NFL must find more fair OT system

[Cntrygal]

The NFL is flourishing through parity. Even at the Super Bowl.

Three of the last five Super Bowls have been decided in the last minute. Two of the last three were in doubt until the final play.

That's a wonderful contrast to Super Bowls XVIII through XXXI when the average margin of victory was 21.4 points.

Super Bowl blowouts are no longer a great concern. A tie game is.

The best way to ruin Super Bowl XXXVII? Send it into overtime.

In a league that does so much right, the NFL's sudden-death overtime remains its greatest wrong.

The first team to score wins? How fair is that?

The Pittsburgh Steelers can tell you how fair. They were eliminated from the AFC playoffs in an overtime toss and loss to the Tennessee Titans 10 days ago.

The Titans won the overtime coin toss, drove down the field, kicked a field goal and won the game. It happens all the time. And it doesn't happen anywhere else.

What other sport determines its tiebreakers on a first-come, first-served basis? OT

[Cntrygal]

NFL union would like overtime change

The NFL players' union would like to see the overtime rule changed to allow each team a chance on offense.

Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the NFL Players' Association, said during the union's annual news conference that it will recommend the change to the NFL's competition committee.

record OT in 2002

[Cntrygal]

Commissioner Paul Tagliabue expects new NFL overtime system

Get ready for overtime to be overhauled.
Three of the NFL's most powerful executives say changes could come as early as next season. Commissioner Paul Tagliabue predicted Friday that team owners would scrap the sudden-death format in March at their annual meetings. He expects a new overtime setup with each team getting at least one possession and he has the support of Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney and players' union executive director Gene Upshaw.

"We are reassessing it with members of the competition committee and our staff," Tagliabue said during his annual state of the league address.
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