by mrgrind101

Created on: September 17, 2009

Should the NFL change the current overtime rule? This question is a no brainer. Yes! Two teams that have played sixty minutes of football that happen to be squared up at the end of regulation then a coin flip decides who gets the upper hand in the overtime period. Even worse it is sudden death, a simple three points ends the game. Now I understand that the defense has to step up and play clutch defense but why doesn't the other team have a need to showcase their defense? The big question is what should the NFL do to make overtime periods fair?

There are many different theories to this question. Many people think that the college overtime system is a good one and that the NFL should adopt their rules. The problem I have with the NFL adopting the college overtime system is that each team gets to start at the twenty-five yard line. This is an easy field goal for most NFL kickers, so points would probably be put on the board each possession. The overtime period would lack excitement and the score would not reflect the original end-of-regulation score. If this system was adopted I think ball should be spotted at the fifty yard line that way the kickers are challenged as well.

Another theory would be to keep the coin toss as a means of instructing who receives the ball first, but if the receiving team scores on the first drive the opposing team gets a chance as well. First this would create a strategy on the coin toss where as with today's rules you will never see a team that wins the flip defer the kick. With this system a team might kick to their opponent in order to know what they have to do on their drive. I also think that if both teams fail to score on their first drives the game should then go into sudden death. This gives both defenses a chance to stop the offense and both offenses a chance to drive on the defense. What if both teams score? I think that both teams get another shot at playing both offense and defense. What if both teams do not score? I think in this situation sudden death comes into play. At that point in the game both offenses and defenses have had their opportunities to have an impact on the game, so whoever scores next would be the winner of the game.

I know that there are many ways the NFL can approach this matter but I think the key is that is involves each team an opportunity to have the chance to put some points on the board. After all if they were tied at the end-of-regulation the fans deserve a fair outcome in the overtime period.

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