I am not sure if everybody has heard yet, but yesterday the NFL easily passed a vote for a change in the way it will handle overtime situtations during playoff games. Instead of keeping the sudden death, first team to score wins system that has been in place for decades they are moving to a, what I am coining, “stupid sudden death” system.
The idea behind the new system is that the NFL is tired of the coin toss deciding the outcome of playoff games. Over the last 20 years the accuracy of NFL kickers and the % of field goals made has increased dramatically, along with starting field position as return men are seemingly faster and faster every year. What this means is that the team that wins the toss wins the game about 58% of the time which is up from about 48% of the time historically giving a huge advantage to lady luck. In order to try and bring things back to a level playing field, because the obvious option of just having a strong defensive stance isn’t acceptable, the NFL has decided to say the OT is only sudden death if you score a touchdown, if you get a field goal the other team gets a shot at it too.
So “stupid sudden death” was born. A situation in which it is sudden death if you score a touchdown, but not sudden death if you score a field goal. Which negates the entire purpose of a sudden death type system.
How should they fix it?
Either make it sudden death or don’t. Don’t make up strange rules about how a team must score in order to win the game. Either keep it the way it is or treat it as though it is just another quarter.
Listen I am totally fine with keeping it a sudden death system they way it is, so don’t take the following blurb as an everything must change idea. I am just giving an option for breaking from today’s model.
If you want to balance out the winning percentage forget the coin toss completely and just continue the game as if it were an extra quarter. Line the team up on the ball with 15:00 in the game exactly where the offensive team left off, on opposite sides of the field of course. And then play the game out as normal. If a winner cannot be decided then go to a standard sudden death first team to score wins.
I know they are worried about time which is why “stupid sudden death” is in place. Games last way to long as it is, and sponsors and networks would go crazy if they had to air another 45 minutes of unscheduled programming. But I am willing to bet that 5 quarter playoff games and especially those with no decisions would be a rarity. And if you want to speed it up don’t give the teams any timeouts or red flags in OT. That way the only thing that stops the clock is an incomplete pass or an injury.
Let me know what you think about the new OT system in the NFL and if you haven’t be sure to subscribe to our site to get all of our content sent straight to your inbox.
I think the new system is better than the old sudden death rule, never liked it. Is a the right fix? No. But it is better. I think they should play an extra quarter. Not necessarily 15 minutes but at least 8 to 10. If no team can pull out a victory after the extra period do like hockey. That’s right, a field goal shoot out. Starting at the 20 yard line and going back 5 yards at a time from there, then switching the ends of the field if need be.
I am a proponent for change, albeit, not necessarily this one, simply because I believe each team should have a possession in games of playoff magnitude. I concur that a touchdown should not carry more weight than a field goal. Either make it that each team gets a possession, or keep it the same as it is now. As far as picking up the game and having a fifth quarter, that would be fine too. I’m sure there would be some situations arising that would call for some strategic thinking if this were the scenario.
I think its crazy that the owners voted for this…. especially the teams which are going to be playing in the playoffs every year. I think its absurd