Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

What are your opinions on overtime and its current format? How would you change it?

I'd like it to go back to sudden death. If the "Greatest Game Ever Played" had it, then it should still be the standard.

But as these new current playoff overtime rules are set up, I have an unorthodox strategy: if you win the coin toss, choose to kick. A touchdown no longer wins the game under the new rules. If your opponents receive and score, they have to kick, and they get 7 points (unless they have a super-aggressive coach who risks a 2-point conversion). Now you can come downfield and win it with a touchdown and 2-pointer. Of course, no coach is probably going to do that, because they would get shredded in the media.

If we want to reduce the time of overtime in the regular season, here's a way to do it: whoever wins the coin toss gets the choice of possession of the ball at their own 25 with only one possession, or 1 point on the scoreboard. Whatever you don't choose, your opponent gets. That means that the team with possession must score points of some kind on its first drive to win, while the defense wins the game by one point if they make the stop. Overtime lasts one series and there are no more ties. It would be a quick and easy way to end games while still being exciting.

What are your opinions on overtime and its current format? How would you change it?

For the regular season, eliminate it. I'd rather have ties in the standings to create more variance in W-L-T records and reduce the need for tiebreakers to determine playoff berths and seeding. A team that finishes 10-5-2 is clearly better than a team that finishes 10-6-1.

Sudden death went away once kickers got too good and the coin flip was too much of a decider.

ChrisBabcock wrote:For the regular season, eliminate it. I'd rather have ties in the standings to create more variance in W-L-T records and reduce the need for tiebreakers to determine playoff berths and seeding. A team that finishes 10-5-2 is clearly better than a team that finishes 10-6-1.

Yes, to me the "solution" is obvious, but one the NFL will never adopt for some reason. Regular season = eliminate overtime. Postseason = play an extra 15 minute period. If that is 'too long', play an extra 10 minute period. But just use the same rules and have a time limit, as opposed to different rules with a 'sudden death' element that is constantly changing.