As a person who has hated the NFL's overtime rule for a looooooooooooong time, it's nice to see the league is starting to crack a little bit and realize a 40-some-yard field goal isn't what it used to bewhen the current OT rule was adopted in 1974.
FINALLY, the league's competition committee will be addressing theovertime rule during the owners' meetingsMarch 21-24 in Orlando. I doubt the league will vote for a change this time around, but at leastthe idea of making a change to the currentridiculous formatwill be thrown on the table for discussion.
The new format would encourage teams to score touchdowns rather than kick cheapened field goals. A great concept that's both fair andmore entertaining.
There would still be a coin flipto determineovertime possession.But instead ofsudden death,only a touchdown-- either offensive or defensive -- could end the game on the first possession. If the team that getsthe ball first kicks a field goal, the other team would geta possession. If that teamalso kicks a field goal, then the game becomes sudden death.
I like thatconcept. But I don't understand why the league is only willing to useit in the playoffs, and not the regular season. Last time I checked, the regular season was pretty important, too.Why not use the better format to possibly help determine who makes the playoffs, who wins divisions and who gets homefield advantage?
Not long after the Vikings gagged away the NFCtitle game with 235 turnovers at New Orleans, I wrote abouthow the league needed to getrid of its outdatedsudden death overtimerule. When the league adopted the rule, it was 1974,and a 40-yard field goal was a big deal.Today, most of these kickers canmake a 40-yard field goal using just their pinky toe.
Throw in the fact that teams kick off farther back, which promotes returns and better field position for the offense, and, well, the current format simply isn't fair to the team that loses thecoin flip.
Some thought I was simply whining about the Vikings' loss at New Orleans in the NFC title game. First of all, I'ma neutralVikings' observer, so it really didn't matter to me one way or the other ifthey went to the Super Bowl.