Overtime in the NFL

It says something about our society that we are no longer tolerant of ties in our sporting events. When the Eagles and Bengals recorded the first tie in the NFL in six years, there was a fair amount of commentary about the travesty of permitting a game to end in a tie. What exactly is wrong with a game ending tied? They played for the sixty minutes and nobody won. End of story.

In this case, the teams played for 75 minutes and nobody won. Why are people rending their garments over it? Because we like things clear-cut, black and white, winners and losers. No kissing your sister any more. How do we know who to scapegoat if we can't call them losers. Somehow just tying has become less honorable than losing.

But longing for the days of a good old fashioned "kissing your sister" tie is like longing for the days of single-bar facemasks or basketball shorts that don't look like gym bloomers. Ain't coming back, Uncle Henry, meet the new boss.

Which is why the NFL system is the worst of every possible world. First of all, there is still the possibility of a tie - it is just delayed by another 15 minutes of scrumming in the middle of the field. What's the use of slogging on after the final whistle if ultimately you can end up right where you started; let's settle these things or don't. Second of all (and this was first on the list until the Eagles and Bengals reminded us of the other reason), about half of NFL overtimes are determined by the coin flip - as the team that wins the toss marches down the field and scores while the opposing offense sits on the sidelines with as much change of impacting the outcome as I have sitting on my couch. Why not just flip the coin and declare a winner that way? Because the other half the time, the teams jockey around between the thirty-yard lines for a while?

Overtime should be more exciting than regulation. And theoretically sudden-death overtime gives you that, but not the way the NFL does it. NFL overtime is exciting in the "cover your eyes and peek out in between to see if your team screws it up" way. Not exactly riveting theatre.

College overtime has it figured out. Both teams get a chance to score, and when they're still tied, you switch who goes first and start in again. They even juiced up the excitement by requiring that teams attempt the two-point conversion when the third overtime starts. College overtime is edge of your seat exciting. From the first snap to the last. I can watch any two teams in college play overtime and enjoy it.

The pro game is great in almost every way. (Okay, NFL replays sucks just a little too, but we'll come back to that.) But the college boys have it all over you when it comes to exciting finishes. To avoid a boring 3 and out field-goal festival, NFL overtimes should start with the ball on the opponent's 35 yard line. So get with it, NFL, before a Super Bowl is decided by a coin flip and a 14-play Bataan death march to a 19-yard field goal.