toss...depending what the other team chose and the conditions etc etc.
 
Seems an over complication for something that should be straight forward. I mean in a game that revolves around ball retention, putting yourself in any situation where you don't gain rightful possession seems daft.
Just adds another tactical layer to the game
 
Thanks for clarifying GG I always just assumed the winner of the toss elected to kick or receive and that was reversed for the 2nd half.

I also assumed teams swapped ends after each quarter or half but only realised this year team A would be attacking one end in Q1 and Q4 and the other team in Q2 & Q3. Obviously depending on what you've said above this could change but all things being equal it seems that's how it goes.
 
Thanks for clarifying GG I always just assumed the winner of the toss elected to kick or receive and that was reversed for the 2nd half.

I also assumed teams swapped ends after each quarter or half but only realised this year team A would be attacking one end in Q1 and Q4 and the other team in Q2 & Q3. Obviously depending on what you've said above this could change but all things being equal it seems that's how it goes.
Yeah there can be reasons why you'd prefer the endzone for Q2 and Q3 as the game develops it may change your strategy. Perhaps you made a mini comeback in the 2nd running with the wind, scored last at the end of the half and it would be best to stay with the wind, try to get a lead and hold off defensively in the 4th.

Could be a mini comeback against a top team with their starting QB struggling with a niggling injury. Could be you're the top team who played shit early against a shit team, but you feel you can run over them at the end if you can get aone momentum and scores into the 3rd.

The whole thing is almost unknown by fans because it's not discussed in detail during broadcasts or media questions post-game why a team elected what they did at the toss or at the half.
 
The whole thing is almost unknown by fans because it's not discussed in detail during broadcasts or media questions post-game why a team elected what they did at the toss or at the half.

I fall into this category. Literally the last thing most announcers say as teams jog into the half time locker room is declaring who receives the ball in the second half.

Never understood it was not absolute.

To be honest, there are really only 3 decisions in a game, kick off or receive to start the game and which endzone to defend at the start of 1st and 3rd quarters.

The rest is complicating fluff....how many times has a team chosen to kick off in the second half?

Since we are on the topic, I'm wondering with the new fixed formations for kick offs what happens if one of the kickoff team players had to help hold the ball on the tee like when it is really windy?

Isn't the kicking team now disadvantaged because they have one less player on the line?
 
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