It is well known that New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick likes to walk the unconventional line, whether it is going for it on fourth down, taking a deliberate safety or completely changing his offensive game plan in seven days.

But there is one constant in Belichick’s approach: He will defer possession to the second half if New England wins the coin toss. For Belichick and the Patriots, it is as consistent as the weekly television shot of the owner Robert K. Kraft during the game.

Belichick may try to parse the coin-toss decision as “individually based,” which is how he described it last week. But all indications are that he and his staff spend about as much time deciding what to do if they win the toss as they do in determining who will start at quarterback.

On Sunday, the Patriots won the coin toss against the Detroit Lions, and Belichick deferred, giving the Patriots the ball to open the second half. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it is a decision he has made 48 times out of 50 since 2008, when the N.F.L. started giving teams the option to defer. He has also deferred in playoff games, including during the Patriots’ 21-17 Super Bowl loss to the Giants after the 2011 season.