OT rules . NFL vs. NCAA

Submitted by Michigan House '75 on
Very seldom do I watch professional football and rarely until the end . I did watch the Seahawk/Green Bay game and, having not watched the coin toss and explanation of the rules, I was stunned at the end of the game when Seattle scored and won without Green Bay getting a chance at the ball. What is the thinking behind this? I heard this discussed on The Huge Show and was glad that others have been concerned by this type of overtime for some time. It seems too heavy on luck, especially with a coin toss. Wouldn't playing a quarter more realistically show who has the edge skill wise, not perfect but an improvement, or is the NCAA approach with each team getting the ball on the 20 better? I realize I'm a novice and could research this, but I'd really like to hear from Mgoblog members on this. Moderators - please pull if this is not, for any reason, thread worthy. Still learning.
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Yostbound and Down

January 19th, 2015 at 8:12 PM ^

I think the college rules generally are better because each team gets a chance to take the lead or answer, depending on the result of the toss.

One nice thing about the NFL overtime though is the offense must complete an actual drive instead of just getting the ball on the 25, which has always felt kinda lame to me, since if your defense makes a stop and you have a good kicker, you can pretty much nail the field goal right away and be done with it. An NFL OT with the chance to answere would require teams to be good at offense, defense and special teams to win, which I think would be more fair than the college OT. Also longer.

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name redacted

January 19th, 2015 at 8:13 PM ^

NFL rule is silly, but I always thought the NCAA rule gave too much advantage to a team with a solid FG kicker.  I'd like NCAA rules, maybe start at teh 50.  Or, NCAA rules but no FG allowed, must go for TD.  There is probably something better, but sudden death is not a very good solution, imo 

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SWPro

January 19th, 2015 at 8:14 PM ^

In the NFL the other team gets a chance with the ball unless the first team scores a TD or allows a safety (defensive TD also ends the game).

 

I personally prefer the college method. I would think if they adopt it in the NFL they should start a longer distance off (the 35 or 40 maybe).

 

I don't like the idea of playing a full quarter because there is something overtimeish about it being sudden death. To me hockey playoffs is the best. When a hockey playoff game goes into OT you never know if it will be 10 seconds or 3 periods and any shot could win it. Put you on the edge of your seat.

 

Now the advertisers don't like this because they don't run additional commercials in the OT so it decreases revenue. No way to sell a commercial on "maybe we go to OT".

 

And college starts from the 25, just FYI.

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club2230

January 19th, 2015 at 8:25 PM ^

Hockey has a faceoff and constant change of possession which makes sudden death legitimate. Football has a coin toss to determine possession. With hockey both teams have an equal shot from the get go but football is slanted heavily toward the winner of a coin toss.

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DCGrad

January 19th, 2015 at 8:16 PM ^

an unpopular opinion, I know.  The way I look at it is even if you win the toss you still must go down and score a TD to end the game, a FG doesn't win it for you anymore.  The more skilled offense goes against the defense and wins it, then that's fine.  Or maybe just because GB lost I don't see it as a problem.

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Stephen Y

January 19th, 2015 at 10:21 PM ^

And if you lose the coin toss, you must stop the opposing team from going down the field AND then go down the field yourselves.

 

College OT rules make the most sense... just get rid of extra points and replace with mandatory two-point-conversion attempts if you want the game to end quicker.

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Indiana Blue

January 19th, 2015 at 8:20 PM ^

for having each team have at least 1 offensive possession.  

So Seattle wins the coin toss and scores a TD.  Great - they then should have to kick off and Green Bay should have had 1 possession to match what Seattle had done.  If they also score a TD, then Green Bay should have the option to kick an extra point to tie it up again (with subsequent kickoff to Seattle) or they could go for 2 to win the game.

I hate the current system more than the college version.

Go Blue! 

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OccaM

January 19th, 2015 at 8:27 PM ^

I like it the way it is. My heart says college is more exciting, but my brain says the only reason for that is because defenses aren't as up to snuff in the college game. 

Then after I think about it, I realize that my brain is right. Giving each side a shot on college like in college diminishes the defenses on the field. It glorifies offense too much imo. 

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club2230

January 19th, 2015 at 8:33 PM ^

In order to win an overtime game one defense has to outplay the opponents offense...eventually Every game is the result of a team effort. Giving both teams possession allows both offense and defense to take the field. Consider it allowing the defense to have a chance to stop the other team.

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Wolverine Devotee

January 19th, 2015 at 8:31 PM ^

All pro sports are inferior to their college version.

The fact that the highest level of football has games that end in a tie while ties have been abolished since 1996 in college football, is a joke.

Michigan high school football even uses college style OT. 

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club2230

January 19th, 2015 at 8:36 PM ^

It's a matter of preference. There is no absolute with regards to what level is right. But I see what you are saying...the nfl is clearly inferior. I live in Wisconsin and I guarantee you that the Badgers are an afterthought when it comes to football preference.

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OccaM

January 19th, 2015 at 8:39 PM ^

Little generalization there don't you think? 

Some people like watching the best in the world perform at the peak level aka the pros.... 

 

Personally, I like college basketball and football better but there's no way one is inferior over the other. Very subjective. 

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justingoblue

January 19th, 2015 at 8:50 PM ^

Isn't that incorrect by definition, at least in sports with real professional options?

For example, if you're a fan of hockey (and not just Michigan hockey) I don't know how you can say that Penn State vs. Michigan State is a superior product to Penguins vs. Red Wings.

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slama

January 19th, 2015 at 8:32 PM ^

Although the NCAA overtime is exciting, I prefer the NFL's version. The college OT feels like such a departure from the rest of the game. It also heavily favors the team with the better kicker.

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JTGoBlue

January 19th, 2015 at 8:39 PM ^

I'm in the extra time camp. Perhaps not a full quarter. The current rules give the team winning the toss too much advantage. However giving each team a possession, or 'innings' removes the time constraint and changes that dynamic of the game.



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orobs

January 19th, 2015 at 8:43 PM ^

I think both are flawed.

 

College should start at the 40.  You should have to do SOMETHING beyond to earn points beyond having a kicker capable of making of a pretty easy field goal (Brendan Gibbons aside)

 

NFL should just get rid of first drive-sudden death altogether. Give both teams a chance

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LSAClassOf2000

January 19th, 2015 at 8:43 PM ^

To the OP, these are the sorts of questions that MGoBlog actually loves to discuss, so I would say that you've done well here in it comes to topic selection. Hopefully, you get some great answers here - actually, you more than likely will get those. If this is your first thread, this is a pretty good selection for a topic. 

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Rick Grimes

January 19th, 2015 at 8:56 PM ^

I like college OT better but they should move the ball back to like the 40 so that teams are not automatically in field goal range at the start of their possession.

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Mr. Owl

January 19th, 2015 at 8:57 PM ^

I don't like either of the OT rules.

In the NFL, to win you either have to score a TD, or each team must posess the ball & then can kick a FG to win.  The change has helped stop the problem of kicking a 48 yard FG on 1st down after a decent kick return, but it still sucks IMO.

College it's like "Hey, we know you just had a fantastic defensive battle that ended regulation 10-10, but to hell with defense!  Let's put the ball where you're practially guaranteed to score in some fashion & have a 45-42 final!"

What I would do for the NFL: Play like normal until one team scores.  Then this team kicks the ball & the other team (assuming it's not an onside kick recovered by the kicking team) gets one posession to better the score.  Kick a FG?  They have to score a TD.  Score a TD?  They must get the TD + the 2pt coversion.

What I would do for college: No overtime.  Sometimes you win.  Sometimes you lose.  Sometimes you neither win or lose.  Learn something about life.  There's not always a clear winner.  (This would never happen, so see what I would do for NFL OT & copy it here for a realistic response.)

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MGoUberBlue

January 19th, 2015 at 9:05 PM ^

But.....the nfl has a coin toss to determine who will receive the first possession. If the receiving team kicks a field goal, then the other team gets one possession. If the receiving team scores a touchdown, then the game is over. I think?

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