Polaroid
I need a tittle
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The NFC Wildcard Round last season between the Green Bay Packers and Arizona Cardinals was memorable for a number of reasons when the Packers came back from the dead to force overtime as they overcame a 14 point deficit entering the 4th quarter. The two teams scored a combined 96 points which is a record for a postseason game and the win by the Cardinals defied the odds as they lost the coin toss in overtime but managed to win the game.
And this offseason, the NFL have proposed a change to the rules to prevent two teams battling for three hours only for the match to be decided by the luck of the coin toss as the winning side put together a few drives to get in range to set up a game ending field goal. Which is exactly what happened in the subsequent NFC Championship Game when New Orleans beat Minnesota 31-28 where the Vikings never had an opportunity to get the ball in overtime.
Overtime was first introduced to NFL regular season games in 1974 where the kickoff took place at the 35 yard line before moving to the 30 yard line, and to the advantage of the receiving team, in 1994. The change of five yards gave the receiving team, and thus the team winning the toss, a much higher advantage and making the winning of the toss significantly more important. In fact, since 1994 the team winning the toss in overtime have won 58.9% of the games as opposed to 46.8% between 1974 and 1993.
The new proposal is not the sudden death we're used to but slightly tweaked, more like Sudden Death V2.0. Unless a touchdown is scored on the opening possession (either by the offence or defense) then the rules would change to ensure that both teams will get the ball at least once. If no touchdown is scored then the team which lost the toss would have the opportunity to tie/win the game. If the game is tied after the first set of possessions then the game reverts to the original version of sudden death where the next team to score is the winner. Using the earlier NFC Championship Game as an example under the proposed new rule, Minnesota would have had the chance to get another possession because the The Saints didn't score a touchdown.
The competition committee of the NFL are due to meet in Orlando, Florida March 21-24 when the proposal could be put to a vote and 24 of the 32 owners would have to approve the change to the current overtime rule. However, this would only apply to the post season which seems a wasted opportunity. If NFL was as long as a baseball season of 162 games or an 82 game long basketball season, the matter of a coin toss wouldn't be so relevant since there would be a lot of ties and any luck from the coin toss would even out throughout the season. But the NFL regular season is only 16 games long and with many teams losing out on the playoffs by a single win, ensuring that the variance of the coin toss does not affect the regular season would seem equally important.
.
And this offseason, the NFL have proposed a change to the rules to prevent two teams battling for three hours only for the match to be decided by the luck of the coin toss as the winning side put together a few drives to get in range to set up a game ending field goal. Which is exactly what happened in the subsequent NFC Championship Game when New Orleans beat Minnesota 31-28 where the Vikings never had an opportunity to get the ball in overtime.
Overtime was first introduced to NFL regular season games in 1974 where the kickoff took place at the 35 yard line before moving to the 30 yard line, and to the advantage of the receiving team, in 1994. The change of five yards gave the receiving team, and thus the team winning the toss, a much higher advantage and making the winning of the toss significantly more important. In fact, since 1994 the team winning the toss in overtime have won 58.9% of the games as opposed to 46.8% between 1974 and 1993.
The new proposal is not the sudden death we're used to but slightly tweaked, more like Sudden Death V2.0. Unless a touchdown is scored on the opening possession (either by the offence or defense) then the rules would change to ensure that both teams will get the ball at least once. If no touchdown is scored then the team which lost the toss would have the opportunity to tie/win the game. If the game is tied after the first set of possessions then the game reverts to the original version of sudden death where the next team to score is the winner. Using the earlier NFC Championship Game as an example under the proposed new rule, Minnesota would have had the chance to get another possession because the The Saints didn't score a touchdown.
The competition committee of the NFL are due to meet in Orlando, Florida March 21-24 when the proposal could be put to a vote and 24 of the 32 owners would have to approve the change to the current overtime rule. However, this would only apply to the post season which seems a wasted opportunity. If NFL was as long as a baseball season of 162 games or an 82 game long basketball season, the matter of a coin toss wouldn't be so relevant since there would be a lot of ties and any luck from the coin toss would even out throughout the season. But the NFL regular season is only 16 games long and with many teams losing out on the playoffs by a single win, ensuring that the variance of the coin toss does not affect the regular season would seem equally important.
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