NFL Needs to Change Its Overtime System, and I Have an Idea
The National Football League has long employed an overtime system in which games that are tied at the end of regulation are determined largely by a coin toss. Sure, the first team to score is the winner, but the team who gets the ball first has a decided advantage. The coin-toss-winning team simply has to get within field goal range against a defensive unit worn down by sixty minutes of football and hope its kicker doesn't choke.
The alternative favored by high schools and colleges is alternating possessions on the 25-yard line, a system that ESPN's Mike Golic likened to deciding a basketball game with a free-throw shooting contest. After regulation, if the game is tied, football is replaced with another sport—a sport that is similar to football, but without kick-offs or a clock.
The NFL's Competition Committee, to their credit, has decided to explore ways to change the overtime system. One involves moving the overtime kickoff from the 30-yard line to the 35, theoretically giving the receiving team poorer field position. I don't think that penalizing the receiving team solves the problem, and I'm not sure that five yards will make much difference anyway. Atlanta Falcons general manager Rich McKay, co-chairman of the competition committee, is "not optimistic" that this recommendation will pass.
According to McKay, a group of owners favors a mandatory two-possession overtime in which each team gets the ball once. This is much better than either the current system or the 35-yard-line proposal. But what about on-side kicks? Say Team A wins the toss and elects to receive; then Team B decides to go for an on-side kick, recovers the kick-off, and eventually scores. Is Team A still entitled to a possession? If two possessions were mandatory, there would have to be another kick-off. What if Team B were to successfully execute another on-side kick? Here's another situation: Say Team A recovers the initial kick and scores then recovers an onside kick of its own. There have been two possessions and each team has had a chance to receive, but only one team has had possession of the ball.
Here's my proposal: Two three-minute overtime periods. Each team would kick off once and receive once. Beyond that, what happens happens. Regardless of on-side kicks or turnovers, the teams would play until time ran out. Success in overtime would require good clock management—much like success in the closing minutes of either half.
The alternative favored by high schools and colleges is alternating possessions on the 25-yard line, a system that ESPN's Mike Golic likened to deciding a basketball game with a free-throw shooting contest. After regulation, if the game is tied, football is replaced with another sport—a sport that is similar to football, but without kick-offs or a clock.
The NFL's Competition Committee, to their credit, has decided to explore ways to change the overtime system. One involves moving the overtime kickoff from the 30-yard line to the 35, theoretically giving the receiving team poorer field position. I don't think that penalizing the receiving team solves the problem, and I'm not sure that five yards will make much difference anyway. Atlanta Falcons general manager Rich McKay, co-chairman of the competition committee, is "not optimistic" that this recommendation will pass.
According to McKay, a group of owners favors a mandatory two-possession overtime in which each team gets the ball once. This is much better than either the current system or the 35-yard-line proposal. But what about on-side kicks? Say Team A wins the toss and elects to receive; then Team B decides to go for an on-side kick, recovers the kick-off, and eventually scores. Is Team A still entitled to a possession? If two possessions were mandatory, there would have to be another kick-off. What if Team B were to successfully execute another on-side kick? Here's another situation: Say Team A recovers the initial kick and scores then recovers an onside kick of its own. There have been two possessions and each team has had a chance to receive, but only one team has had possession of the ball.
Here's my proposal: Two three-minute overtime periods. Each team would kick off once and receive once. Beyond that, what happens happens. Regardless of on-side kicks or turnovers, the teams would play until time ran out. Success in overtime would require good clock management—much like success in the closing minutes of either half.
posted by Tinley | 6:54 PM
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