Every American football game starts with a coin toss. Selected members of each team (called captains) come to the center of the field, where the referee holds a coin. In the NFL, the coin toss is restricted to three captains from each team. In college football, four players may participate. However, only one player from. Prior to the Saints vs. Dolphins matchup in London, the New Orleans Saints team took a knee but it wasn’t during the national anthem. The team knelt during the coin toss.

1. Nfl Coin Toss Results 2017 Payouts
2. Nfl Coin Toss Results 2017 Results

The use of the coin toss in professional football dates back to 1892. The current NFL rule dictates that both team captains meet at the 50-yard line three minutes before kickoff to determine which team will have possession of the ball first.

The away team captain calls heads or tails as the referee tosses the coin in the air. The winner of the toss has the option to kick or receive. Prior to 2008, teams would elect to receive 99% of the time. A decade later and things have drastically changed.

Mar 03, 2017 Let’s catch you up: Because both teams finished last season with 8-8 records and the same strength of schedule (.492), a coin toss would be necessary to determine the order of the 14th and 15th. Mar 03, 2017 The Philadelphia Eagles won a coin toss against the Indianapolis Colts on Friday at the 2017 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis to capture the 14th overall pick in the 2017 draft.

Winning teams chose to receive

It made sense for the winning team of the coin toss to receive. If they chose to kick, the opposing team would have possession of the ball at the start of the game and again at the start of the second half.

There were only eight games from 1999 to 2007 where winning teams of the coin toss chose to kick. The NFL took notice of this trend and decided to make a rule change.

Why NFL teams defer the coin toss

To level the playing field, the NFL changed the coin toss rules. Starting in 2008, the winning teams could now choose to kick, receive, or defer. This was previously only allowed at the college level. If a team deferred, they had the option of receiving at the start of the second half.

Once the new coin-toss defer rule was implemented, teams started to select this option 39% of the time. Ten years later, winners of the coin toss now defer 92% of the time. According to ESPN, five out of six coaches will choose to defer even though there is little statistical evidence that this gives them an advantage.

Since an extra possession is more beneficial in the second half, it could be possible that coaches are banking on gaining momentum toward the end of the game.

The coaching strategy behind the coin toss

When the New England Patriots win the coin toss, head coach Bill Belichick chooses to defer 95% of the time. The Dallas Cowboys, on the other hand, elect to defer only 26% of the time. With the Patriots’ successful track record, other coaches may think deferring is the way to go.

Some believe coaches are waiting until the second half to get a better feel for how the opposing team is performing. Others think it could be a matter of “herd mentality.” It’s possible that weather is a factor in decision-making. Or, maybe it’s just the thing to do these days. Regardless, it seems like everyone is doing it.

When asked why so many coaches are choosing to defer, the Houston Texans’ special teams coach Brad Seely explained that it “comes down to the chance to pair a score at the end of the first half with one at the start of the second. It’s the only opportunity a team has for two straight possessions and can be a chance to instantly put the game out of reach.”

Nfl Coin Toss Results 2017 Payouts

Seely explained that every coach would love to see their team get the ball at the start of the second half after a two-minute drive at the end of the first half. It’s a perfect game-winning scenario.

Super Bowl coin tosses

The coin toss rule change of 2008 has affected the Super Bowl as well. Since the rule was implemented, nine out of the 10 teams chose to defer and take possession in the second half. The only team not to select this option was the New Orleans Saints in 2009.

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The coin toss is one of the most popular, if not the most popular Super Bowl Prop bets. So, we decided to compile the data from Super Bowl 1 to the most recent 2021 Super Bowl, to see if heads or tails is more likely to appear. Now for the shocking results........ It's pretty much a 'coin flip'. For the first 55 Super Bowls the flip has landed on tails 29 times and heads 26 times. Heads did have an impressive run of 5 years in a row from 2009-2013. Below you will find a table that lists the coin flip results, including which team won and lost the coin flip for all Super Bowls.

Nfl Coin Toss Results 2017 Results

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