The NFL’s Competition Committee had their first in-person meeting of the offseason today and, according to Judy Battista of NFL Network, proposed changes to the league’s overtime rules are on the agenda. The Committee’s chair, Rich McKay, confirmed as much, claiming there was no question it would be brought up.
Battista continued her reports in a series of tweets. She claims that there will be proposals for the rules to change both for the playoffs only and for regular season and postseason games together.
The argument for changing the rule in the playoffs only are centered around the expectation that the league’s best quarterbacks will be the ones participating in these games, increasing the likelihood that the team that wins the coin toss will score on the first possession of overtime and end the game without the opponent getting a chance to touch the ball. An example of this occurred this past postseason when the Chiefs defeated the Bills on the first possession of overtime in the AFC Divisional Playoff round. Unfortunately for fans rooting for a potential rule change, an example of the opposite of the above example happened just a week later. In the AFC Championship game, the Chiefs once again won the coin toss and were granted the first possession of overtime. This time, the Chiefs were forced to go three-and-out by the Bengals’ defense, and Cincinnati went on to win the game on a walk-off field goal.
According to Battista, the Colts have submitted a proposal that would guarantee each team a possession in overtime that would apply to both the regular season and the postseason. The Colts didn’t make the postseason this year but had two regular season games go past regulation. Indianapolis lost both games. An overtime loss to the Titans on Halloween saw both teams possess the ball twice each in overtime, but an October loss in Baltimore saw Lamar Jackson and the Ravens dink-and-dunk their way to a touchdown in overtime that kept the Colts from ever seeing the ball after the fourth quarter.
Battista notes that there is still a ways to go in the discussions for a change to overtime rules. It won’t be discussed by the Committee for another two days. Even when it does come up, it’s not yet known how much support is out there for the potential change. In order for the rule to be adjusted, 24 owners would have to vote in favor of a change to the rule. That’s a high bar to pass, but something worth keeping an eye on as discussions proceed.
I don’t care what they do as long as they stop allowing games to end in ties. Dumbest thing in sports to have a game end without a winner.
A good tie breaker would be to award the win to the team with fewer players under arrest or on suspension.
If NFL is supposed to be an offensive league both teams should get the ball than
just as long as whatever outcome isnt in the interest of determining a winner just to do so. id rather see a tie than an artificially decided winner.
As long as inept officiating is tolerated there will be artificially decided winners.
that is fair
Yeah, they “discuss” it every year. Just like officiating, making plays reviewable that aren’t, and anything else that might help the game be less frustrating.
Maybe a simple one- if the team that wins the toss scores a touchdown, the second the gets the ball and has to go for 2 if they score.
The problem with that is that the team winning the coin flip still gets an advantage. Randomly guessing which way the coin is going to spin shouldn’t provide an OT advantage, IMHO.
Make them both go for two
“The argument for changing the rule in the playoffs only are centered around the expectation that the league’s best quarterbacks will be the ones participating in these games…..”
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B I N G O
The rule changes the NFL has made assure that a team built around a defense and/or running the ball has no chance of getting into these games unless they have a superior QB.
Each year there are no more than 12-14 “Best QB’s” – that their teams won’t let go of. Consequently, fans in 18-20 cities know that their team has no real chance of winning anything of value – all they can hope for is a high draft choice in the future that gets them a QB that matures into a “Best QB”.
Fire and hire people in the front offices and coaching staffs to your hearts content. Without a “Best QB” the owner and fans don’t have a chance of their team being relevant.
Is that why Nick Foles and Case Keenum were playing in the 2017 NFC Championship? What about Jimmy G? I wouldn’t consider him a top 12 signal caller, but he made the 2019 Superbowl and his team very nearly clinched an appearance this year as well.
I understand the league has become more quarterback-centric in recent years, but to say winning without one of the best is impossible would be hyperbolic. In fact, the name of the game at this point is securing young and controllable talent to maximize payroll
The NFL passer centic model needs to be revamped. It’s not financially sustainable and what’s the point in getting the best QB to a championship if he’s going to post a 52.3 passer rating for millions of viewers as Mahomes did in the 2020 SB.
What are you talking about? If the D is so great that it stops the QB, then you win.
The NFL is pandering to the old-boy network of sportswriters who whine and cry “It’s Not Fair!” Under this proposal, 2 memorable OT games of recent years would have been forced to continue. Denver over Pittsburgh in the 2011 playoffs (Tebow to Thomas 80-yard TD on the first play of OT). Jets over New England in 2015 (Patriots win the toss for OT, “we’ll kick off”, Fitzpatrick to Decker for the winning TD).
Want to win an OT game? Don’t fool around with the rules.
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to at least give both teams a shot at having the ball. Furthermore, I don’t believe it’s only “sportswriters” that want this. I’m sure you can find plenty of fans that would be in favor of a rule change
Because that would be fair. And, as we all know, life is always fair. The real problem is that the NFL is all about offense now. It’s the only thing that they think should be rewarded. If I wanted to watch that “brand” of football, I’d just go watch the Arena league.
It would be more fair if the rules didn’t sharply favor offenses so much these days. If that weren’t the case, the sudden death style would be more acceptable.
Whoever wins the coin toss can either get the ball on its own 5 yard line or they can choose to let the other team get the ball on its 5 yard line. First team to score wins. i’m guessing it’s about 50/50 on average which team scores first, and the decision would depend on how a coach feels about his team matches up against the opponent.
I like it.
Playoff OT should be 15 minutes. The first 10 minutes, non-sudden death. The last 5, sudden death.
Dumb.
Your self awareness and honesty are admirable, but a bit off topic.
How is it the league can invent a dozen or more tie breakers to determine who advances to the playoffs yet can’t come up with a tie breaker to avoid OT?
Chiefs didn’t go 3-and-out in the AFC Championship OT. Mahomes threw an interception on 3rd down.
The simplest change is just to let the other team have the ball and keep going til one team scores more in a turn.