It sounds nice for McCarthy to say that this is a defensive team, but he and you and I all know that the offense is better than the defense. So if given a choice, I think they should take the ball to start the game. I wouldn't be surprised if he elected to kick off, though, just to send a message to the defense that he has confidence in them. It really doesn't matter much.

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I always like getting the ball at half. The team has all the nervousness out. A nervous defense is better then a nervous offense at the beginning.

I always hear McCarthy talk about ball control, setting the tempo offensively and keeping the defense off the field to keep them fresh. I don't know if he just said that because their defense was not as good last year but, I would agree with what he said for the most part, and since they do have a good offense I would elect receive.

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I would want the wind in the 4th quarter, if there is one. Otherwise, I would tend to defer. Does any one know exactly how the rule is stated?

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Weather is my 1st criteria. If it doesn't matter then let the offense put some points on the board.

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Good point. I always like the idea of receiving in the second half. The offense will have settled down at that point and in reality you could still run 'scripted' plays like McCarthy does for the first offensive series.

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Are McCarthy's scripted plays generally successful? it's hard to tell. I thought it was one of the main problems with McCarthy and why he was claimed to be too conservative.

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im a firm believer in taking the ball to score pts. 1st !!

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I always like kicking off first as the choice.

It seems to me more often than not the team that kicks off the first half end up with the last possession in the 2nd quarter.

If you can score a TD then, receive the opening kickoff to the second half and score a TD on that drive as well it's 14 unanswered points which can be a game changer.

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Kicking would seem to be the right thing to do. But usually I'll always receive on Madden or whatever.

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