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"The kick is up from Feely...and it's good! Jets win!" Only Gus Johnson could make that truly exciting. Why should a game with such a great finish in regulation have to end it's overtime period ...

Change NFL Overtime? Yes We Can!

by Andy Simpson (Analyst)

11

394 reads

Editorial

November 14, 2008

Football, NFL, New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, Randy Moss, Editorial

"The kick is up from Feely...and it's good! Jets win!"

Only Gus Johnson could make that truly exciting. Why should a game with such a great finish in regulation have to end it's overtime period with a boring field goal?

"Change" has been the theme of this most recent election season.  Now in this NFL season, change can begin.  Let's change NFL overtime.

I feel like Randy Moss deserves this. Moss hasn't ever been considered a team guy before the last year and a half, so as a football fan, to see him make a great diving catch with :01 left instead of heading to the locker room early is exhilarating. 

Why does that have to end with: snap, hold, kick, whoop-a-dee-doo?

I hate high school/college overtime. A socialist, each team gets a possession from the 25-yard line type of overtime should never have been enacted in the Bush presidency.  I guess you could say it was ahead of it's time.

Here's how to fix NFL overtime, and it's easy. Play to the first to score six points.

I'm a Cowboys fan, and even I admit that the Dallas/Arizona game that ended on a blocked punt returned for a touchdown in overtime was exciting (as exciting as getting your hand caught in farm equipment, but anyway). If the Cards had recovered it at the three and then kicked a field goal, would that finish be memorable?

Of course not. It would be routine (boring).

So, how about this scenario?  Last night, Jets get the ball and drive to the 16-yard line.  On 4th-and-2, do they kick the field goal for three of their six? Or do they try to pick up the first down because they don't want to give the ball back to New England at home, with momentum, and a Randy Moss TD away from taking first place in the division and the tie-breaker? 

Of course, they could just trade field goals, but if a team can drive to field goal range twice in overtime, then they are the better team.

Give me a six-point sudden death. Democracy, free enterprise, and the American way all demand it.  Yes we can!

Author Poll

Should NFL overtime require the winner to score at least 6 points?

  • No, you're an idiot!
  • No, I like Jay Feely field goals!
  • No, give me College overtime!
  • Yes, call Roger Goddell!
vote to see results
Author Poll Results

Should NFL overtime require the winner to score at least 6 points?

  • No, you're an idiot!

    23.5%
  • No, I like Jay Feely field goals!

    5.9%
  • No, give me College overtime!

    17.6%
  • Yes, call Roger Goddell!

    52.9%
  • Total votes: 17
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comments (11) write a comment »

  1. So because New England couldn't stop a drive that started from the 20, the NFL rules needs to change all together? I'll pass.

    If the momentum was in New England's favor, it should've been easy to get the ball back and seal the game away. The Jets didn't steal a win.. they pounded the ball up field for 60 yards, converted third downs, and completely deflated New England the way Moss' :01 touchdown catch did.

    1. I'm not knocking the Jets. They WON the game. I'm just saying I don't like the way they won the game. I don't like boring field goals.

  2. No offense Andy, but sounds like a dumb idea.

    1. None taken, but I wonder if you would think the same way if your picture wasn't a Jets helmet?

    2. I thought about it, btut no. It is still a dunb idea, but I appriate the article.

  3. The solution is very simple...

    In the regular season, you play at most two mini games...if the score is still tied after the first mini game, you play the second. If the score is still tied after the second minki game, call the game a tie, give each team a point in the league standings (give two points for a win) and go home. In the playoffs, just like in the NHL, you play unlimited mini games until one team has won.

    What is a mini game? It is a game of 7 minutes 30 seconds timed the way a football game is timed with the same timing rules as the 4th quarter...in last night's game, the Jets did a football thing and used up 7 minutes and 12 seconds (although NE might have used its two time outs and the 2 minute warning to have more time left on the clock before the Jets scored. You play a real football game; not the contrived garbage of the NCAA. If the first mini game ends with the score tied, you don't continue it. The other team gets the choice of the ball or which goal to defend than the one that won the original toss.

    It's by far the fairest way.

    1. I agree that it's fair, but my biggest problem is with games ending on field goals. In the min-game, couldn't you still milk the clock and kick a field goal? I want someone to have to score 6 points to win.

  4. I don't think the idea is all that bad but it's not realistic.

    1. Thanks for being open-minded. Hopefully something like this can become more realistic.

  5. you wrote the article for me! I was going to write the same thing just write now...i don't just agree with you andy...i was actually going to demand that both teams get at least one possession...i mean...what if the game had been going back and forth the entirety of regulation and u get to overtime and the entire thing gets decided based on which way a coin falls...if ne had won the coin toss theyd be 7-3 right now and when u look at such critical games like this when the division is at stake or in the playoffs it's simply mind-boggling that they refuse to change the rules i don't even know how they justify it...i do have more comment to add about moss...the game that he left to the locker room was a completely different situation...they had to recover an onside kick and score in two seconds and he did his job that day i would have walked away out of frustration too

    1. I know about Moss, I just wanted to point out that he's been a good teammate, and it's a shame his effort only forced a field goal. No chance to see what he could do in OT. If the NFL wants to make OT more exciting, then encourage teams to go for touchdowns, not just work for field goal range.

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