Ravens defer
This is one time I had no problem with the Ravens' decision to defer after winning the coin flip. The Raiders are playing with a journeyman backup quarterback, so you want to pin them back and take your chances with your defense.
To the Raiders' credit, they did move the ball well enough to set the Ravens back at their own 20 yard line for their first possession.
Interesting stat that may not mean a thing: The Ravens offensive unit has only taken the field first in one out of their 16 regular season games. They received the opening kickoff twice, but fumbled it away against the Patriots in New England.
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Comments
Pete, I've got no problem deferring on the road. I think most every stadium is dead for the first drive of the 3rd quarter. Nobody is back from going to the bathroom and getting more beer. If you have confidence your D won't give up a long drive to start off, it's a good tactic.
Needless to say, if the Ravens didn't have that confidence, it would have been a long day anyway.
Posted by: Mark Brown | January 3, 2010 4:35 PM
I would defer every time if I were the coach. I don't see a major advantage of receiving the ball at the start of the game, not with 60 minutes left to play. Anything can happen. There can be, however, a big advantage to getting the ball back after the half.
Posted by: Jeff | January 4, 2010 8:29 AM