New Overtime Rules in the NFL

Yesterday, the NFL owners voted 28-4 to pass a new overtime system that will be implemented for the playoffs next year.  The issue will be revisited next year to decide if the rule should be implemented in the regular season as well.

The new rule states that, if the first team to score in overtime scores a field goal, the game is not over, but instead the opposition will have the opportunity to have the ball.  If the opposing team scores a touchdown, the game is over, but if the team scores a field goal, the game would be tied and the game will then proceed as sudden death.

However, if the first team to score produces a touchdown, the game is over, and the opposing team will not have an opportunity to score.

One final condition states that if any team scores on defense or special teams, that team wins and the game is over at that point.

Confusing, right?  Donovan McNabb will have trouble with this one.  Seriously, though, this new system is unnecessarily complex.  It complicates overtime and introduces many new scenarios and strategies.  This may not seem like a bad thing to some, but in my opinion, this deviates from true football.  Mike Golic said it best on NFL Live yesterday, when he said, “Just play football!”  He advocated a 10 minute extra period, much like one that fans would see in basketball or hockey.  He felt like this was the simplest, most effective, and truest way to resolve the overtime debate.  I tend to agree.  Why not just add 10-15 minutes to the clock and let the teams score as much as they can and then see who is the winner?  If the teams are still tied, then there can be a tie (if it is implemented in the regular season).  If it were a playoff game, then a 2nd overtime period would follow if the teams were tied after the first overtime.  That is one good solution for the NFL overtime problem.

Another solution that would have been an improvement would be a system similar to the college system.  In the college system, each team has an opportunity to score from the 25 yard line, and if after each team’s possession the score is still tied, then a 2nd overtime period starts, and the cycle repeats until a winner is determined.  This would prevent ties.  In the NFL, if each team started at the 50 yard line, and the system operated under college rules, that would be an exciting, fair, and viable solution for overtime in the NFL, and would eliminate ties if it were implemented in the regular season as well.

Both these systems would be simpler and more exciting than this new system will be.  The new system is too “out there,” in terms of strategy and execution.  It seems to be too different than an actual football game, and the NFL could have done much better in its design of a new overtime system.