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Friday, March 26, 2010

NFL Owners Approve Overtime Rule Change

The crux of the rule is to make overtime outcomes less dependent on the coin flip. If the team that has possession of the ball first scores a touchdown, the game is over. But if it kicks a field goal, the other team would get a possession and would win with a touchdown. If nobody scores on the first drives, or if both teams kick field goals, the game will revert to sudden death.
I think this is a dumb idea. I liked the "sudden death" overtime rules just fine and don't think they needed to be changed. The NFL is so concerned with keeping games competitive that they have lost sight of what makes games exciting. And teams winning with long field goals, for example, in overtime is very exciting.

I understand that the team who wins the coin toss is 60% more likely to win the game in overtime, but this just means the teams that don't win the coin toss need to keep them from scoring. If this rule overtime rule had been in effect for the NFC title game this past season, the Vikings might have beat the Saints and gone to the Super Bowl instead. But that would not have been competitive (now, incidentally, would it have resulted in the monster hangover I had on February 8th), but it would not have been exciting. Especially for all us Saints fans.

No, this rule change makes overtimes less exciting now, and more complicated. Which decreases competition in my opinion.

Geaux Saints!

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