OT change at forefront of league meeting

[PA Season Ticket Holder]

(March 19, 2003) -- It's that time of year again. NFL executives and owners from all 32 teams will congregate for four days to discuss issues and vote on proposals at the league's annual meeting.

Among the most pressing topics to be decided upon from March 23-26 in Phoenix: proposed changes to the league's overtime format and whether to expand the playoffs by two teams.

At the forefront is a possible change to the league's overtime system after a year in which 25 games went to OT, breaking the previous single-season mark of 21 in 1995.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/6263432

[Cntrygal]

UPDATE

Don't expect a lot of rule changes at next week's NFL owners meetings in Phoenix.

The NFL Competition Committee, which concluded an eight-day meeting in Naples, Fla., isn't in favor of expanding the playoffs from 12 to 14 teams. The committee is split on whether to alter the overtime rules. It would be the committee's preference to wait until the 2004 season to make any adjustments to instant replay.

Here are some of the proposals being considered:


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[Cntrygal]

Changes to OT likely to be nixed

Of all the decisions coaches make during an NFL game, only one seems to determine the outcome in overtime:

Heads or tails.

According to the league's competition committee, a trend has developed since 1994: nearly 60 percent of teams that won the coin toss won the game. Since 1997, 37.5 percent of the teams that won the coin toss won on their first possession.

That's why NFL owners will consider changing the overtime system at their annual spring meetings that begin today in Phoenix. A proposal for a two-possession rule will be hotly debated.

But it likely will be difficult to get the needed 24 votes among the 32 teams to change the overtime system.

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