SI.com's Peter King and Don Banks debate OT rules - NFL - SI.com
banks really gets into it
banks really gets into it
BANKS: OK, but you want to know something that really drives me crazy? It's when I hear you and others complain that the reigning league MVP didn't even get to touch the ball Saturday night in overtime, as if Peyton Manning somehow deserved a chance to win the game in dramatic fashion. The truth is, he had his chance to win the game and be the hero, and it came late in regulation.
Had the Colts been able to execute on that 3rd and 2 from their own 9 with 2:30 remaining, they would have been able to run out the clock on the trailing Chargers, who had already burned all three of their timeouts. Instead, Manning double-clutched while searching for a receiver, didn't see blitzing Chargers linebacker Tim Dobbins and wound up taking an eight-yard sack to the Indy 1. That forced a Colts punt and set up the Chargers' game-tying field goal drive.
But to act like Manning was deprived of a chance to affect the outcome of the game when it was on the line is pure fantasy. He had his chance. And had he and the Colts made the most of it, overtime would have never even occurred. Sorry, but no special rules should apply just because your last name is Manning.
funny i never heard king complain after that overtime win by the jets.BANKS: It shouldn't. But if you think the overtime debate would have been just as vocal this week if it were Rivers rather than Manning who never touched the ball in OT, I think you're in the distinct minority. I think because it was Peyton Manning, the league's three-time MVP, who didn't get to step on the field in overtime, that pumped up the volume. Considerably.
KING: Maybe, but I was saying the same thing when Brett Favre and the Jets got the ball in overtime in Week 11 at New England, and the Patriots' Matt Cassel and his 401 yards of passing never saw the field. Same situation. And it needs fixing.