The 2018 NFL season has been official for three weeks. In those two weeks there have been two ties, both of which involved teams that were in their own division.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns of the AFC North tied in week one, 21-21 and the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings of the NFC North tied in week two, 29-29.
The tying of these games has not been received well by current and veteran players.
Former New England Patriot Tedy Bruschi took to Twitter saying “Two weeks in the NFL and two ties. Overtime rules need to change. Pro football should have a winner and a loser.”
When asked in a postgame press conference how it felt to have the game ending in a tie, current Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said it felt “close to an ‘L’” and “disappointing.”
In 2012 the NFL changed the overtime format for regular season games. Play was changed to keep teams from being able to win with a field goal on the first possession. With this change put into place a team is only able to win on first possession by scoring a touchdown.
If the opening team with possession isn’t able to score a touchdown and opt to score a field goal the opposing team has a chance to score a field goal in order to rebuttal and keep the game alive or score a touchdown to win the game.
Futbol, or soccer as we say here in the United States, has the potential for regular season games to end in a tie embedded in its tradition. However, here in the U.S., ties haven’t received the same approval, nor was it an established rule in the sport’s founding.
One reason being because of the determination factor of the playoffs. With all four teams that have tied, being in their respective divisions, could have potential controversy in the league’s playoff format not yet encountered by the league or its fans.
For example; let’s say the Bears finish the regular season leading the NFC North – which guarantees them a playoff spot – and the Packers one game behind them with the tie on their record but with more divisional game wins. The controversy becomes “What if the Packers didn’t tie?”
With a lot of talk recently about how NFL should once again revise their overtime rules, here are a few examples to alleviate a tie game altogether:
- Keep playing the current overtime rules as they are, but if the game is still tied at the end of the first overtime period, the original sudden death rule will come into play, meaning the next team to score a touchdown or field goal wins the game.
- Use college overtime rules, the first team to receive the ball is determined by coin toss and the ball starts on the defending teams’ 25-yard line. Whichever team scores a touchdown first wins. If after two periods the game is still tied, teams have to go for a two-point conversion instead of kicking the point after touchdown.
These are a few of the most popular options currently being tossed around to eliminate tie games in the NFL. What are your thoughts?
Lindsey Elam
Reporter