Change the Overtime Rules?

[aluminum seats]

Following up on Peter King's MMQB on the subject, what does everybody think? Personally, I've always liked the sudden death format--it's overtime, it's going to be a bit of a crapshoot. Playing defense is part of the game too. And I HATE the college format, where the rules of football suddenly go out the window, stats get all out of whack, etc. What do you think?

 

[lutontown_fc]

They should have equal possesions until one team scores and the other team fails to match them.

 

[Willie55]

Keep it the way it is.

 

[Va_Pats_Fan]

I'd rather go to the college format. Too much rests on the flip of a coin otherwise.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I'd rather go to the college format. Too much rests on the flip of a coin otherwise.

Which is ample incentive not to let it get to that (see SB XXXVI). This would just force teams to play even more conservative in anticipation of OT.

It ain't broke, don't screw it up trying to fix it. The college format makes me nauseaus.

 

[Pat_Nasty]

Guaranteeing each team a possession is, IMO, an awkward blend of the college and pro OT systems. It has the unfortunate gimmicky quality of the college system, but not it's madcap shoot-out style appeal.

But what's worse is that you're not exactly solving any problem. You still have, in many cases, the issue of one team getting the first shot at sudden death.

Let's say team A gets the ball at the start of OT, picks up a first down or two, but gets stopped in long FG range. They can try for the FG, but without the benefit of sudden death -- even if they make it, the other team gets a possession. If they go for it and miss, however, they're giving Team B the ball, already almost in FG range... but now, Team B gets the advantage of sudden death. Why is this any fairer than Team A getting the advantage of sudden death, first?

Some would argue "Hey, Team A had the ball... if they didn't want to get sudden deathed, they should have scored." The same argument applies to standard sudden death overtime -- "If they didn't want to get beaten on the first possession, they shouldn't have let the opponent drive into FG range."

 

[Va_Pats_Fan]

Which is ample incentive not to let it get to that (see SB XXXVI). This would just force teams to play even more conservative in anticipation of OT.

It ain't broke, don't screw it up trying to fix it. The college format makes me nauseaus.

I say its broke and we should fix it. Any time that teams play to a draw, then only one team (possibly) gets possession, then its flawed.

why doesn't the NBA go with first basket wins? Why doesn't the MLB flip for first bat, and first run wins? NHL goes shoot out.

They all recognize that its better for the game. The NFL needs to get past its archaic system, and go with one thats fair and more exciting.

 

[Pat_Nasty]

Here's one of the most interesting, almost elegant, suggestion I've heard -- though I don't remember where I heard it from:

Treat OT as the 5th quarter, just sudden death. If the game is tied when the 4th quarter ends, there's a TV time out, the teams switch sides, and then re-start, exactly as the game ended -- the team with the ball keeps it at the same field position, with the same down and distance... just now it's sudden death.

This would create some interesting strategic decisions at the end of games, and maybe some one's we don't like, but it would effectively, and organically, get rid of the coin flip.

 

[solman]

Two proposals:

Proposal 1:

Instead of tossing a coin before the OT, the team which lost the pre-game toss gets to choose.

This way at the end of regulation, both teams know what will happen, and can factor that into their decision to head into overtime or not.

Proposal 2:

The teams bid on which yard line to start from. Each coach submits a piece of paper containing the bid to the ref. Whichever team bids lower starts with the ball on the yard line bid by the other team.

If Team A bids the 15 yard line and Team B bids the 10 yard line, Team B would start with the ball on their own 15. Team A would pick a zone to defend.

Whoever scores first wins.

 

[denverpatsfan]

Is this college or the PROS?? Keep it the way it is. The game is played by defense, offense and special teams. In the current format all 3 get an chance to impact the game in overtime.

The college system is bush league in my opinion. Then again I am not a fan of college football so I guess I'm biased.

 

[Pat_Nasty]

I say its broke and we should fix it. Any time that teams play to a draw, then only one team (possibly) gets possession, then its flawed.

why doesn't the NBA go with first basket wins? Why doesn't the MLB flip for first bat, and first run wins? NHL goes shoot out.

They all recognize that its better for the game. The NFL needs to get past its archaic system, and go with one thats fair and more exciting.

Really bad examples.

NBA doesn't go with first-basket wins because scoring is so easy in basketball, that OT would usually come down to whomever one the tipoff. Furthermore, basketball can keep doing overtimes until one ends not in a tie. The players get exhausted, and it becomes a matter of who can outlast the other one. The NFL cannot do this, because when you leave NFL players on the field for that much longer than your average game, the risk of serious injury skyrockets.

Furthermore, in the NBA, a team can shake off the effects of a double-overtime in a day or so, and if they lose a game the next day because they're worn out, that's ok -- there are 82 games in a season. In the NFL, a game that went into two full overtime periods could have effects that last the rest of the season, and certainly would put a team at a disadvantage the next week -- and if it causes even one extra loss, that's much bigger deal.

In baseball, you have 163 games, so again, how you resolve OT (extra innings) is not as big a deal. Baseball solves the problem of who gets the advantage in OT by home-field -- whoever's at home gets the last at-bat. This would be like always giving the kickoff to the home team in the NFL. Is this fair? Not really... but in baseball, we accept it.

As for hockey... any sports league's number one goal should be to never, ever emulate hockey.

 

[Pat_Nasty]

Two proposals:

Proposal 1:

Instead of tossing a coin before the OT, the team which lost the pre-game toss gets to choose.

This way at the end of regulation, both teams know what will happen, and can factor that into their decision to head into overtime or not.

Proposal 2:

The teams bid on which yard line to start from. Each coach submits a piece of paper containing the bid to the ref. Whichever team bids lower starts with the ball on the yard line bid by the other team.

If Team A bids the 15 yard line and Team B bids the 10 yard line, Team B would start with the ball on their own 15. Team A would pick a zone to defend.

Whoever scores first wins.

How 'bout a scramble for the ball, XFL style?

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I say its broke and we should fix it. Any time that teams play to a draw, then only one team (possibly) gets possession, then its flawed.

why doesn't the NBA go with first basket wins? Why doesn't the MLB flip for first bat, and first run wins? NHL goes shoot out.

They all recognize that its better for the game. The NFL needs to get past its archaic system, and go with one thats fair and more exciting.

I've got popularity and ratings growth that say it ain't broke. Perhaps the NBA and MLB not to mention the NHL could learn a thing or two about marketing their product from the NFL, you think?

 

[Pat_Nasty]

I've got popularity and ratings growth that say it ain't broke. Perhaps the NBA and MLB not to mention the NHL could learn a thing or two about marketing their product from the NFL, you think?

So you're saying that the popularity and ratings growth of the NFL constitutes an endorsement of the league's overtime system in particular?

I suppose the ratings growth also argues that we should keep the pass interference and roughing the passer rules the same, too.

 

[Va_Pats_Fan]

I've got popularity and ratings growth that say it ain't broke. Perhaps the NBA and MLB not to mention the NHL could learn a thing or two about marketing their product from the NFL, you think?

What does marketing have to do with how OT works?...now thats a bad example... And to attribute popularity and ratings to the OT is an amazingly bad conclusion. There is no empirical data that relates OT to those. Perhaps if it gets changed, they go up?

As for your argument that cause its harder to score in football then the NBA being a good reason for leaving it the same..thats pretty weak. Seems in the college game that system works fine, without major injury factors that can be proved, despite your speculation.

 

[The 12th Man]

Two proposals:

Proposal 1:

Instead of tossing a coin before the OT, the team which lost the pre-game toss gets to choose.

This way at the end of regulation, both teams know what will happen, and can factor that into their decision to head into overtime or not.

Proposal 2:

The teams bid on which yard line to start from. Each coach submits a piece of paper containing the bid to the ref. Whichever team bids lower starts with the ball on the yard line bid by the other team.

If Team A bids the 15 yard line and Team B bids the 10 yard line, Team B would start with the ball on their own 15. Team A would pick a zone to defend.

Whoever scores first wins.

Honestly, I like proposal 1. Why not? One gets to choose first, the other in OT if they make it there. Also, why not give the team who originally wins the toss to choose if they want the ball in OT if they go there, and then the other team would choose to have the ball and side after that? I like it. Still no playing conservative AND good solution to current rule.

 

[Fixit]

How 'bout a scramble for the ball, XFL style?

That scramble was very underrated. I loved the XFL.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Each team selects 3 cheerleaders. The 6 then scramble to dive into a pit of mud and carry the football outside. This rule change has the intended consequence of motivating teams without cheerleader squads to establish them.

 

[Fixit]

Each team selects 3 cheerleaders. The 6 then scramble to dive into a pit of mud and carry the football outside. This rule change has the intended consequence of motivating teams without cheerleader squads to establish them.

*dingding* Winnah!

 

[upstater1]

During the regular season, keep it the way it is, and then play the whole quarter during the playoffs.