Last Sunday, us fans were treated to a great day of football. Both conference championship games went to overtime. That is the 1st time in NFL history that has ever happened. In the NFC Championship game, overtime was a thriller. Brees was hit while throwing, and that caused an interception. The Eagles were then set up to kick the game-winning field goal. The Patriots-Chiefs game was a different story. Patriots got the ball 1st in overtime and got a touchdown on that drive. Due to overtime rules, that ended the game. 1st team to get a touchdown wins. Patrick Mahomes didn’t even get a chance in overtime, and that isn’t right. There are many flaws with the overtime rules. The fact that ties can still happen is laughable. The overtime rule needs to change. So how should it change? Let’s talk about ways it can change!
College Rules-
The NFL can adapt the college football rules. In that, each team gets a chance to get the ball. Offenses start at the opponents 25 yardline and try to score. If the score is still tied going in the 3rd overtime, teams must go for 2 after they score a touchdown. Adapting the college rule would definitely avoid ties, but there are still flaws. Starting from the opponents 25 would basically guarantee points. With the new NFL rules, that’d make it very easy for NFL offenses to score. At the minimum, it’ would be easy for teams to get a field goal. It should be a little more challenging.
Teams taking turns going on drives-
The NFL could do an extension of the college football overtime rules. They could have teams take turns going on full drives instead of starting at the opponents 25. In doing this, it would still avoid the possibility of a tie, and the defense wouldn’t be at an automatic disadvantage. It would also adopt the rule of both teams getting a chance to be on offense. This would just feel like old fashioned football. However, they’re still some issues with this idea. This could make overtime drag on, especially if there isn’t a winner after 1 overtime. That could be an issue with the league, especially when teams play in the 1 PM EST slot. It could overlap into other games.
Any other overtime rule change idea comes in between the college rules and making teams go on full drives. There isn’t going to be a perfect overtime, but the one the NFL currently has needs to change. It’s just not fair that an offense may not even get a chance to be on the field. Tying is a possibility that can no longer happen. The NFL has to change the overtime rules.