Proposed New Overtime Rules

[get louder at lambeau]

How about this-

Put the ball at the 50, and line both teams up at their goalline. Blow the whistle, and whoever comes up with the ball wins. False start and you lose.

[Cheesehead Craig]

Do what the colleges do except have the ball at the 40 yd line for each team. Defense can run turnovers back. If the D gets a pick 6, it's over.

[Maxie the Taxi]

Yeah, I think "first to six points" is probably better than this. Much easier for the average fan to grasp.

Though, I have to say, what's wrong with ties (at least in the regular season)? I'd like to see a game which is tied at the end of regulation in the regular season end in a tie, and handle ties in the playoffs by just playing extra quarters (or 10 minuted periods, say) until one ends in a non-tie.

I agree. Ties in the regular season should stand. One possession each in the playoffs, period. Winner...wins.

Old School agrees with both of you. Ties were counted as 1/2 win and 1/2 loss in the old days and it worked fine. Go back to letting ties stand in the regular season. In the playoffs, just go with the same system we got now. First team to score wins.

Sorry. Sometimes my age gets to me and my memory leaves.

After giving some thought to this, I now seem to remember that ties in the NFL in the old days were not counted as a half game won and a half game lost. I think they were considered as not played at all. Winners were determined by won-lost percentage without counting ties as games played in the percentage.

[The Leaper]

I think they should play dodgeball to decide the winner.

[get louder at lambeau]

I think they should play dodgeball to decide the winner.

That would be an unfair advantage for the Bears. Cutler is exceptional at hitting opposing players with the football.

[pbmax]

How does everyone feel about the first to six proposal? It would not guarantee a possession apiece, but it would make FGs less appealing.

I still think they could thrown the number of times the coin flip winner wins/loses the game back into balance by moving the OT kickoff back up to the 35 yard line.

[pbmax]

Peter King mentioned this in MMQB, but I think he overplayed one aspect of the finding (that there is a definite advantage to going second and knowing what you need to score - essentially, it puts 4th down into play as another attempt at a first down, rather than a punt).

http://www.advancednflstats.com/2010/03/new-proposed-overtime-rules.html

He finds that the guaranteed possession model moves things much closer to 50/50. The guaranteed possession only after a FG moves the needle much less.

[hoosier]

How does everyone feel about the first to six proposal? It would not guarantee a possession apiece, but it would make FGs less appealing.

I still think they could thrown the number of times the coin flip winner wins/loses the game back into balance by moving the OT kickoff back up to the 35 yard line.

In trying to fix a perceived problem I think it might actually make the problem worse. Sudden death OT creates dissatisfaction among fans whenever one team scores without the other team getting the ball. First to 6 would certainly decrease the frequency of those one drive overtimes, but it would not do away with them and it might compound the problem, because now the NFL has basically acknowledged the problem but failed to fix it. First team to 6 reeks of the inequity of half-measures.

I cannot think of an overtime format that is free of problems. All models have the potential to be too short or too long, arbitrary or drawn out to the point of boredom and increased injuries. I much prefer sudden death, which at least doesn't try to hide its warts.

[swede]

How does everyone feel about the first to six proposal? It would not guarantee a possession apiece, but it would make FGs less appealing.

I still think they could thrown the number of times the coin flip winner wins/loses the game back into balance by moving the OT kickoff back up to the 35 yard line.

In trying to fix a perceived problem I think it might actually make the problem worse. Sudden death OT creates dissatisfaction among fans whenever one team scores without the other team getting the ball. First to 6 would certainly decrease the frequency of those one drive overtimes, but it would not do away with them and it might compound the problem, because now the NFL has basically acknowledged the problem but failed to fix it. First team to 6 reeks of the inequity of half-measures.

I cannot think of an overtime format that is free of problems. All models have the potential to be too short or too long, arbitrary or drawn out to the point of boredom and increased injuries. I much prefer sudden death, which at least doesn't try to hide its warts.

Excellent point. Exploring the other options can lead one to the conclusion that what we had wasn't that bad anyway. Statistically, the ending is always going to suck for 50% of the participants,

[sharpe1027]

How does everyone feel about the first to six proposal? It would not guarantee a possession apiece, but it would make FGs less appealing.

I still think they could thrown the number of times the coin flip winner wins/loses the game back into balance by moving the OT kickoff back up to the 35 yard line.

Just leave it as is. If you don't like overtime, you should have won the game in regulation.

[The Leaper]

One thing that really bothers me about this is the fact the NFL is even considering making this change DIRECTLY TO THE POSTSEASON without having some kind of trial period either in preseason or the regular season. I think that is a major error in judgment. Whatever "improved" proposal you come up with should be tried out in games that mean far less than the NFL playoffs.

[pbmax]

How does everyone feel about the first to six proposal? It would not guarantee a possession apiece, but it would make FGs less appealing.

I still think they could thrown the number of times the coin flip winner wins/loses the game back into balance by moving the OT kickoff back up to the 35 yard line.

In trying to fix a perceived problem I think it might actually make the problem worse. Sudden death OT creates dissatisfaction among fans whenever one team scores without the other team getting the ball. First to 6 would certainly decrease the frequency of those one drive overtimes, but it would not do away with them and it might compound the problem, because now the NFL has basically acknowledged the problem but failed to fix it. First team to 6 reeks of the inequity of half-measures.

I cannot think of an overtime format that is free of problems. All models have the potential to be too short or too long, arbitrary or drawn out to the point of boredom and increased injuries. I much prefer sudden death, which at least doesn't try to hide its warts.

That would depend on what you mean by fix it. If opponents of the current OT want to eliminate the advantage of the coin flip winner, then they will find out that any OT scenario gives someone an advantage, coin flip or no.

But if the goal is to make the winner earn the OT win, then first to six does address that problem. Its gives the defense a better chance and makes penalties less determinative.

I tend to think that almost the same could be achieved by moving the kickoff to the 35. But then, I don't see the need to change it.

[sharpe1027]

That would depend on what you mean by fix it. If opponents of the current OT want to eliminate the advantage of the coin flip winner, then they will find out that any OT scenario gives someone an advantage, coin flip or no.

Why not keep it the same, but make up rules on who gets the ball first based upon something other than a coin toss.

For example, the team with the most yards gets the ball first, or the team with the most touchdowns or the team with the fewest turnovers, or the team that has the guy with the longest hair.

[hoosier]

How does everyone feel about the first to six proposal? It would not guarantee a possession apiece, but it would make FGs less appealing.

I still think they could thrown the number of times the coin flip winner wins/loses the game back into balance by moving the OT kickoff back up to the 35 yard line.

In trying to fix a perceived problem I think it might actually make the problem worse. Sudden death OT creates dissatisfaction among fans whenever one team scores without the other team getting the ball. First to 6 would certainly decrease the frequency of those one drive overtimes, but it would not do away with them and it might compound the problem, because now the NFL has basically acknowledged the problem but failed to fix it. First team to 6 reeks of the inequity of half-measures.

I cannot think of an overtime format that is free of problems. All models have the potential to be too short or too long, arbitrary or drawn out to the point of boredom and increased injuries. I much prefer sudden death, which at least doesn't try to hide its warts.

That would depend on what you mean by fix it. If opponents of the current OT want to eliminate the advantage of the coin flip winner, then they will find out that any OT scenario gives someone an advantage, coin flip or no.

But if the goal is to make the winner earn the OT win, then first to six does address that problem. Its gives the defense a better chance and makes penalties less determinative.

I tend to think that almost the same could be achieved by moving the kickoff to the 35. But then, I don't see the need to change it.

I suppose that moving kickoff up to 35 also has an advantage over first to 6, since first to 6 would presumably result in more ties (if implemented in regular season) or double overtimes (in playoffs) and thus greater chance for injury. So would just the opening OT kickoff be moved up to the 35, or would all OT kickoffs be placed there?

One interesting consideration with the current OT format is that, in addition to placing huge importance on major penalties (if the offense has a reliable kicker, a long defensive pass interference penalty is basically a game ender), it also give a big advantage to defenses capable of shutting down the oppponent. "Bend but don't break" doesn't do much good when the opponent only needs 30 yards for a winning FG try.

[packrulz]

Breaking news: The new overtime rule was approved.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d8171b356&template=with-video-with-comments&confirm=true