Ever since the Eagles and Bengals tied last week, everyone is talking about the NFL overtime rules, and if they should be changed. Not to mention the criticizing of Donovan McNabb for not knowing the overtime rules and that a game can end in a tie. If anything people should be criticizing McNabb for tying….against the Bengals, but I digress.

So just for the fun of it here are some ideas that the NFL could consider changing overtime to…….

College overtime –
This one is obvious and has many supporters.

Each team will get a chance from the 25 to score. If the score is still tied, then they both get another chance. After three rounds, teams must go for two after a score. This could make overtimes more exciting, but some might say it takes away the special teams aspect of the game. So…..

Kick return overtime –
This can be done fast and teams can get back home for dinner much faster
Each team gets a chance to return a kick off. The team who returns it the farthest wins. Simple…….. Wait what is that you say? How dare we leave it up to second and third stringers to determine the outcome of a game. So…..
Penetration – This overtime type focuses on offense and defense only and is much quicker than the college overtime.

The ball starts at the 50 yard line. The first team gets x number of plays to get as many yards as they can, or even score a touchdown. If the first team scores a touchdown, the second team takes over at the 50 and has their x number of plays to score, if they do not then they lose.

If the first team does not score the second team will take over and go back the other way from where the other team was stopped.  They would need to get past the 50 to win. So if the first team gets to the 25, the second must get past the 50 (more than 25 yards) to win the game.

Got it?

Modified sudden death overtime -
If you like the current overtime but do not like the coin toss outcome then here might be you solution…
Everything works the same, there still is a coin toss to determine who gets the ball first, although the first series will determine the difference. If the team that gets the ball first scores, the other team will automatically get one possession to score. If the first team does not score on the first possession and punts it away, the overtime works as normal and the first to score from then on wins.
The advantage to this is that the team who gets the ball first does not have a higher chance to win.

This idea eliminates the unfairness of the coin toss, although a tie is still possible.

While you ponder on these ideas, you can leave some comments of your own. I would love to hear your ideas…..

Maybe we can confuse McNabb even more….

Tags: football, McNabb, NFL, Overtime, tie breakers, Ties

Entry posted on Saturday, November 22nd, 2008 at 11:18 am. Filed under tags: football, McNabb, NFL, Overtime, tie breakers, Ties,
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