How to Fix NFL Overtime

Every time an NFL team wins the coin toss in overtime and scores on its first possession, we hear about the "injustice" of the current NFL overtime format.

There's a simple, logical way to fix overtime in the NFL. An unintended side-effect of this proposal is that good teams would no longer tank meaningless games at the end of the regular season.

Yes, we're solving two of the NFL's biggest problems in one fell swoop. Read on.

How to fix NFL Overtime: Does it even need to be fixed?

Fans have been complaining for years that NFL overtime needs to be changed because too often, the team that wins the coin toss scores on their first possession to end the game. But that's way overblown.

In the last ten years, 39 percent of overtime coin flip winners have gone on to score on their first possession. That percentage is way lower than we've been led to believe. Based on these numbers, I'd be fine with keeping the NFL overtime format exactly as is. But if we must change the OT format, there is a simple tweak that can make it better.

How to fix NFL Overtime: Should both teams get the ball?

Here are two of the proposed NFL overtime solutions that absolutely will not work:

-Emulate the college system, where each team gets the ball once, and if they are still tied, each team gets the ball again, until the tie is finally broken

-Play a full 15-minute quarter of OT so that each team gets the ball multiple times

Any scenario involving both teams getting the ball is problematic because of the possibility that the game could still be tied after that. Which means another round would be necessary. And possibly another. And another. People complain enough about three-hour games. How do you think they'd feel about five-hour games?

We can't have NFL games like some of the joke games in college football, such as Arkansas' 71-63, seven-overtime win in 2003 that lasted just shy of five hours.

Imagine how the NFL stats and record books would be forever destroyed if there was a six-overtime game where Drew Brees passed for eight touchdowns and 600 yards. That might be an extreme case, but it could easily happen if the NFL adopts college football's no-end-in-sight overtime format. Such results would make a mockery of the sport.

Therefore, any proposed NFL overtime solution requiring both teams to get the football is not acceptable. Overtime in the NFL must remain a sudden death affair. But that doesn't mean some tweaking isn't in order.

How to fix NFL Overtime: The solution

Here's the best way to fix overtime in the NFL: Keep it exactly as it is now, except that instead of having a coin flip, simply give the home team the ball first.

Yes, it's a simple solution, but think about it. This would create a home-field advantage, in the same way that baseball teams have a competitive edge by getting the last at-bat. No one has a problem with MLB's home-field advantage. Everyone accepts it as a part of the game.

Here are the benefits that would result from this OT tweak:

-Games would not go on forever. The game still ends after the first OT score.

-Players and fans would be less likely to argue about the injustice of not getting the ball in OT, because everyone knows going in that the home team gets the ball first.

-The end of regulation would suddenly become much more exciting. Imagine a road team down by seven with 30 seconds remaining in the game. They score a touchdown. Now, they're faced with the prospect of kicking an extra point to tie the game and force overtime.

In that situation, coaches might reach the conclusion their chances of winning are better by going for two rather than settling for overtime, where they'd be guaranteed to kick off.

The same holds true for road teams down by three points in the final minutes of regulation. They'd be much more aggressive in going for the touchdown rather than settling for the field goal and OT.

How to fix NFL Overtime: What about the Super Bowl?

There's one gap in this proposal. What happens in the Super Bowl, where there is no home team?

In that case, again the solution is simple: The home team is the one that earned the better regular season record. That's how it's done in the NBA and NHL - the team with the better record gets four home games in the finals versus three for the other team. No one argues with that policy. There's no reason the NFL couldn't adopt the same logic.

If the teams have identical records, no big deal - the lengthy list of NFL tiebreakers would come into play.

This solution brilliantly tackles another of the NFL's problems - teams tanking meaningless games late in the season. Do you think the Colts and Saints would've been so eager to throw in the towel on those last few games of the regular season if they knew home-field advantage in the Super Bowl was at stake?

How to fix NFL Overtime: Summary

Simply giving the home team the ball first seems to be the perfect solution to the NFL's overtime crisis. It eliminates the controversy because everyone in the world knows in advance that the home team gets the ball first, so teams can strategize accordingly. And it gives elite teams something to play for in the last couple weeks of the regular season.

Have a better solution? Leave a comment below with your suggestion!

How to fix NFL Overtime: Sources

http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=233050096

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/peter_king/01/31/mmqb/index.html