As soon as the Green Bay-Arizona wildcard game went to OT, I knew that Peter King and Mike & Mike would be spending some time on the NFL’s overtime rules the next day. I was not wrong. And then, two weeks later, it came up again. I don’t know how many hosts I heard say that it was a shame that Brett Favre didn’t get a chance to score in overtime and had to watch his season end. And they brought up last year’s playoffs where the same thing happened to Peyton Manning and the Colts. Hey fellas, Brett did have a chance to win the game himself. He blew it by throwing a pick.
His teammates also blew it by fumbling six times and losing three of them, once right after a New Orleans turnover near the goal line. And the Vikings had a chance to win in overtime; it’s called stopping the other team on defense. The Cardinals were able to do that in the wildcard round; despite getting scored on all day the Arizona defense was able to rise up when it mattered and win the game. Look, almost every overtime is preceded by one time tying the score just before the end of regulation or failing to get a go ahead score as time runs out. There are also points during the game that lead up to the final score being even at the end of the fourth quarter. If the Vikings don’t turn the ball over five times, that game isn’t even close.
You cannot convince me that you need to give both teams the ball once in order for things to be fair. They’re already fair; if you lose the coin toss and the other team gets the ball, THEN STOP THEM AND GET THE BALL BACK. There is no difference between getting a stop in regulation and getting one in overtime. NO FREAKING DIFFERENCE. Stop it, just stop it. We don’t need a full 15 minute quarter either, or an 8 minute quarter or anything else. Leave it the way it is. If you don’t get the ball, STOP THE OTHER TEAM.
Rant over.