NFL Over Time

[Pats2006]

Do you like the way the NFL plays out OT? 

I don't I think that it should be played the same way do in collage

[Tepop84]

yes it is fair.  there is no better way to do it.

[Dave Gray]

I don't like the NFL system, but I don't like the college system, either.

I think that the college system eliminates special teams.

I think that the best solution would be to just continue the game into overtime, like they do now, but instead of sudden death, when one team scores, the other team has one more drive to match it.  If they do, you keep playing.  If they don't, the game is over.  At the end of one overtime, the game is over, tied or not.  (You could even do a sudden death overtime, if both teams have scored in OT.)

[Pats2006]

I don't think that it is fair at all.  Dave I think that it should be the same, just play out the OT no suddendeath.

[StL FinFan]

Yeah, I think they should just play an overtime period.  It doesn't have to be 15 minutes, maybe just 10, but play the whole overtime and whoever is ahead at the end wins.  I hate sudden death ot.

[Dave Gray]

I don't think that there's any reason to keep playing if one team scores and the other team can't answer.  But the current system is incredibly favorable to the one who wins the coin toss, which can't be good.

The college system grossly alters game scores (you can have a low-scoring, defensive battle end 46-45)

[Spider-Dan]

I'll just keep quoting my own post anytime the overtime subject comes up...

What change would I make?  In a word, overtime.  The best overtime system I have heard about (I think it's the AFL system) is as follows:

• Overtime lasts 15:00
• Winner of coin toss chooses possession or direction, loser chooses whatever the winner did not
• After the receiving team has one possession, the other team has a chance to match or beat their score (if 1st team scored 3, 2nd team must score at least 3 or they lose).  If 2nd team scores more than 1st team did, they win.
• If the score is still tied after both teams have had one possession, it goes into sudden death, first score wins.

I like this method a LOT more, because there is actually strategy to the coin toss.  Do you want to get the ball second, hope your defense holds, and just need a FG to win, or do you want to go first, so that if you are both tied after your first possessions, you get the ball first when it's in sudden death?

This is the best way to ensure that both teams get at least one possession, without resorting to the idiocy that is NCAA overtimes, where a game can be tied 10-10 at the end of regulation and end up 51-48.

[Tepop84]

I don't think that there's any reason to keep playing if one team scores and the other team can't answer.  But the current system is incredibly favorable to the one who wins the coin toss, which can't be good.

The college system grossly alters game scores (you can have a low-scoring, defensive battle end 46-45)

the team that wins the coinflip wins ot about 56 percentage of the time.  not that huge of an advantage.  and since both teams have an equal chance of starting with the ball, the point is moot. 

[Tepop84]

I'll just keep quoting my own post anytime the overtime subject comes up...

  every team would choose to get the ball second and would give a much bigger advantage to the coinflip winner.  the team that gets the ball second would always have 4 downs to get a first down if the other team scored first.

[jtex316]

You may not like NFL overtime - but it is totally and completely 100% fair. It's a coin toss that determines possession - there's no fair-er method to select which team gets the ball to start OT.

[Brian Fein]

Overtime is fine as it is.  Football is a game of offense and defense.  The Vikings had a defense on the field, they failed to make a play.

Last night's game was the first time in a championship game that the team that won the OT coin toss won the game.

You play defense, then the coin toss doesn't matter.

The only thing I would change is that there's no opening kickoff to overtime.  A good return can end the game almost instantly.  I would say start at your own 20 so you have to go 50-60 yards minimum before you can even think about a field goal.

[Phishfan]

I was watching the game yesterday with my neighbor and before the game he mentioned how arbitrary it was for a professional sport to use a coin flip.

I don't like NFL overtime. I think both teams need possession of the ball to be fair.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

The two best proposals I have seen are.....

1. the team that recieves the ball first can not kick a FG on opening drive.  (TD or nothing) after that you can win on a FG.

or

2. no kick off.  the team that wins the toss chooses the place the ball will start and direction.  The other team chooses to start on D or O.   So if the coin toss winner picks 30 yard line with the wind odds are they will be defending.  If they choose 1 yard line going into the wind, they probably start on offense. 

[Brian Fein]

^^Why would you not pick the 1 yard line to place the ball?

[Phishfan]

The two best proposals I have seen are.....

1. the team that recieves the ball first can not kick a FG on opening drive.  (TD or nothing) after that you can win on a FG.

This is a horrible plan. The first team is forced to play four downs and score a TD while the second team gets benefit of the FG option? Absolutely horrible.