I watched three NFL games go into overtime this season... in each case, the winner was determined by coin toss, because in all three games, the team who lost the toss never touched the ball again. In two of those games... Saints/Bears and Colts/Chargers, the team who scored to tie the game on the final play won the toss and got the ball right back for the chance to win it. This seems particularly uinfair since there's no other situation in football where an offense gets two chances to score without the other team getting a crack at it in between, and it's not fair to force a gassed Defense that's played 4 quarters already to go back out on to the field to defend another consecutive drive with little or no rest. Also, in both those games, half of the yards gained on the winning drive (or more) in OT were penalty yards (which is probably a function of the defense being completely gassed).
Not taking anything away from what the Bears or Chargers did to win those games... I'm only arguing that this is no way to decide a winner in a crucial NFL game.
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I like TMQ's suggestion for the overtime rule change: play an ENTIRE fifth quarter but no kicking is allowed except after scoring. No field goals, no punting. If the game were still tied, then you could go to a sudden death sixth quarter with no kicking allowed.
Sounds good to me... let's make it happen. Who has the pitchforks and torches?
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