The NFL will work overtime this off-season on the subject of overtime. Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said he sees no consensus to change but concedes there will be more discussion.
The problem, as always, is even if league sentiment to change emerges, a three-fourths vote of owners is required to pass a proposal.
Getting agreement on what kind of proposal is a whole different matter, the hardest trick of all. Simply copying the college rule would insult the pros. It took the NFL decades to copy the two-point conversion.
With a record 25 games going into overtime this season, plus the Tennessee-Pittsburgh divisional playoff, the subject cannot be avoided. As teams become more competitively balanced and games become closer, overtimes increase: 7 in 1998, 11 in 1999, 13 in 2000, 17 in 2001, 25 in 2002.
Critics think the coin flip carries too much weight. Indeed, of the 25 overtimes, 15 were won by the team that won the coin flip. Nine were won on the initial possession, and there is sentiment that both teams should get a chance with the ball, like college teams do.
When the Titans won the toss and drove to the winning field goal against the Steelers on Saturday, the game seemed somehow incomplete after such a seesaw battle. To critics, it wasn’t nearly as satisfying as the spectacular Fiesta Bowl finish when Miami scored first, Ohio State scored twice, then stopped Miami–all in overtime.
There is an asterisk to this season’s NFL overtime stats. Detroit coach Marty Mornhinweg won the toss against the Bears in Champaign and elected to kick off. The Bears foiled his plans by driving into the wind for the winning field goal. Mornhinweg wishes he could have been saved by the college rule.
Miami Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt would like to see kickoffs eliminated altogether in overtime.
“Put the ball on the 20 and have each team drive 80 yards,” Wannstedt said. “The team that wins the toss would be driving into the wind.”
But there’s a personal reason for Wannstedt’s plan. He lost his season finale and a playoff shot in overtime to New England when he not only lost the toss but his kicker, Olindo Mare, promptly booted the kickoff out of bounds, giving the Patriots the ball at the 40-yard line. The Patriots immediately drove for the winning field goal.
Kickoffs are the culprit. In the first 20 years of NFL overtime, when the kickoffs were from the 35-yard line, more overtimes were won by teams that lost the toss: 101-99. That’s because more kickoffs went for touchbacks, putting the ball at the 20, a la the Wannstedt plan.
But in the interest of promoting more exciting kickoff returns, kickoffs were moved back to the 30-yard line in 1994. The unintended consequence of better field position, therefore, is duller overtimes. Teams that have won the toss have an 84-55 edge since 1994, including 36 games won on the first possession.
In college, each team gets a possession from the opponent’s 25-yard line. If the game is tied after each team has had two possessions, the teams are required to go for two-point conversions. Games theoretically can last forever.
Long games are a bigger problem in the NFL because every game is on network television, which likes to dictate time slots.
“I’d like to see the other team get a chance to retaliate,” Kansas City Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil said. “The thing is, that rule is all governed by TV. All the local market news stations make all their money at a certain time of the day. If those games run over, it affects their income.”
The Tennessee-Pittsburgh game lasted 3 hours 50 minutes, even though the overtime ended only 2 minutes 15 seconds into the extra period on the game clock.
Tagliabue said one alternative that has gained momentum in past discussions is sudden death after each team gets the ball once.
But there is another factor, according to San Diego coach Marty Schottenheimer, whose team played in four of this season’s 25 overtimes.
“If they change, they better let us dress all 53 players for every game,” Schottenheimer said.
That issue is a bigger hot button among coaches than overtime. Teams are required to list seven inactive players a week, including a third quarterback. The players practice with the team all week and then are told they can’t dress.
“Dumbest rule in football,” Schottenheimer said.
The argument against it always is a matter of competitive imbalance. The idea of dressing only 47 a week, including the third quarterback, is that theoretically, teams will make less healthy players inactive. If one team happens to be healthier than another, an extra six active players would provide an imbalance.
But Schottenheimer and other coaches see the injury toll and cringe at the thought of longer overtimes without longer rosters.
The San Francisco 49ers’ season ended in Tampa Bay on Sunday with the 49ers playing safeties at cornerback because of injury.
“When we have injuries during the season with 32 teams in the league, we can’t find players to sign to replace them. They aren’t out there,” Schottenheimer said.
“Marty has a point there,” Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Tice said. “We pay them anyway, so why not dress them?”
Tice and New Orleans coach Jim Haslett said they would change the overtime rule, too, to give both teams a shot, but neither likes the college version and neither has a favorite idea of his own.
Alternatives will be up to the competition committee, which could make a recommendation to owners in March. But Tagliabue warns fans not to go overtime worrying about it.
“I don’t think the current rule is unfair, and more importantly, our owners don’t think so,” Tagliabue said.
Overtime overview
The NFL had a record 25 overtime games during the regular season, most of which were won by the team winning the coin toss. A breakdown of this season’s overtime games.
15 Times the team that won the toss won the game.
9 Times the team that won the toss drove for the
winning score.
9 Times the team that lost the toss won the game.
1 Tie, 34-34 on Nov. 10
between Pittsburgh and Atlanta. First tie since 1997.
17 Games decided by a field goal.
7 Games decided by a touchdown.
OVERTIME GAMES
(Home team in CAPS)
WEEK 1
N.Y. Jets 37, BUFFALO 31
GREEN BAY 37, Atlanta 34
New Orl. 26, TAMPA BAY 20
WEEK 2
Buffalo 45, MINNESOTA 39
WEEK 3
Cleveland 31, TENN. 28
NEW ENGLAND 41, K.C. 38
WEEK 4
BUFFALO 33, Bears 27
PITTSBURGH 16, Cleve. 13
WEEK 7
DETROIT 23, Bears 20
Denver 37, KANSAS CITY 34
San Diego 27, OAKLAND 21
ARIZONA 9, Dallas 6
WEEK 9
San Fran. 23, OAKLAND 20
WEEK 10
Atlanta 34, PITTSBURGH 34
WEEK 11
SAN DIEGO 20, San Fran. 17
WEEK 12
BEARS 20, Detroit 17
Indianapolis 23, DEN. 20
WEEK 13
Tenn. 32, N.Y. GIANTS 29
Atlanta 30, MINNESOTA 24
SAN DIEGO 30, Denver 27
WEEK 14
ARIZONA 23, Detroit 20
WEEK 15
Seattle 30, ATLANTA 24
WEEK 17
N.Y. GIANTS 10, Phila. 7
NEW ENG. 27, Miami 24
Seattle 31, SAN DIEGO 28
