NFL's Overtime Rules Changed!

[Rhymin' Greiman]

Well after the owner's meetings this week it looks like the NFL finally decided to make it fair for both teams in a playoff game.

Starting next season, if a team wins the coin toss and then kicks a  field goal, the other team gets the ball.

                                                                                                                                 
                 If the game is still tied after that, play will  continue under the current sudden-death rules. Should the team winning the toss immediately score a touchdown, then the game is over.

Team owners voted 28-4 on Tuesday in favor of the proposal at the NFL meetings. The new rule applies only for postseason games.

And if I heard right, Vikings Owner Zygy Wilf was one of the owners that opposed the idea.  Sounds like he was just trying to show he wasn't bitter after losing to the eventual Super Bowl champs without even getting a chance to win in overtime.

Now I just have to wait patiently to see if Favre has another year left in him considering he is signed for next season if he chooses to come back.

Thoughts on the new OT rules for the playoffs?

[Adampro123]

I vote much needed but it also needs more.

I think the NFL should be like the NBA when it comes to overtime ANYTIME in the season.

instead of 15 mins add i don't know...8 mins? and whoever has the most points by the end of that wins. if they are still tied just keep doing it and do it until someone wins. i don't see why that's so horrible.

[Leonardo Lunchbox]

Those rules suck. It should be expanded college rules. Each team gets a gets a chance to score on the other team starting from the 50 yard line.

[narcolepsy]

Offenses in the NFL have gotten too powerful with all the rule changes over the last 10-20 years that something had to be done.  One interesting suggestion I heard was if a team scored a certain number of points in say 3 and a half minutes, then the other team has that same time to either match or beat them.

I think its good to give the loser of a coin toss a shot, but if your defense fails more than a 30 yard field goal you deserve to lose.

[RyPrax]

How the CFL and college does it:

In college and high school football, as well as the Canadian Football League, an overtime procedure is used to determine the winner. This method is sometimes referred to as a "Kansas Playoff," or "Kansas Plan" because of its origins for high school football in that state. A brief summary of the rules:

-A coin toss determines which side shall attempt to score first, and at which end zone the scores shall be attempted.
-Each team in turn will receive one possession, starting with first-and-10 from a fixed point on the opponent's side of the field:
In college football, the possession begins at the opponent's 25-yard line.
-In high school football, the ball begins at the 10-yard line, with the option for state high school associations to use different yardage (such as the 15, 20, or 25-yard line)
In the CFL, where a single point can be scored on a punt, the 35-yard line is used.
-The game clock does not run during overtime; the play clock, however, is enforced.
-A team's possession ends when it scores (touchdown or field goal), misses a field goal, fails to gain a first down on the final down, or loses the ball by turnover. As usual, a touchdown by the offense is followed by a try for one or two points. (In NCAA Football, teams must attempt a two-point conversion after a touchdown starting in the third overtime.)
-In college football the defense may score on a play on which it gains possession by turnover. In high school football, the defense is generally not allowed to score if it gains possession, although the Oregon School Activities Association adopted the college rule experimentally in 2005, and the University Interscholastic League of Texas, the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association use NCAA football rules.
-Each team receives one charged time-out per overtime procedure (except in the CFL).
If the score remains tied at the end of the overtime procedure, an additional overtime procedure is played. The team with the second possession in one overtime procedure will have the first possession in the next overtime procedure.

In the CFL there is a limit of two overtime procedures in regular-season games (after which the game is a tie), but no limit in playoff games. In American college and high school football, the overtime procedures are continued until a winner is determined.

[narcolepsy]

I feel that the 25 yard line rule isn't a good option for the NFL.  The offenses are so high powered and great at execution that this is almost like a chip shot for them.  In College or CFL, you see mistakes a lot more often and its harder to drive the whole field (or youd see a touchdown on the first play if the defense breaks down) that I think a lot more games would end up in a tie there than in the NFL.  I like the NFL the way it is/was.

If you don't want to deal with OT rules, then you should win it in the first 60 minutes.

[Leonardo Lunchbox]

I betcha all the money in the world that if this didn't happen to Brett Farve this wouldn't have been a issue.

[Cannon]

I say give them another 10 minutes and each team gets 1 time out... Play it like another quater and whoever scores the most points at the end of that 10 minutes wins. I mean this idea now is kind of a cluster fuck and will need some fine tuning down the road.

[Replay]

I don't mind these rules change. I never liked how a team can win simply by a field goal and the other team has nothing to do about it but pray that the kicker misses it.

Good call by them.