I felt this story had to be written after I watched the Eagles and Giants compete at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. I watched the overtime period of this game and even though it was a great defensive battle it should not have ended the way it did. The final score in case you didn’t watch it or see the post-game highlights was 30-24 in favor of the Giants. This was the result of the Philadelphia defense being on the field for just under ten minutes in the overtime period. Since I feel the score first-and-win is a joke, I felt I would comment on how I think the rules should be and also give examples of how other sports end their games that go extra time.
The overtime that is set up right now is very vague in the sense that one team gets the possession and one team can end the game on that possession. This isn’t what happened in this particular game, but it is what happens in probably 75% of them. I have no problem in the coin toss deciding who gets the football but the team who has to defend first should get a chance on offense as many times as the other does. In other words, the NFL could adopt the NCAA’s rules. Their overtime procedure is the coin toss in which the winner usually picks defense and the other obviously, plays offense. The offense will either score or not then the defense gets their try to either tie the other team or win it outright. Again, that rarely happens as most of the time the teams will go two or three overtimes. But at least both teams get a fair chance to score. That is also the way that Major League Baseball ends their extra innings, as you probably know. There is one example of how the overtime rules could be changed.
If the NFL would still like to keep their overtime ways they could shorten the time to five or ten minutes and then the NFL can still keep their precious sudden death rules. Or they could do it NBA style an let the teams play for five minutes and if it is still tied play another quarter and so on and so forth. This would be redundant but would be more effective then one team getting an opportunity to score and add a one into the loss column. This also might not fit into the NFL’s plan of keeping games as short as they can but it would provide entertainment for the people who keep the NFL running, the fans.
Something else that might be popular with the fans would be the way soccer and hockey finishes off their ties. Soccer plays a whole game then will play the World Cup overtime. Hockey plays a whole game then play a five-minute period then goes for shootouts. The teams will play an extra quarter (or whatever you want to call it) then if a team doesn’t score a goal, which is pretty common then the two teams will go for penalty kicks or shootouts. What would happen in the NFL would be again a five to ten minute overtime period and then if there was still a tie there would be a series of field goals. This would also force teams to respect their kickers more and then kickers might be considered football players. You could set up the “kickout” in a variety of ways. You could have kickers start with 20 and if they both made go to 30 and so on. A coin toss would have to be used because if the first kicker misses one then the second kicker can clinch it when it goes through the uprights. Or you could just have the kickers kick from a set yardage and then when the first misses the other can finish the game. To add an extra twist you could have the defenses play. I am a fan and I would love to see that compared to the standard NFL format.
In conclusion, I feel all of those alternatives are better then what is current. Don’t just think of regular season games think of the playoffs and maybe even the Super bowl. Which one would you rather see? A winning touchdown pass or a great defensive stop on 4th down. A last second field goal in the 3rd overtime of an NBA style overtime. Or the winning kick in a kickoff. My pick would be a winning touchdown or defensive stop. Of course I am a little biased because the defensive stop came to me when Ohio State deflected Ken Dorsey’s pass away in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl. But you might pick something else or even have your own ideas. But what still doesn’t change is a team doesn’t deserve to lose without a chance for redemption. Not even Terrell Owens and the Cowboys.
Got any ideas? I’d love to hear them. Send questions or comments to [email protected]
10 replies on “NFL Overtime Needs Fixing”
I heard From some announcing crew that the team that gets the ball first only wins 28% of the time. That’s a lot less than I expected…
i thought most of the overtimes I watch end on the first possession. You couls be right though. thanks for the comment
Totally agree I’ve hated NFL ball for years simply due to the overtime rules. I think the soccer method wouldn’t be a bad idea…then to the whole “kickoff” thing. It’d be a lot more exciting and you wouldn’t have to feel cheated so dang much everytime you lose the toss. Good article.
thanks i appreciate it i am hoping this thing can be posted soon
derek… How could you hate a sport due just to overtime rules? Overtime only takes place maybe once in 15 games. Do you not like football?
ah man… naw..I kinda let that one get out of context…I LOVE football…just —HATE— the overtime system. It honestly makes me sick when two teams go to OT. Maybe it’s too much Madden…
ya really if a regular game goes into overtime I am likely to turn it off. I mean I just dont feel the winner comes out of the current overtime. No real strategy just get the ball to the 35 or in and let the kicker win it for you.
OT change cements NFL dominance. The NFL’s overtime rule is possibly the worst in sports. Adopted fully in 1974, the sudden-death procedures are long overdue for change. Overtime games in the NFL are rare, but when they do occur my heads hurts. Proponents of the current system will refer any naysayer to the numbers As of 2002, 317 regular season games went into OT. In 73% of these both teams had at least one possession. The coin toss winner won 51% of the time, 44% saw the coin toss loser ultimately win while the remainder ended with ties.
OK now that we have the figures, what the hell do they mean? Many would simply look at the nearly 50-50 breakdowns and interpret this number as fair, the ultimate authority as it applies to sport.
Obviously the NFL overtime rule is fine…. not so quick. Overtime regardless of the sport must reflect regulation play and last time I checked it is a poor facsimile. Games are won and lost through OFFENSE, DEFENSE, and SPECIAL TEAMS. All phases play a part in regulation and overtime is not the time or place to change things. Each and every game played insures one thing; your offense will get the ball at least once. This in turn guarantees another thing; your defense will see the field at least once as well. So your team has a killer offense? Great they’ll put up many points. Your defense is the S…? Splendid…go for the shut out. Overtime guarantees nothing and that is the problem. How can OT be representative of the game when it completely ignores the basic premises and phases of the game even 1% of the time?
Advocating adoption of the collegiate OT format is a change but even that format is somewhat alien to the spirit and reality of the NFL game. The answer to sudden death and all its’ inadequacies is unclear but will it a take a Super Bowl decided by a first possession, 48-yard FG to awaken them. If and when this becomes reality their rule as the king of all sports will be complete.
I AGREE I HATE THE NFL OVERTIME RULES. IT SHOULD BE LIKE NCAA.
if you watched the game from the people that ive talked to, the main reason they dislike the OT rules is that sometimes only one team gets a crack at the ball. most teams just march down the field and kick a field goal. that perhaps is unfair, but in the Giants vs Eagles case the eagles had the ball and they turned over the ball back to the Giants