NFL Season 2010

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Rules proposal passes on 28-4 vote


NFL Owners Pass Playoff OT Rules Change
Hoge, Golic In Favor Of New OT Rules
The NFL owners voted to change an element in the overtime rule, giving the team that loses the coin toss at the start of overtime to get a possession if the coin-toss winning team scores a field goal with the first possession.

The proposal passed 28-4. As it is written, the rules change applies just for the postseason, but the owners also decided to discuss adopting the changes for the regular season at their next meeting, in May in Dallas.

Wojciechowski: Poor Showing
The NFL owners had the right idea with the new overtime rule, but they sure did execute it poorly. Story

The Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings, Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals voted against the proposal.

The competition committee recommended the change in a vote of 6-2, and commissioner Roger Goodell supported the plan. He was able to secure enough votes to get the proposal passed on Tuesday, a day before the expected Wednesday vote.

The reason for the change was the increased accuracy of kickers since 1993. In 1994, the NFL moved kickoffs from the 35 to the 30, which created better field position for the teams that won the coin toss and received the kickoffs.

Statistics examined by the committee showed that since 1994, teams winning the coin toss win the game 59.8 percent of the time. The team that loses the toss wins the game 38.5 percent in that 15-year span.

New postseason overtime rules
• Both teams must have the opportunity to possess the ball once during the extra period, unless the team that receives the opening kickoff scores a touchdown on its initial possession, in which case it is the winner.

• If the team that possesses the ball first scores a field goal on its initial possession, the other team shall have the opportunity to possess the ball. If [that team] scores a touchdown on its possession, it is the winner. If the score is tied after [both teams have a] possession, the team next scoring by any method shall be the winner.

• If the score is tied at the end of a 15-minute overtime period, or if [the overtime period's] initial possession has not ended, another overtime period will begin, and play will continue until a score is made, regardless of how many 15-minute periods are necessary.

"We've had this discussion for a number of years," competition committee co-chairman Rich McKay said. "We feel this year's proposal gave us the opportunity to [install] a pretty good rule. Statistically we felt it needed to be changed. It wasn't creating the fairest result as far as field goal accuracy, field goal distance and drive starts."

Those statistics showed that since 1994, the team that won the overtime coin toss won the game 34.4 percent of the time on the first possession.

Overall, the team that correctly called the coin toss won overtime games 59.8 percent of the time in the last 15 years, or since kickoffs were moved back 5 yards to the 30.

"Plenty of people on the committee, myself included, are so-called traditionalists," Indianapolis Colts president Bill Polian said. "I am proud to be one. But once you saw the statistics, it became obvious we had to do something."

McKay said one of the selling points was it maintained the sudden death aspect of overtime.

This is not a one-year experiment. The vote is a permanent change to the overtime rule, which was established in 1974 to minimize the number of games ending in ties.

McKay didn't rule out the possibility of the change being implemented in time for the 2010 regular season, but he doubted discussion would result in such quick movement.

Minnesota lost last season's NFL championship game in overtime to New Orleans. The Saints won the toss, drove downfield and kicked a field goal to win.

McKay and Polian both said the Vikings-Saints game had little role in passage of the rule change.

"That's interesting," McKay said. "One of the teams that voted against was in the game and, last I checked, I don't think they won."

Vikings owner Zygi Wilf said Monday he was inclined to vote against the modification.

"You need consistency of the regular season and the postseason," Wilf said.

Polian said overtime rules already are different during the season, when games end in ties after a 15-minute OT, and the playoffs, when a winner must be determined.

McKay and Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher, the other competition committee co-chairman, said coaches quickly began favoring the change once they learned the details. It became such a hot issue that the owners' vote was taken one day earlier than expected.

One of those coaches, Marvin Lewis of the Bengals, is on the committee. Hours before his team voted no, Lewis expressed approval of the alteration.

"There's a lot of elements that come into play," Lewis said. "For all the proposals we've discussed, this is I think the most complete one."

McKay said it was critical in making the rule change that "no phase of the game" was "adversely affected."

The players' union has said it believes any change in overtime needs to be collectively bargained. Of course, the contract between the league and players expires next March. While the competition committee briefly discussed potential OT changes with the union in February, the NFLPA was not consulted this week.

Denver Broncos receiver Brandon Stokley doesn't like the rule change.

"I just think that they should keep it like it is," he said. "It makes things interesting. Some people don't like the coin toss, but that's just the way it goes. If you're on defense first and you don't have the ball, you've just got to stop them."

Chris Mortensen is ESPN's senior NFL analyst. John Clayton is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

/Mrs. Springsteen
 
Tebow's pre-Wonderlic prayer request falls flat

Posted by Mike Florio on March 23, 2010 7:20 PM ET

As we've mentioned once or twice, quarterback Tim Tebow's habit of openly expressing his religious beliefs could potentially rub folks the wrong way, especially in a locker room of grown men who choose to keep their beliefs to themselves, who don't share his beliefs at all, and/or who only want to hear "God bless" after they have sneezed.

We're told that Tebow already has gotten a taste of the resistance he might face at the next level.

At the Scouting Combine, the Wonderlic exam is administered to players in groups. The 12-minute test is preceded by some brief instructions and comments from the person administering the test.

Per a league source, after the person administering the test to Tebow's group had finished, Tebow made a request that the players bow their heads in prayer before taking the 50-question exam.

Said one of the other players in response: "Shut the f--k up." Others players in the room then laughed.

We're not passing judgment on this one; we're just passing along what we've heard. And it illustrates the type of challenges that could be faced by the team that drafts Tebow.

That said, some teams might embrace those challenges. The final decision will depend largely on the composition of the team, and the personalities of the coach, the G.M., and the owner.
 
Eh, I have a hard time imagining that Tebow's openness about his spiritual beliefs is going to be much of an issue in the NFL, compared to his lousy footwork and extremely slow throwing motion.
 
the new OT rules are just plain stupid.

if they wanted to avoid the "cheap 50 yard field goal," how a 50 yard field goal is cheap, i do not know... then couldn't they just put a limit on where you can kick a field goal from? like you can only kick a field goal in OT if you get the ball inside the 25 yard line or some shit like that?

this idea that both teams need posession of the ball pretty much tells you that the NFL thinks that offense is more important than defense, and that special teams pretty much don't matter at all.

it also tells you that the TV people are behind this, because although it's been talked about for a while, it only actually happened after brett fav-ruh never got to touch the ball in OT.

well, maybe he shouldn't have thrown that stupid fucking interception.
 
yeah...about the OT rules.....i guess it's an improvement, but i'd rather just see college rules.
 
this idea that both teams need posession of the ball pretty much tells you that the NFL thinks that offense is more important than defense, and that special teams pretty much don't matter at all.

Here's the thing, though: after all the changes of the past 20 years, offense is more important (kickoff pushed back to the 30, no kickoff tee, cheap PI and defensive holding penalties, more indoor stadiums, etc).
 
/lays bait

hope mcnabb understands the new OT rules

//runs and hides
 
one reason why i could see the NFL not adopting the college rules is that it would affect stats big time. you'd start seeing QB's throwing 8 TD's per game. yeah, i know it wouldn't happen all the time, i don't know, maybe this is a stupid comment. go fuck yourself.
 
I think that for the playoffs, they should play a full 5th Quarter. Nobody ever agrees with me, though. "What if they're still tied????" I don't know, maybe then implement some sort of college-type rules or something. I just hate seeing a playoff game decided like the Vikings game, and it aint cos of Favre.
 
I think that for the playoffs, they should play a full 5th Quarter. Nobody ever agrees with me, though. "What if they're still tied????" I don't know, maybe then implement some sort of college-type rules or something.

i agree totally. in another sport, i'm a huge proponent of a straight set period of added time, regular season and playoffs. it's not so feasible with the nfl because the game runs so much longer, but i can't see any harm in doing it for the playoffs. still tied after 15 minutes? fuck it, then go to sudden death overtime.
 
I think that for the playoffs, they should play a full 5th Quarter. Nobody ever agrees with me, though. "What if they're still tied????" I don't know, maybe then implement some sort of college-type rules or something. I just hate seeing a playoff game decided like the Vikings game, and it aint cos of Favre.

i'd be more for that then what they came up with.
 
You think that's bad? Favre will just be sitting there on the sideline, contemplating aloud if he wants to come back for his overtime possession. His teammates will simply accept this, taking numerous "delay of game" penalties while Brett makes up his mind. After all, he's earned it.
 
You think that's bad? Favre will just be sitting there on the sideline, contemplating aloud if he wants to come back for his overtime possession. His teammates will simply accept this, taking numerous "delay of game" penalties while Brett makes up his mind. After all, he's earned it.

Can I ask you something?

Is that you in your own avatar? And if so, why are you dressed as a gorilla?
 
Ah, understood. I was just hoping to illustrate that my decisions are seldom rational or based on anything resembling common sense.
 
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