Overtime key issue at owners meetings
March 21, 2010
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)—In a sport built on intricate game plans in which inchesoften decide outcomes, the last thing the NFL wants is to rely on randomness.
So when NFL owners discuss many issues at their meetings this week, nonewill be juicier than a potential modification of overtime in the playoffs.
The league’s competition committee has recommended that a team yielding afield goal on the first series of the extra period will then get a possession.If that team scores a touchdown, it wins. If it fails to score, it loses. But ifit kicks a field goal, the game will continue under the current sudden-deathrules.
Competition committee co-chairman Rich McKay cited statistics since 1994that show teams winning the coin toss win the game 59.8 percent of the time. Theteam that loses the toss wins the game 38.5 percent in that 15-year span, orsince kickoffs were moved back 5 yards to the 30.
“There are advocates who will say that we’re trying to put in a system thatemphasizes more skill and more strategy in overtime as opposed to the randomnessof the coin flip,” says McKay, president of the Atlanta Falcons. “Those on theother side will tell you it works pretty well, it’s exciting, and there’s anopportunity for less plays, and that is an important product that’s needed inovertime.”
But the hefty swing in advantage toward teams winning the toss prompted thecommittee to take action. With 24 of the 32 owners required to pass a rulechange, McKay is uncertain if the adjustment to overtime will happen. It is, hesays, time to find out.
“In the past, people have been quick to say that our system works very welland why would we change it,” he said. “That’s always been a blocking point, ifyou will, to change.
“In this case, we just try to make a statistical argument that the time mayhave come to innovate a little bit when it comes to overtime and there’s areason statistically to do so. But it will be interesting to see when we get tothat discussion.”
Overtime is one of many issues the owners will examine. They also will getupdates on the status of negotiations with the players union toward a collectivebargaining agreement. Without a new one by next March, a work stoppage couldoccur.
The league comes off a season of record TV ratings, strong attendance andburgeoning interest in what already is the nation’s most popular and profitablesport. But there always are plenty of subjects examined by McKay, co-chairmanJeff Fisher, coach of the Tennessee Titans, and the seven-man competitioncommittee.
Overtime will draw most of the headlines, but also on the agenda are:
— Further protection of defenseless players.
Unnecessary roughness penalties were up slightly in 2009. The committeefound instances of hits it would like to see changed by lowering the target areaand ensuring a receiver not only has completed a catch, but has had time toprotect himself. A defensive player would be prohibited from launching into thereceiver in any way that causes the defensive player’s helmet, facemask,shoulder or forearm to forcibly strike the receiver’s head.
— Further protection of long snappers on field goals. The committee proposesthat no player can line up within the frame of the body of the snapper, whichshould give the snapper an opportunity to get his head up and protect himself.
“We tried to do that a couple of years ago and we haven’t gotten thataccomplished as well as we would like,” McKay said.
— A dead ball if a runner loses or has his helmet come off during a play.This is similar to college rules.
— A ball hitting a scoreboard—based on punts potentially hitting theoverhanging videoboard at the new Cowboys Stadium—is a dead ball. This ruletemporarily was instituted for the 2009 season and could become permanent.
— Dead-ball penalties would carry over to the second half or into overtimewhen they happen as the clock runs out in the second or fourth quarters.