The San Diego Chargers beat the Indianapolis Colts, 23-17, in overtime Saturday. The Chargers scored on the opening possession and the Colts never got the ball. This reignited debate on whether the NFL should change its OT rules. What do you think?
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on Feb 5th, 2009 at 11:11 pm
The NFL “coin flip” rule that is used to award possession of the ball at the start of overtime is unfair. The most equitable solution is also the simplest:
Skip the flip. Just keep playing. First team to score wins.
There are six reasons why this method is an improvement over the current rule:
1) More exciting games. For example, a team trailing 38-31 scores a touchdown on the last play of regulation. Under the current rules, they will kick the extra point to force overtime. The new rules will encourage them to try for two and end the game, since they will kick off if the game goes to overtime.
2) No more “playing for overtime”. Assume that a team is pinned at their own 2-yard line with 1:17 remaining in the 4th quarter, and the other team has one timeout. They currently can take a knee for two or three plays to force OT. That could not occur under the new rule.
3) The defense would not need to be on the field for two consecutive possessions.
4) The players and coaches maintain control of the game. The flow of the game is not interrupted by starting over and arbitrarily giving the ball to one team.
5) The receiving team typically starts at their own 20 or 30-yard line after the kickoff under the coin flip rule. With the new rules, the team with the ball could be anywhere on the field (at midfield, on average) when overtime starts, and the game should end sooner.
6) Under current rules, the teams switch sides of the field at the end of the 5th, 6th or any subsequent quarters. Since there is no coin flip at the end of the 6th quarter, why is there one at the end of the 4th quarter?
When the overtime period starts, teams will switch sides and start with two timeouts, as they do now. “Sudden death” is the best way to play overtime – this new method is a sensible and fair way to get there.