Why does each teams possession begin at the opponents 25 yard line, as opposed to the 35 (as in the CFL) or 10 (as in most HS games)? Answer: Because.
Kickoff after a coin toss (solely because that's the only fair way to determine the kicking team) and play 15:00, at which point the current score is the FINAL score.
Oh, valid point. I thought you meant all starters, you should take the time to be more descriptive, don't be shy. —Jaded
Never confuse frustrated candor and disloyal malice.
Love can't be coerced. —Me
Being brought up on soccer, I am used to tied games, so I have never really saw the problem.
But if player safety IS the real driver.... Just have a kicker shoot out after the end of regulation.
In the regular season, fine by me, if the NFL truly cares about player safety. The reality is the NFL couldn't care less about player safety, only league liability and marketability: That's why all "player safety" rules focus on positions with the LEAST contact and thus longest careers, yet ignore those with the MOST contact and thus SHORTEST careers. "Player safety" is a rationalization the League Office dons and removes as convenient, so won't be allowed to ITSELF become inconvenient.
I'm sure you realize why that option's impractical (especially in the current political climate.) And while I also don't see why regular season ties are inherently undesirable, that particular problem applies there, too: People would scream that "the NFL is awarding godless commie participation trophies!")
Oh, valid point. I thought you meant all starters, you should take the time to be more descriptive, don't be shy. —Jaded
Never confuse frustrated candor and disloyal malice.
Love can't be coerced. —Me
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Draft
1st round— Cooper Dejean CB
2nd round— Jack Sawyer OLB
3rd round— Will Shipley RB
4th round— Ricky Pearsall WR
5th round— Ladd McKonkey WR
6th round— Cash Jones RB
7th round— Carson Steele RB
Oh, valid point. I thought you meant all starters, you should take the time to be more descriptive, don't be shy. —Jaded
Never confuse frustrated candor and disloyal malice.
Love can't be coerced. —Me
By this logic, everything is arbitrary. Why are quarters 15 minutes instead of 20? Why kickoff from the 35 instead of the 15? College OT rules, while not my favorite, do guarantee an exciting finish and eliminate the possibility of a tie.
To me, the NFL overtime solution is so simple that I can't believe nobody has proposed it. Each team gets one possession, whatever the first team does, the second team gets a chance to match or beat. If they each do the same thing on their first possession (FG, TD, punt) then it becomes sudden death.
“If there are no animals in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.” - Will Rogers (paraphrased)
Because an hour is 60:00, not 80:00; maybe if metric time ever caught on we'd play 10:00 quarters, but it didn't, so we don't.
To eliminate kick returns, but I grant that one's pretty arbitrary, hence the spot for NFL kickoffs has changed twice in as many decades.
Playing a full OT period would guarantee an exciting finish also, and why is eliminating the possibility of a tie a goal?
Sudden death will always suck because it's SO arbitrary. Using a coin toss to determine INITIAL possession is one thing; it's got to be decided somehow, anything deterministic would also be unfair, and it doesn't matter much who gets the ball first unless they can end the game on the spot before the other team can do anything (note, of course, that "feature" of NFL sudden death remains largely in place.) But using something like that to decide which team can win the game while the opposing offense watches helplessly isn't exciting, just unfair (the Falcons surely agree.) Postponing that result until after both teams have had an opportunity to match each other once, twice or a dozen times doesn't change that dynamic, only delay it. If that's just to prevent a tie, we're back to "what's so bad about a tie?"
Oh, valid point. I thought you meant all starters, you should take the time to be more descriptive, don't be shy. —Jaded
Never confuse frustrated candor and disloyal malice.
Love can't be coerced. —Me
I don't think I understand your argument. The only reason I'm not in favor of the old sudden death system is that the kickers are so good now that teams only have to get 2 or 3 first downs and they're in FG range. In my scenario neither team can say they didn't have a fair shot to win. At some point it's up to the players to stop or to overpower the other guy. It's, in no way, left to a coin flip.
Last edited by spikerman; 05-29-2017 at 02:43 PM.
“If there are no animals in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.” - Will Rogers (paraphrased)
Why play football at all? That is the real question.
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