Finally, the NFL has come off their high horse to make some kind of change to the poor overtime system. It only took a conference title being decided to make the NFL realize the time for change was far overdue.
These days, there seems to be very little that the NFL does wrong, especially in the eyes of fans around the world, seeing as how the popularity of the league has shot through the roof seemingly overnight. Yet the tired sudden death, first team to score system still remains, meaning there is still a good chance the team losing the overtime coin toss may never see the ball. At least now, the chances of both teams having at least one possession is much great come playoff time, but why not make it a season long rule?
In a league where the regular season schedule is only 16 games long, as opposed to other major sports which play 82 or 162 games in a regular season, each and every win and loss is that much more important. Obviously, playoff outcomes are even more important, when it becomes a one game, win or go home format, but the one loss a team may suffer during the regular season because they lost the overtime coin toss and never saw the ball because the opposition drove the ball 40 yards and kicked a long field goal easily can mean the difference between getting the chance during those playoffs or being done after 16 games.
It is a very simple change, and if a team scores a touchdown on their opening possession, that is it, game over, the other team doesnt get a chance, which is still very, but if the changes were adapted into the regular season as well, teams will be forced to really put all their effort out to try and score 6, and not just be safe, try and drive part of the field and kick the long field goal.
It could take regular season games to a whole new level of excitement. Strategy and mind games could be taken up a notch when a team is really 100% on the offensive, doing all they can to score a touchdown without even considering playing defense. The initial 60 minutes of regulation involves plenty of excitement and strategy already, but teams know that if they cannot get a drive going, they can punt, and rely on their defense, and know they will probably be getting the ball back with another chance soon. When things change come overtime, and teams realize that if they must punt the ball away on their first possession, and it then becomes sudden death, strategies really change. Perhaps we see more high risk, high reward plays. Perhaps we could see more out of the box plays, something that wasn't tried over the first 60 minutes. But almost guaranteed we will be provided more excitement.
It is understandable why the NFL has not gone to an extreme overtime change and adapt a system much more like that of the college game, where teams get equal chances from the opposition's 25 yard line. That is a system that fits the college game well, and perhaps one day we may see some sort of adaptation similar to this, but to extreme of a change for a league that has so much history and tradition playing the way it currently is.
All the other major team sports guarantee both teams will have an opportunity on offense come overtime. The NFL still remains the lone major sport where a coin could play a major role in a win or loss. It is a step in the right direction for the NFL to at least change overtime rules for a part of the season, but in a league where the season is much shorter and every win and loss is the much more magnified, there is no reason why this change could not have been implemented over the entire season.
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