Plaschke is latest to rail against NFL Overtime rule

A more fundamental problem is that FG kickers have become too accurate:

http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/player/_/stat/kicking/sort/fieldGoalPct/seasontype/2

I don't feel like adding up all the league totals, but it looks like the median NFL kicker makes about 84 percent of his FG kicks (and 99 percent of extra points -- more than half the kickers in the league didn't miss an extra point this year).

1. Narrow the goalposts to 15 feet (from the current 18-6).

2. Institute a rule that the holder of a place kick must spot the ball no closer than 10 yards to the line of scrimmage (vs. the current 7 yards commonly used).

 

Dude, did you *see* the playoffs this year? It was one great big festival of missed field goals.

 

Not really, Piotr.

NBA overtime doesn't end with the first point.

 

Rules ain't changing anytime soon.

 

It blows my mind how awful kickers have been this year, even in domes and kicker-friendly stadiums (San Diego, Arizona)

 

I don't think they should change it to college. I've covered a couple of those six and seven overtime games and it just gets absurd.

I agree that they will never change it. The only way I would tweak it would be to take the kicker out of the mix. You want to win, score a touchdown. That might even the playing field a bit, but those numbers from this season seem to indicate that it's evening out.

I have no sympathy for a kicker or a quarterback who fucked up in regulation thinking it's only fair to get another shot in OT.

 

You don't want to lose on the first possession...PLAY DEFENSE!
It's sudden death. By definition, first score of any kind wins.
I see absolutely no problem with the system the way it is.
And it is not going to change in my lifetime.

 

The key play in the Saints-Vikings game shouldn't have been the "heads" call by the Vikings dude on the OT coin flip. Each team should have at least one possession.

 

That wasn't the key play, so I guess we are all good?

 

In all seriousness, I don't remember, but didn't a Viking drop a pick that landed right in his hands? Or was that not in OT?

 

Yes, the receiver had the ball, and as he was going to the ground it slipped out of his hands and popped straight toward a Viking, who dropped it.

 

Nobody ever bitched about this until the last two or three years.

It seems like an easy microwaveable column now more than anything else.