Overtime in the NFL

[MadtownPacker]

It's time to get NFL Sunday Ticket. This will be my third year - it's changed football from the best thing about the Fall to the best thing about the whole Year.

Hell yeah its the shit. Youcant beat it and if you playy FF you need to have it. In fact becuase of Sunday Ticket I was able to see the last game that ended in a OT tie, falcons@steelers. It sucked.

[Fosco33]

It's time to get NFL Sunday Ticket. This will be my third year - it's changed football from the best thing about the Fall to the best thing about the whole Year.

Hell yeah its the shit. Youcant beat it and if you playy FF you need to have it. In fact becuase of Sunday Ticket I was able to see the last game that ended in a OT tie, falcons@steelers. It sucked.

Word.

Better yet, pay another 5 bucks and get a second channel receiver w/ TiVO. OR even crazier, get another TiVO on a second TV and literally watch 100% of your favorite 8 teams every week.

No, I don't do that yet. Just watch the Pack on one and flip on the second receiver to watch another great game or the redzone channel.

[woodbuck27]

'I love this topic. College rules are so much better than pro rules here. I can't stand the fact that two teams kill each other for over 2 hours and leave it all on the field and the overtime is decided almost always by a damn kicker." BigDmoney


Yup . Noway should the outcome of that match-up basicly come down to the result of a coin toss in the first OT decision scenario.

Both sides should first play one whole additional quarter, and then another total quarter till the game is decided by the score, at the end of the quarter. A tie moves the game into another full quarter.

It seems to be all about the media these days and it should be all about the fans.

If my team loses a coin toss and must kick first in OT, and they get that FG in their first series on "O" and win . . . that is . . . just PLAIN WRONG !

[HarveyWallbangers]

NFL rules are fine but each team should get a chance to score. Kickoff then both teams get the chance to score no sudden death.

I agree with this. Each team should get the ball once.

I don't like the college rules. I don't like when a sport changes their rules for OT. Keep it the same, but mandate that each team gets the ball, so the luck of the coin toss is not a huge issue.

[BigDmoney]

NFL rules are fine but each team should get a chance to score. Kickoff then both teams get the chance to score no sudden death.

I agree with this. Each team should get the ball once.

I don't like the college rules. I don't like when a sport changes their rules for OT. Keep it the same, but mandate that each team gets the ball, so the luck of the coin toss is not a huge issue.

That's basically what the college rules are doing. The great thing is that there also is strategy on whether to kick a FG or go for the endzone. BOTH teams play offense no matter what and BOTH teams play defense. It's a short field so punts are taken out and. These evertmes usually don't take that much time.

[HarveyWallbangers]

That's basically what the college rules are doing. The great thing is that there also is strategy on whether to kick a FG or go for the endzone. BOTH teams play offense no matter what and BOTH teams play defense. It's a short field so punts are taken out and. These evertmes usually don't take that much time.

I don't like it for 2 reasons: 1) that's not how they play the game in regulation. They don't line up the ball for you at the 25 yard line, 2) it makes who has the better kicker too important. The way it is now, a team has to drive down the field just to get into range for a 50 yard FG. With the college rules, even if you don't gain any yards, you are kicking a 42 yard FG.

[CyclonePackFan]

The coin flip is as fair as it gets

Tell that to Jerome Bettis. Who else remembers Steelers-Lions, Thanksgiving Day, 1998? Bettis calls "tails", the ref thinks he says 'heads'. Flip comes out tails, Lions "win" the toss, get to receive, drive down, and kick a FG. Game over.

Isolated incident, granted, but the point remains.

There are several reasons why I consider the NCAA superior to the NFL. Playing for the love, not for money is one. OT is another. Sudden Death needs to go. Like many posters have asserted, it doesn't need to be the same system as instituted in the NCAA (and in High School, for that matter). Each team kicks off, if that's what floats your boat. Coin flip is still in play. Getting to go on D first is worth just as much or more than receiving in the current system. Hell, the game can still even be decided by one play. One INT return, and it's game over. IF both teams get a shot on O, there's no reason to punt. You could see 4th down attempts 4 or 5 times on a drive. Tell me that when your team needs to convert on 4th and long, it's not exciting.

Hell, if you don't want kickoffs, we can handle that too. How about this. Start on the 40, just outside FG range. If it's a tie after both teams have a posession, move back to the 50, the 40, the 30, and so on. (this I'm NOT in favor of, but just throwing it out there)

[b bulldog]

College rules are good although the O stats get overly inflated.

[No Mo Moss]

NFL sudden death is really bad. Play 10 minute periods until somebody wins. Or hell, I'd rather have games end in a tie! It is more fair than sudden death.

I agree with that. In soccer it works. If you don't deserve to win you shouldn't.


That being said if we must have over time it should be a hybrid of the college version. I propose one possesion each. If you don't turn a 4th down into points or a 1st then you have to kick off from the regular spot. Each team gets a turn. You keep going until someone wins.

[BigDmoney]

That's basically what the college rules are doing. The great thing is that there also is strategy on whether to kick a FG or go for the endzone. BOTH teams play offense no matter what and BOTH teams play defense. It's a short field so punts are taken out and. These evertmes usually don't take that much time.

I don't like it for 2 reasons: 1) that's not how they play the game in regulation. They don't line up the ball for you at the 25 yard line, 2) it makes who has the better kicker too important. The way it is now, a team has to drive down the field just to get into range for a 50 yard FG. With the college rules, even if you don't gain any yards, you are kicking a 42 yard FG.

I would say that the way it is now makes the better kicker more important. A TD is what wins in the college overtime, not a FG.

[Fosco33]

I would say that the way it is now makes the better kicker more important. A TD is what wins in the college overtime, not a FG.

Huh???

Team A gets the ball and fails to reach a 1st down and misses the FG.

Team B gets the ball and kicks a FG and WINS the game.

Care to clarify?

[Merlin]

I think the overtime rules in the NFL are fine. It is a supported fact that the coin toss does not determine the winner. If you don't believe me go re-read the article. Giving each team an equal possession is crap. What happens when Al Harris returns an interception for a TD then? We get the ball on offense? Can the defense then score under a college style OT? What will teams like the Bears do? I mean if you force them to have one offensive possession, that may lose the game for them!

[BigDmoney]

I would say that the way it is now makes the better kicker more important. A TD is what wins in the college overtime, not a FG.

Huh???

Team A gets the ball and fails to reach a 1st down and misses the FG.

Team B gets the ball and kicks a FG and WINS the game.

Care to clarify?

What i mean is that 99% of all NFL overtimes are decided by a FG so thus the kickers are the ones determining the outcome. College rules are such that the winning team almost always scores a td, and if a fg is kicked, teh attempt is rarely outside of 40 yards. A big reason college adompted this rules is to take away most of the influence kickers have. When NFL teams get inside the 35 or so yard line in overtime, they become so conservative so as not to commit a turnover that long FG attempts are the norm.

[HarveyWallbangers]

This sounds like conjecture. What are the stats on this?

The point is that the offense has to do something in the NFL. They normally have to drive the field to get into FG range. In college, a team wouldn't have to do anything offensively to win a game--except have a better FG kicker. I suspect a lot of OTs in college go FG, FG, FG, FG, FG, TD.

[4and12to12and4]

Well, I personally hate the NFL rules, where one team wins the coin toss and can score without the other team having a chance to do the same and even the playing field. However, I think they should change the college rule by starting the ball at your own 30 or 40 yard line and actually earn the score. If neither team scores at that spot, redo the same thing from the 50, etc. until it is decided. That way, even if two teams that aren't very good on offense are playing, the game won't go on forever, because eventually each team will be starting closer and closer to the oppositions goal. This just seems more fair, because at least it evens out both teams chance to win, rather than one team winning due to a lucky flip of the coin.

Even if the stats say that less than 40% of teams actually score on that first possession, who cares? Does that give reason to just continue keeping a system that is obviously not fair? By that thinking, they should get rid of instant replay considering that MOST of the challenges AREN"T overturned. The percentages of the instant replays aren't important, what's important is that it at least gives each team more "fair play". If a couple Superbowls ended in OT and the "lucky" team who receives the ball first wins, this rule would be scrutinized by every sportswriter and radio personality in the country. So, I guess what I'm saying is, regardless of what the NFL heads think of the past outcomes, it doesn't change the fact that it is simply an unfair system which rewards a team for getting lucky on a coin toss. I hate it, and hope that the guys who have voted it down will reconsider until it gets changed.