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NFL Overtime: Win the Coin Toss, Win the Game
Published: September 11, 2009
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As I watched last night’s game between the Tennessee Titans and the Pittsburgh Steelers with some friends at a local bar, I came to realize two things: I love NFL football so much, and I hate the overtime rules.
I hate the rules as much as I love the game and not because my beloved Titans were the victims. The rules just don’t seem fair or commensurate with the ideals of a struggle so fierce that four quarters and 60 minutes couldn’t solve it.
Everything else in the NFL is so complex, why is this so simple (and wrong)? For the record, it’s not wrong because my team lost. This has been a point of contention for many years for many a fan.
I’ve despised the overtime rules for as long as I can remember, but on opening night, it really hit home for me when one of my friends (a die-hard Steelers fan) turned to me after Pittsburgh won the coin toss and said, “Well, we can go home now right? They won the coin toss, that’s it.”
Begrudgingly, I knew he was probably right. And yet again, after 60 minutes of smash-mouth, exciting football, Pittsburgh took the kickoff, marched down the field, and kicked a 33-yard field goal to win it just four minutes into overtime. The Titans never saw the ball.
Now maybe the Steelers should have won the game anyway, as they were unfortunate to lose a fumble in the last minute of regulation. Nevertheless, the point is there about the NFL’s ridiculous OT rules.
My Proposed Solution
Use the coin toss for choice of possession or side of the field (this remains the same, but with the new rules, comes a little more strategic planning).
The team that gets the ball first can win the game with a touchdown, without the other team ever seeing the ball.
If the team who has possession first scores a field goal, the other team has their opportunity to score either a touchdown (to win), or a field goal to tie (at which point the game continues under sudden death rules).
If the first team to have possession fails to score, the other team can win with a touchdown or a field goal.
I believe this type of setup would not only be fair, but also more exciting than the typical overtime which often seems anti-climactic. It may take longer, but who doesn’t want more football?
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