Overtime rule change

[Steelersfan]

The NFL has announced that the owners have approved the modified overtime proposal for the postseason in 2010.

The vote passed at a 28-4 margin for the postseason only, but the issue will be revisited in May with the possibility of including regular season games. Per the new rule, the team that wins the coin toss must score a touchdown to win the game, ensuring that both teams will get the ball in the majority of overtime contests. If the game is tied after both teams' possessions, it then moves to a sudden death format. Rotoworld

[hosler427]

hopefully they institute this in the regular season next year!!

[Steelersfan]

hopefully they institute this in the regular season next year!!

I agree, I like it.

[skip]

I hate it. Move the kickoff forward 5 yards...problem solved. The team winning the coin toss only won slightly more than 50% of the time. The last thing the NFL should be doing is anything that they are doing at the college level. Some of us absolutely hate collegiate level football. One of their stupid rules is the overtime. Its right up there with the BCS system. This seems like just another step in ruining the pro level of the sport.

[Salty Dawg]

So if I have a great Defense I guess Id consider kicking the ball away and seeing if I could get better field position via the punt or even create a turnover with then our chance to get the short field goal and win.

Or is that way too far fetched and anyone would always take the ball if they win the coin toss regardless of how good thier defense is and the fact that the game ended 10-10 in regulation cuz your offense was playing horrible.

thoughts??

by the way..by virtue of the NFL game being so unpredictable I will say we will see how this plays out in Week 1 of the NFL if it gets approved for regular season or the first game or day of wildcard weekend.

It sure would not surprise me. Such a major rule change being exhibited during the first weekend of it..why not.?

[skip]

It sure would not surprise me. Such a major rule change being exhibited during the first weekend of it..why not.?

It's been put in place just for the playoffs for now. Which is even more stupid...separate rules for regular season and OT?

[Salty Dawg]

Such a major rule change being exhibited during the first weekend of it..why not




i know but i think i saw that in may would re-visit 4 reg season,, i also said 1st weekend of rule change...not necessarily 1st weekend of season.

[princevincexoxo]

It sure would not surprise me. Such a major rule change being exhibited during the first weekend of it..why not.?

It's been put in place just for the playoffs for now. Which is even more stupid...separate rules for regular season and OT?

Well...there are already separate rules...you cant tie in the playoffs but you can tie during the regular season

Moving on, I think this is very fair. I mean its so easy for most offenses now, to just run a hurry up offense in OT, get 30-40 yards, and settle for a field goal - or if they miss for the other team to go 20-30 yards and settle for a FG themselves. This rule makes OT way more competitive than it has been, and it gives priority back to the TD. Before teams didnt even try to really score TD's in overtime (how many TD's were scored in OT this year/the past 10 years in comparison to TD's?) - and thats not how the game should be played. This ruling doesnt really do anything but put the priority of the game in perspective - a touchdown should be of a higher priority than a field goal. So if you score a TD first you win priority...if you kick a FG then the other team has an opportunity to win priority - thats fair. Its more competitive, and it puts the game into better perspective as far as who is the better team.

Imagine what football would be like if you only tried to kick fg's and won.

[princevincexoxo]

Thought id research this....

Since 2004 44 games that have gone to OT have been decided by a FG in comparison to only 15 games that were decided by TD's....thats about 75% of overtime games that were decided by FG's because teams dont try to score TD's.....thats like not doing little homework knowing you can do good on all the tests or vice versa and still pass. This will force both teams to perform better overall by forcing them to do their homework, and do good on their tests and rely less on the a coin flip.

Decided by FG - 2 in 2009, 11 in 2008, 7 in 2007, 5 in 2006, 9 in 2005, 10 in 2004
Decided by TD - 0 in 2009, 1 in 2008, 4 in 2007, 4 in 2006, 3 in 2005, 3 in 2004

[Phish Brigade]

I'm fine with the rule change. It's only for the playoffs and for all we know, this rule change might have ZERO impact in the next 10 years. The amount of games that go into OT isn't very high. And it's even less in the playoffs. Plus, there is still a sudden death element to it because it only guarantees each team one possession in the event that a FG is scored. If both teams score a FG or if both teams punt, it goes back to sudden death. College overtime rules are completely different.

They've covered a lot of reasons why the rule change was proposed. But the one thing that hasn't really been discussed is how many penalties are called in today's NFL for pass interference and holding. Add in the 5 yard rule and it's effect on the passing game and you end up with the winner of the coin toss getting a major advantage in the most important game of the year. Again, it's EXTREMELY rare for a playoff game to go into overtime anyway. I really don't think it's that big of a deal. Definitely doesn't deserve as much press as it's getting.

[princevincexoxo]

I'm fine with the rule change. It's only for the playoffs and for all we know, this rule change might have ZERO impact in the next 10 years. The amount of games that go into OT isn't very high. And it's even less in the playoffs. Plus, there is still a sudden death element to it because it only guarantees each team one possession in the event that a FG is scored. If both teams score a FG or if both teams punt, it goes back to sudden death. College overtime rules are completely different.

They've covered a lot of reasons why the rule change was proposed. But the one thing that hasn't really been discussed is how many penalties are called in today's NFL for pass interference and holding. Add in the 5 yard rule and it's effect on the passing game and you end up with the winner of the coin toss getting a major advantage in the most important game of the year. Again, it's EXTREMELY rare for a playoff game to go into overtime anyway. I really don't think it's that big of a deal. Definitely doesn't deserve as much press as it's getting.

They gotta take as much attention off of Big Ben as possible

[Shawn]

I'm fine with the rule change. It's only for the playoffs and for all we know, this rule change might have ZERO impact in the next 10 years. The amount of games that go into OT isn't very high. And it's even less in the playoffs. Plus, there is still a sudden death element to it because it only guarantees each team one possession in the event that a FG is scored. If both teams score a FG or if both teams punt, it goes back to sudden death. College overtime rules are completely different.

They've covered a lot of reasons why the rule change was proposed. But the one thing that hasn't really been discussed is how many penalties are called in today's NFL for pass interference and holding. Add in the 5 yard rule and it's effect on the passing game and you end up with the winner of the coin toss getting a major advantage in the most important game of the year. Again, it's EXTREMELY rare for a playoff game to go into overtime anyway. I really don't think it's that big of a deal. Definitely doesn't deserve as much press as it's getting.

They gotta take as much attention off of Big Ben as possible

Nice to see Big Ben made it on last week's South Park Episode though!!!
episode can be seen at http://www.southparkstudios.com

[Pac_Eddy]

March 2022: The NFL has voted to guarantee each team a possession in overtime of playoff games only. Regular season remains the same (a TD ends the game on the first possession).

I'm still not convinced this is needed as the number of playoff overtime game sample size is so small.