Losing a coin toss tonight was fatal to the Viking's chance to win. Tied up and into overtime, there was nothing "fair" about one team gets the ball and the other never touches it.
For 30 years, the National Football League (NFL) has mandated sudden-death overtime to decide games that are tied after 60 minutes of play. The first team to score in overtime wins the game. If neither team scores at the end of 15 minutes of overtime, the game ends in a tie.
A coin flip determines which team gets the ball first. The winner of the toss can choose whether the team wants to receive the ball and begin an offensive series or pick a goal to defend.
62% of the time the team winning the coin toss and chooses to receive the ball typically goes on to score and win the game, often on the first possession.
Why? Kick off change since 1994. In games prior to 1994 there was only a 2% difference of the winner of the coin toss winning/losing the game. But when the kick off was moved back to the 30 yard line and by the time OT came the players were tired and less efficient at stopping returns, the average starting field position for the coin toss winner has be more than TWENTY YARDS closer to the opponent's goal. Wow.
So how do we change it?
(1) Let the game stand at a tie? That would work in the regular season but impossible in playoffs
(2) Adopt the college plan and give equal opportunity to both teams? Some college games go to 3-4 overtimes and by the time regular time has expired in a pro game, some of the grossly overweight NFL players would just be expired too!!
(3) Play until one team scores six points in OT (TD or 2 field goals), reducing (but not eliminating) the chance of one team receiving the ball and the other never touching it.
College OT rules changed some years ago, allowing each team equal opportunities to score. I've seen some good NCAA overtime games. I've seldom seen a good NFL overtime.
The NCAA is thinking of adopting a pro-style playoff (probably never will happen). Why shouldn't the NFL learn a lesson from the colleges?
Option 2, except move back the starting point to midfield. The college rules are rather absurd in this regard (starting at 25 yard line = virtually automatic field goal). That way a team can still legitimately win by a field goal.
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Should the NFL Change OT Rules?
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