Time For Overtime Change … Tuesday Cup O’Chiefs

The NFL owners will sit in their large meeting room at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Lakes Resort on Tuesday and debate changing the rules of overtime.

Whether they vote up or down on a proposal to alter overtime procedure in the playoffs does not solve the major problem of overtime in the post-season, regular season, pre-season or any season:

Why should a flip of a coin play such a huge impact on the outcome of a game?

Seriously – it’s just plain unfair to have both teams play for 60 minutes, have the score tied and then hand one team an advantage over the other. I know that the team that wins the overtime coin toss does not always take the game on that first possession.

But if they score, the other team should have a chance to put points on the board as well. That currently is not the case. And if the new rule suggested by the league’s Competition Committee is passed, it won’t address that inequity either.

Under the proposal the only change comes if the team that wins the toss drives down and kicks a field goal. If that happens, then the other team gets a possession where they can tie the game with a FG or win the game with a touchdown. If they achieve neither, the game is over. If they tie it back up with a FG, it becomes sudden death.

This idea does not go far enough. What the flip is wrong with giving a guarantee to each team of having a first down on offense? That is far more equitable. It forces both teams to play offense, defense and special teams.

“I’ll still say the effect of the coin toss and the advantage gained by the random act is higher than you’d probably want,” said Atlanta Falcons president Rich McKay, the co-chairman of the league’s competition committee.

So why isn’t the regular season being considered as well? That’s got some teams questioning the proposal.

“Hopefully, we’ll have consistency,” said 49ers head coach Mike Singletary. “Whatever we have for the regular season, to change it for the postseason, might be confusing for some people.”

Why one rule for one month that doesn’t count in the previous four months? Apparently, that’s one problem that Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt has about the idea.

“It does seem odd to me that you would have a different overtime rule in the postseason versus the regular season, though I understand the rationale why,” Hunt told the Kansas City Star. “My inclination right now is that we should do this for the regular season, too. I do want to hear the concerns from the coaches and general managers about wear and tear on the players and the possibility of impacting games the following weekend if you have overtime games that go longer.”

The arguments for and against the proposal roam all over the football spectrum; none prop up the pro or con side. They simply reinforce the notion that the committee’s proposal remains unfair. It’s a step closer to where the league needs to go, but it does not go far enough.

“I’m not sure there is a perfect overtime system,” Commissioner Roger Goodell told the media on Monday in Orlando. “What we’ve tried to look at is how do we design a system that will be appealing to our fans, first off, and that will stay true to the competitive integrity of our game. I think the Competition Committee has come up with something here that is very much worth consideration. It keeps, for one, the sudden death nature of the game which makes our system unique and attractive.

“I love the idea that we are in a sudden death scenario. I think it’s responsive to some of the issues that people have said in the past. I think it bears a lot of consideration and it will.”

Here are the numbers for overtime games from 1974 through 2009, with overtime totals from last season in ():

• 445 (13) Regular-season overtime games.
• 240 (7) Times the team that won the toss won the game (53.9%).
• 188 (6) Times the team that lost the toss won the game (42.3%).
• 17   (0) Games ended with a tie score (3.8%).

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• 310 (8) Times both teams had at least one possession (69.7%).
• 135 (5) Times the team that won the toss drove for winning score (30.3%).

So basically one out of every three overtime games has been decided with one possession. That alone makes the current rules unacceptable. Tinkering with the NFL rules has only made it worse. From 1974 through 1993 when the league kicked off from the 35-yard line, the coin flip winner drove down and won 25.4 percent of the time. Since 1994, when the league moved the kickoff point back to the 30-yard line, the team with the ball first in overtime has won 34 percent of the time.

Things like this do not happen in other sports. In major league baseball, the home team always gets a chance to tie or win the game. In basketball at all levels, it’s never the first team that scores that wins the game. Even in the world of golf, a playoff doesn’t happen with a single player hitting shots, while the other one watches.

The NFL Players Association doesn’t support a change, because they believe more plays in overtime will lead to more injuries. They are joined by a large faction of NFL types that don’t want to see any change to the OT rules. The proposal needs 24 votes to pass.

“Overtime, since 1958, has had … the first team that scores wins,” said Washington GM Bruce Allen. I like the 1958 rules better.” It was in 1958 that the NFL played its first overtime game, that in the now famous league championship game between the New York Giants and the winning Baltimore Colts at Yankee Stadium. It’s considered the greatest game in pro football history.

Everybody should have paid attention then to the little known rule, because both teams got their hands on the ball in that game. The Giants won the toss, but ended up punting away to the Colts. That’s when Johnny Unitas led Baltimore down the field for the winning touchdown, scored by Alan Ameche.

Both teams getting their hands on the ball led to the best game ever. That’s good enough for me.

THE COMMISH HAS SPOKEN

Part of the annual NFL meetings each March is a speech to the membership by the Commissioner, who then meets with the media. Goodell is focused on trying to push innovations to the game and how it is presented to the fans. Here’s some of what he had to say.

On the in-stadium experience competing with the comforts of home: “It may be more comfortable but it’s not more exciting. The issue for us is we are our own competitor in that sense.  High-definition television and RedZone, all of those things do make it attractive to watch on television. It’s also exciting to be in the stadium. Our challenge is to continue to make it exciting for people to come to our facility. And that comes from a lot of different perspectives.

“You start with fan conduct. We talk about making sure people feel safe and they have a positive experience when they come to our stadiums. You talk about how we entertain them when they come to our stadiums. We have to do more with technology. That is where we come back to innovation.  Can we bring the RedZone into the stadium so that people come into the stadium and feel like they’re being entertained, they are not missing any action around the NFL and they are there enjoying a great football game? How do we keep investing in and improving on those stadiums so that they come and have a great experience and great facility? It’s a challenge. You are absolutely right. It’s something that the clubs are meeting head on. We as a league are focused on it and it’s one of our priorities, as I mentioned earlier. Everybody understands it and everyone is dedicated to continuing to invest, innovate and make sure that we make it a great experience for our fans.”

On Ben Roethlisberger situation and any actions against him: “The most important thing is we take the issue very seriously. We are concerned that Ben continues to put himself in this position. I have spoken to the Steelers. I have spoken to Art Rooney directly about it. At the appropriate time I will be meeting with Ben.”

On going to a three-day NFL Draft in April: “It is about finding new ways to expand upon what you are doing and to find new ways for fans to engage with football. We’ve seen the tremendous growth of the Draft and popularity over the last several years. We think this is another way to do that.  By creating a primetime event and doing it over three days, we be able to allow more people to experience the Draft, not only in person but also on television, with both of our partners, the NFL Network and ESPN. It’s another step in trying to innovate and trying to create greater opportunities for people to engage with our game. We think it is going to be a nice change and a positive change with our fans.

On the chances of a New York Super Bowl in 2014: “I don’t have a vote and I can’t even take a position with the ownership.  It’s the 32 clubs that make that decision.  I think it was right for us and continues to be that it is one of the alternatives. I think it can be very attractive to the ownership and to the NFL in general and I continue to believe that. They will be competing against Tampa Bay and Miami, but not at this meeting, at the next meeting (May in Dallas.)  We will have very little discussion about that other than potentially an update on the process.”

UPDATING PERSONNEL: THE OFF-SEASON DAY #18

• EAGLES – RFA LB Akeem Jordan signed his tender offer.
• 49ERS – re-signed OT Barry Sims.
• JETS – RFA WRs Braylon Edwards and Brad Smith signed their tender offers.
• RAIDERS – re-signed DT William Joseph.
• RAMS – re-signed DE James Hall; signed CB Kevin Dockery (Giants) and TE Darcy Johnson (Giants).
• RAVENS – signed DT Corey Redding (Seahawks).