So, with that in mind, we’ve decided to take a look back at every coin toss since Ad Meter’s inaugural year in 1989.
(From the coin toss to the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter!) Anyone familiar with the Super Bowl commercial rush of USA TODAY’s Ad Meter recognizes that the coin toss represents the opening act to the national block of commercials featured in the ratings. And it’s been 100% riveting each time.īut the chance-based hoopla sets an important marker beyond what’s about to take place on the football field, too.
Tails has been the winning call 29 times. And then somehow the referees fucks up the seemingly unfuckupable, the coin flip, as we saw Saturday night during the Cardinals-Packers game when the referee tossed the coin, it landed on heads giving the Cardinals the ball. Instead, this game came down to a large degree as to who won a coin flip, (with a coin that didn’t flip, another first). The Packers forced overtime Saturday night, thanks to a miraculous last-second Hail Mary, and then the Cardinals marched down the field in impressive fashion to win the game. The winner of the flip gains agency in the form of the ball, which they must protect like bulls carrying postage. Imagine the excitement if Green Bay and Arizona had gone back and forth trading scores a couple of times in overtime. As the Packers and Cardinals head into overtime, the referee accidentally botches the coin toss and must redo the flip.Subscribe to the NFL YouTube channel t. Since the first Super Bowl, the outcome has been nearly even. Doesn’t happen that way, the other team, of course, gets to bat in the bottom of the inning. Though the lead-up productions can be quite extensive, the Super Bowl coin toss happens in mere seconds but creates a ton of excitement and sets up the action on the NFL’s biggest stage. And the emphasis is only magnified on Super Bowl Sunday. Few elements of a football game have as dramatic an effect as the answer to that simple-yet extraordinarily profound-question.