I love the NFL.

I mean, I love the NFL. If it were at all possible, I would go out to Jared, purchase a ring, take the NFL out for a lovely dinner, drop to a knee and ask the NFL to marry me.

That said, there are three things that NFL teams do that absolutely infuriate me. All 32 teams have done these three things throughout the years and continue to do them on a weekly basis. And if you’re a fan of the NFL, there’s no doubt your favorite team has done these three things, as well.

1. Choose to receive the ball when they win the coin toss
This absolutely chaps my hide because it’s an ego thing for teams. They want the ball first because they want to “set the tone� and have the mentality that they can take their opening drive and shove it down their opponents’ throat.

But how many times as a fan have you heard a player, coach or announcer say, “Football is a game of emotion?� Hundreds, probably. So why, oh why, do teams win the coin toss and chose to receive? If football is a game of emotion and defense is all about emotion, why not put them on the field first? They’re rested, pumped up and if they force the opponent to punt, your team not only has momentum and field position, but you also get the ball back at halftime.

I understand why teams chose to receive first; among other reasons, they believe they can get the first score and seize momentum. But even if they do score first, the opposing team still has almost four full quarters to swing momentum back in their favor and either tie or capture the lead.

One of the smartest things I saw in Week 3 come in the Dallas-Green Bay Sunday night game. Head coach Wade Phillips and his Cowboys were on the road and playing in a hostile environment. When they won the coin toss, they took advantage of a new league rule that allows teams to defer to the second half, meaning Dallas chose to get the ball at halftime. So, they put their defense on the field first, forced a fumble and eventually wound up taking a 3-0 lead. At halftime, the ‘Boys led 13-6 and had the luxury of getting the ball back in the second half. Granted they didn’t get any points in their first possession of the third quarter, but at least they had the opportunity to extend the lead. And let’s say the score was reversed and Green Bay had a 13-6 lead, at least the Cowboys would have had the chance to tie it early in the third quarter because they chose to defer to the second half. Not every team is going to force a fumble on their opponents’ first possession, but a three and out and punt can have the same affect.