What a game last night!! Giants beat the Panthers in OT 34-28 for homefield advantage in the playoffs. It was a dramatic, intense, back and forth, electrifying game, and all I can say is this: thank god both teams touched the ball in overtime. As I sat watching the game as regulation time expired all I could think about was how this game could be determined by the flip of a coin.
I mean, seriously, could there be a dumber rule in all of sports? I know that not every overtime game is won on that first possession, but the fact that a team can win a game without the other team even touching the ball is possibly the stupidest concept ever created. I simply do not understand the rationale behind this. Two teams battle it out for 4 quarters. Guys have played their butts off fighting for every last yard and the game is now potentially decided by whether a shiny piece of metal comes up one way or the other? Ridiculous.
But rather than continue to complain, I will offer my 2 solutions.
1) No Sudden Death Overtime:
This one is pretty self explanatory.
Right now, all you have to do to win the game is kick a field goal. Drive your team within the other team's 35 yard line and you've got a pretty good chance of winning the game. Teams aren't compelled to go for the end zone. They just want to get it close enough so their place-kicker can send everyone home. And field goals aren't exactly difficult to come by. Even in low-scoring affairs, you're bound to see at least a few field goals kicked.
So just play the Overtime as if it were the 5th quarter. If the game is still tied at the end of the 15 minutes....so be it, the game ends in a tie.
I don't love this solution because ties are more likely than they are in the current format, and no one likes to see a game end in a tie. Which is why I would like to see my next solution implemented....
2) Do it Like the College Kids (With a slight modification):
The NCAA really got it right when it comes to OT. There is nothing more exciting than how college football determines a winner in overtime. Each team gets the ball 1st and 10 at the opponent's 25 yard line. The team with the ball first tries to score, then the other team tries to match or out-do what the first team did, and you repeat the process until there is a winner. There is an emphasis on both offense and defense. There is drama and strategy. How exciting is it when that first team is faced with a 4th and 1 and needs to decide whether to settle for a field goal, or go for it and risk not getting any points at all?
What I really like most about this system though, is the equanimity of opportunity. Both teams are guaranteed a shot at the ball, and both the offense and the defense have to do their jobs.
Here is my one small tweak to what they do in college. In the NCAA, the ball is placed on the 25 yard line. That means if the offense were to go absolutely nowhere in their first 3 downs, they could take a shot at a 42 yard field goal, which in college is definitely not a gimme. In the NFL however, a 42 yarder is a very make-able kick. So I suggest moving the ball back to the 35 yard line. This would set up a potential 52 yarder if the team goes 0 yards in their 3 plays. Definitely not an automatic kick, but still make-able. All the same rules apply from there.
I think it would make the overtime much more exciting, and never again would you have to hear someone say, "We got screwed! We never even touched the ball in overtime!!" And all because of a flip of a coin.
And if you disagree....go ahead an tell me I'm wrong.
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6 comments:
Yeah, seriously Rosey. After watching a cointoss literally hand the Bears a lifeline into the playoffs I couldn't agree with you more and this is without any question the rule the NFL needs to address the most (p.s. my new favorite scenario is Vikings win, Bears win, Cowboys & Bucs lose, Bears travel to Metrodome for playoffs...that'd be a nice easy first round for us!)
Anyway, the current "rational" given for the sudden death is that pro players play such a long season already that they wouldn't be able to take the longer games that the NCAA thing invites...and also that without kickoffs it isn't "real" football. RUBBISH!
You're idea is good too, but, really, why not go back to the 45 yard line? It certainly seems unlikely you'd get games markedly longer than current overtime rules with this.
Or how about this: you play a sudden death overtime with one twist. Each team has to punt the ball at least once. (Score a touchdown on first drive? Counts as a touchback!) In this way you bring special teams to the front of the fight and would actually introduce a really interesting chess match into what is now (80% of the time!!!) nothing more than a coin flip.
Interesting idea to move it back to the 45 yard line. You'd have to at least get a couple of first downs to have a shot at points.
Really exciting last weekend of games coming up. You know that the Giants won't rest all their starters, though you can bet they won't start Brandon Jacobs, Aaron Ross, and some other key players. That might be a nice little perk for the Vikes. The only catch is Tom Coughlin is never one to coast through a game, just look at the game against the Pats last year in week 17 after the G-Men had already clinched a playoff spot.
PS: I wouldn't mind seeing the Cowboys not make it.
Hey Mike, I'm in favor of allowing a minimum of one possession each to start an overtime, and if the score remains tied go sudden death. Overall I prefer sudden death to the college system, which seems contrived to me. Also put me down for 5 on 5 sudden death in the NHL in case you were wondering. What's wrong with ties in non playoff situations anyway. If two teams are even and play the game that way why not have ties? It worked for years, and having the overtimes have created even more discourse then the ties ever did. Look how confused Donovan McNabb was!
Bob
You know what's really amazing Bob, is that apparently 75% of NFL players were unaware that the game could end in a tie at the end of the OT. How crazy is that?
I really love the college OT. I experienced it first hand in a Northwestern vs. Ohio St game which is to this day the greatest sporting experience of my life (and I've been at Yankee stadium when the yankees won the World Series). It creates a pretty amazing level of excitement.
I like the 4-4 in the NHL since the game opens up a bit, but I don't like it that much more than the 5-5. The NHL hated having tie games. I think that was the original reason for making the OT 4-4. Now with the shoot out it doesn't matter, why not put it back to 5-5. There is a very crazy, wreckless abandon feel in the 4-4 OT now that is fun to watch, but it seems less necessary now.
PS, are you an Isles or Ranger fan?
Hey Mike, Gimmicks are always exciting- for a while, and then you start to ask does it stand the test of time? In the case of football you eliminate the entire aspect of special teams, a third of the game. Not to mention the strategy that field position holds. All part of the football game you paid to see. Now ask yourself, would you pay to attend a game that was played entirely under college overtime rules? Mostly those are called scrimmages and practices. Why would you want to decide games under those conditions? That's why the NFL overtime rules despite the obvious disadvantage that the game can end after only one possession a better alternative to college. You are still getting a football game!
As for Hockey, the biggest problem is that they listen to too many people who are not fans of the game. Hockey has tried to expand the game to a wider audience. Shoot outs work in Olympic and tournament hockey because of the truncated scheduling, but four on fours favor the team with more skilled players, as does shoot outs, not the club that has played the better team game. So once again you don't get the game you paid to see. You hear more and more announcers at the end of the overtime periods say we will go to the skills competition of the game as we get ready for the shoot out. That should tell you that even they don't believe it's a fair way decide the contest. BTW- Islanders, and it is already a long cold winter.
-Bob
Always good to know there are fellow Isles fans out there. It's been a rough season. At least we can look forward to having Taveres on our team next year.
Not sure if you've been watching the last few games, but Comeau and Okposo have been showing some really nice chemistry together. Bailey is going to be a great set-up type center for them too. I'm really upset about Nielsen going down. I think he's really got something and was just starting to find his stride.
As far as the football OT goes, I understand your point. It is tough to remove one aspect of the game. After watching my Wildcats in an OT game in the Alamo bowl earlier this week though, I have to say that it only furthered my love of the college system. It's very exciting and with the exception of the punters and return men, everyone on the team is involved. But I understand the "skills competition" aspect of it.
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