Half time adjustments myth or real

longtimefan

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"I don't know if I ever made a halftime adjustment in my entire 18-year career," Manning said, making a glib joke about the Buccaneers as they came out to start the second half trailing the Cowboys 18-0.

"I think that's the biggest myth in football — the halftime adjustments. You go in, you use the restroom, you eat a couple of oranges, and then the head coach says, 'Alright, let's go!'"

Peyton's brother Eli agreed with his assessment.

"You're in there for like, three minutes," Eli said.
 

Firethorn1001

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"If losing, Manning says he would give up at halftime, sit in a corner eating orange slices and not talk to anyone about changing tactics. He didn't care if something wasn't working"

- Skip Bayless/Colin Cowherd/Mike Florio
 

mradtke66

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I agree with "myth." Actual halftime is too short. Worse if you have any assistants in the booths. I think the old joke was (depending on the stadium) the elevators were slow enough, coaches would leave the booth, ride do the locker room, and promptly turn around and head back up to be ready for kick off.

On the other hand, with those booth coaches and pictures, you can make small, meaningful adjustments after each drive. Little things like flattening a route, sliding a rollout position a little further left or right based on how the pass rush comes through on a play action pass, those things.
 

Pugger

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Yes, halftime is too short to get anything done in the locker room. I suspect the guys take care of personal stuff instead.
 

gopkrs

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Halftime is short. But if they don't use it to play better ball in the 2nd half; then they are wasting valuable time imo.
 

Sunshinepacker

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I love it! One of the best QBs in history says something regarding a job he mastered for YEARS and us forum posters get to debate whether he's right or not! If it helps those who think they might know more about halftime than Peyton Manning, Torrey Smith also had this to say:

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longtimefan

longtimefan

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B4 anyone gets ******* in a bunch

Dont we always hear from a lot of different posters here

They made no adjustments

Announcers " make adjustments"

Now 2 nfl qb say it's bs and a myth

Do a search here and see how many says half time adjustments
 

Schultz

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I 100% believe in halftime adjustments. 1st I order a second bucket of beer, then I adjust my sweatpants. Hopefully it is just a quick pee and I don't have to fire a deuce when I go to the bathroom. I then ask the bartender to adjust the volume on the TV so that I don't have to listen to the experts talk about the non-existent half time adjustments the teams are going to make. It is crucial to remember to ask him to adjust the volume back up once the 2nd half starts. I also have to adjust as to when I order my wings. Based on how many people are at the bar I try to order them so that I can eat during halftime. In my world halftime adjustments are a big part of the game.
 

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Schultz

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So the truth finally comes out. It wasn't that Tom could read defenses better than Peyton it was all because he had a better bladder.
 
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So the truth finally comes out. It wasn't that Tom could read defenses better than Peyton it was all because he had a better bladder.
Well that Potty break was sorta an adjustment. Maybe just not so much a team effort to tighten things up. Some of the Defenses Peyton saw might’ve got things flowing faster.

Might’ve just been practicing getting out of a Stall :coffee:
 

Pokerbrat2000

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I can understand that the players themselves aren't huddled around a whiteboard at halftime, watching the HC draw plays out and how he wants them to "adjust" for the second half. However, if the coaches that are calling the plays, formations, personnel, etc. aren't making adjustments based on what they have seen, then they are pretty crappy coaches. Coaches should be adjusting things all game long, halftime just gives those coaches some down time to think and talk to other coaches or maybe individual players.
 
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I can understand that the players themselves aren't huddled around a whiteboard at halftime, watching the HC draw plays out and how he wants them to "adjust" for the second half. However, if the coaches that are calling the plays, formations, personnel, etc. aren't making adjustments based on what they have seen, then they are pretty crappy coaches. Coaches should be adjusting things all game long, halftime just gives those coaches some down time to think and talk to other coaches or maybe individual players.
I agree. But Peyton was eating oranges in a bathroom stall!
It’s Unchartered territory
 

GreenNGold_81

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I can see why he'd say this, it's probably coaches changing or tweaking their philosophy as opposed to x's and o's with players. Players do what the coaches ask, they don't need a breakdown on a chalkboard for that, they practice it throughout the season.
 

pacmaniac

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I can understand that the players themselves aren't huddled around a whiteboard at halftime, watching the HC draw plays out and how he wants them to "adjust" for the second half. However, if the coaches that are calling the plays, formations, personnel, etc. aren't making adjustments based on what they have seen, then they are pretty crappy coaches. Coaches should be adjusting things all game long, halftime just gives those coaches some down time to think and talk to other coaches or maybe individual players.
Exactly. The coaches don't need to tell the players about any adjustments during halftime. Instead the players will find out when they're getting different play calls and formations than in the first half.
 
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Pats had more elite defenses under Brady (top-10 in scoring defense) than Manning, Brees, and Rodgers combined. So, I don't think the difference is halftime adjustments.

It's truly amazing that Brady has had a top 10 scoring defense in 18 seasons while Peyton (7), Brees (3) and Rodgers (3) have combined to have only 13 over their careers.
 

Pokerbrat2000

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It's truly amazing that Brady has had a top 10 scoring defense in 18 seasons while Peyton (7), Brees (3) and Rodgers (3) have combined to have only 13 over their careers.
That is a big credit to Bill B and the Pats organization for sure, but still shouldn't detract from what Brady has accomplished either. Sometimes a good offense can help make a defense better and vice versa.
 

Sunshinepacker

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That is a big credit to Bill B and the Pats organization for sure, but still shouldn't detract from what Brady has accomplished either. Sometimes a good offense can help make a defense better and vice versa.

It shouldn't detract but it's the absolute reason that deciding the number of titles is some determining factor in player greatness. Fans, I assume due to sheer laziness, try to analyze QBs like they're out there playing golf or tennis; this isn't a one-on-one sport and I've literally never seen one QB play another QB.

Again, Brady is a great, all-time QB, but he's not the best ever because he had elite defenses pretty much all the time while better QBs have rarely had elite defenses.
 

mradtke66

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That is a big credit to Bill B and the Pats organization for sure, but still shouldn't detract from what Brady has accomplished either. Sometimes a good offense can help make a defense better and vice versa.

Similar case in point: The year before Brady arrived, the Bucs missed the playoffs by (iirc) 1 win. Their quarterback threw 30 ints that year. The team was so stacked, they almost drug a 30 int QB to the playoffs.
 

Pokerbrat2000

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Similar case in point: The year before Brady arrived, the Bucs missed the playoffs by (iirc) 1 win. Their quarterback threw 30 ints that year. The team was so stacked, they almost drug a 30 int QB to the playoffs.
We could also talk about the 2000 season for the Patriots, the year before Brady took over as the starting QB in 2001, when starter Drew Bledsoe went down with an injury in the 2nd game of the season.

In 2000, Brady was 4th on the depth chart and the team went 5-11. In 2001, after Brady took over as the starter, the team went 11–3 and ended up winning the SB, with Brady at QB. I would actually contend, that in that year, Brady might have been a big difference?

I know fans love to debate Tom Brady and his legacy, earned or not. While I am not a huge Tom Brady fan, when you talk about winning it all, it is very hard not to include Brady in that conversation.
 

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