NFL Overtime Thoughts
Just yesterday the NFL owners agreed to shorten overtime from 15 minutes to 10 minutes in the name of "player safety." The rules of the overtime will remain the same: each team gets the opportunity to possess the ball unless the first team scores a touchdown. While that is all well and good, I think I have a better solution.
Before I lay out my plan and why I think it makes sense, let me ask this: How should the NFL feel about ties? In a season of just 16 games, is it a problem if there are a fair share of ties? I don't think so, but I know that the players, and the teams, want a winner and a loser. Since 2012 when the NFL implemented the new overtime rules - rather than sudden death - there have only been 5 ties. That is an average of one per season. Not bad. I do think the NFL's overtime can be improved though. And here's how.
Right now, there is no certainty when an NFL game will end once overtime begins. It could be twelve seconds after the initial kickoff or twelve minutes. I think that's a problem. Ultimately, I think there should be a finite amount of time that needs to be played out in full. For example, let's run with this new idea of a 10-minute overtime. Rather than playing until the first team scores a touchdown or the second team scores, play out the 10 minutes in its entirety. That way it simulates an actual game-like atmosphere. There needs to be a time-frame that is impermeable to what occurs on the field. Look at the NBA: their overtime is 5 minutes. Players know when it will conclude. It's realistic, almost as if they are replicating the fourth quarter. The same goes for the MLB. In baseball, obviously there is no clock, but they know they are guaranteed at least another inning.
There is no perfect way to format the NFL's overtime, especially given the concern for limiting players exposure to excess contact. With that being said, I just think the way in which overtime is constructed is artificial. The game could end at any time. The NFL should get together and whether it be fifteen minutes or ten minutes or even seven minutes, they should make sure that the entire overtime period is played out and if the teams remain tied so be it. This would make it feel as though the fourth quarter is being replicated - all of the drama and suspense - rather than the overtime now that feels like some sort of gimmick.
