Tribal Warfare
03-24-2010, 12:51 AM
Chiefs go along with vote to change NFL overtime rule for playoffs (http://www.kansascity.com/2010/03/23/1833066/chiefs-go-along-with-vote-to-change.html)
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
ORLANDO, Fla. | One reason the Chiefs voted to change the rules governing overtime games in the NFL playoffs is in part because of the possibility that some day, the winner of the Super Bowl could be decided by a coin toss.
“From a perception standpoint, it definitely would be a negative,” Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said. “Every time there’s been a close Super Bowl and the possibility of overtime is very real, it’s been pointed out that if the team that wins the coin flip ends up winning the game on the first possession, it would be unfair. So it’s probably good to make this adjustment before we have a game finish like that.”
The Chiefs voted with a 28-4 majority Tuesday at the NFL owners meetings to change the overtime rules for the postseason only. Under the new rule, teams could win on the first possession of overtime only by scoring a touchdown. If the first team to get the ball manages only a field goal, the other team would get a possession.
The second team can win the game by scoring a touchdown. If the second team fails to score on that possession, the game ends with the first team winning on the strength of its field goal. If the second team kicks a field goal, the game then reverts to the sudden-death format.
Sudden-death rules also apply after each team possesses or has the opportunity to possess the ball — unless the team that has the ball first scores a touchdown on its initial possession. For example, if the team kicking off to start overtime recovers the ball, it can win the game with either a touchdown or a field goal because the receiving team would have had a chance at possession.
The change was prompted by statistics that show over the past 16 seasons, the team winning the coin toss under the current sudden-death format wins more than one-third of the overtime games on the first possession.
“Once you saw the statistics, it became obvious that we needed to make a change,” Indianapolis general manager Bill Polian said.
Regular-season games would retain the current sudden-death, first-team-to-score-wins format. The league’s concern is that lengthy regular season overtime games would put too much wear and tear on the players.
But Atlanta Falcons president Rich McKay, the chair of the NFL’s competition committee, said owners could still vote to institute the change in time for the 2010 regular season.
“There was a lot of sentiment in the room to change this rule also for the regular season,” McKay said. “The idea was to go back and study it … and then come back in May or next year or whenever it may be because there is an idea that this system needs to be changed.”
The NFL has never had a Super Bowl go into overtime. It narrowly avoided that two seasons ago when Pittsburgh scored a touchdown late in the game to beat Arizona.
“We really felt like we wouldn’t want that game to end … where there’s a kickoff, one pass, field goal, game over,” McKay said.
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
ORLANDO, Fla. | One reason the Chiefs voted to change the rules governing overtime games in the NFL playoffs is in part because of the possibility that some day, the winner of the Super Bowl could be decided by a coin toss.
“From a perception standpoint, it definitely would be a negative,” Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said. “Every time there’s been a close Super Bowl and the possibility of overtime is very real, it’s been pointed out that if the team that wins the coin flip ends up winning the game on the first possession, it would be unfair. So it’s probably good to make this adjustment before we have a game finish like that.”
The Chiefs voted with a 28-4 majority Tuesday at the NFL owners meetings to change the overtime rules for the postseason only. Under the new rule, teams could win on the first possession of overtime only by scoring a touchdown. If the first team to get the ball manages only a field goal, the other team would get a possession.
The second team can win the game by scoring a touchdown. If the second team fails to score on that possession, the game ends with the first team winning on the strength of its field goal. If the second team kicks a field goal, the game then reverts to the sudden-death format.
Sudden-death rules also apply after each team possesses or has the opportunity to possess the ball — unless the team that has the ball first scores a touchdown on its initial possession. For example, if the team kicking off to start overtime recovers the ball, it can win the game with either a touchdown or a field goal because the receiving team would have had a chance at possession.
The change was prompted by statistics that show over the past 16 seasons, the team winning the coin toss under the current sudden-death format wins more than one-third of the overtime games on the first possession.
“Once you saw the statistics, it became obvious that we needed to make a change,” Indianapolis general manager Bill Polian said.
Regular-season games would retain the current sudden-death, first-team-to-score-wins format. The league’s concern is that lengthy regular season overtime games would put too much wear and tear on the players.
But Atlanta Falcons president Rich McKay, the chair of the NFL’s competition committee, said owners could still vote to institute the change in time for the 2010 regular season.
“There was a lot of sentiment in the room to change this rule also for the regular season,” McKay said. “The idea was to go back and study it … and then come back in May or next year or whenever it may be because there is an idea that this system needs to be changed.”
The NFL has never had a Super Bowl go into overtime. It narrowly avoided that two seasons ago when Pittsburgh scored a touchdown late in the game to beat Arizona.
“We really felt like we wouldn’t want that game to end … where there’s a kickoff, one pass, field goal, game over,” McKay said.