The History of NFL Overtime Rules

foreign doesn't seem like something that would be that complicated right yet here we are in 2022 and the NFL has still not figured out their overtime system on March 29th of this year the NFL announced that they were again tweaking their overtime rules this time guaranteeing both teams possession of the football this was a direct result of the recent Chiefs bills playoff game that left every fan wanting more with this latest change I thought now would be a good time to take a look back and go over the history of NFL overtime rules how many changes have there been what did it used to be like the NFL was founded in 1920 and believe it or not there was originally no overtime system at all if a game was tied at the end of regulation that was it the game would end in a tie that's why when you look at Coach's records from that era the number of ties will stand out to you for example former Lions head coach Joe Schmidt had seven ties in his six years as head coach from 1967 to 1972. it wouldn't be until 1974 that we would finally see overtime in the NFL on April 25th 1974 the NFL announced that they were implementing an overtime system that would have purely sudden death rules meaning the first score of any kind would win the game the overtime period was 15 minutes long and if the game was still tied at the end of the extra period Then the game would result in a tie ties would become pretty rare from this point on so rare that some future players didn't even know that ties existed well I've never been a part of a time I never even knew that that was in the rule but but again you know it's part of the rules and we have to go with it so you know I was looking forward to the next opportunity getting out there and trying to drive to win the game but unfortunately with the rules you know we settle with a tie though some were just happy to see overtime at all others didn't think it was enough and they took issue with the sudden death format the main criticism was that it gave whoever won the coin flip an unfair Advantage as it didn't guarantee both teams would touch the ball critic also pointed out that it made teams play for field goals rather than touchdowns which is the complete opposite of how football is supposed to be played personally I was never bothered by sudden death I remember one time hearing John Madden make a good argument in favor of it and that influenced my opinion I like I like the rules the way they are and I don't think that we have to go to any college rules where you know both teams get a possession and you know you know what the rule is and like Tony said if if you lose the flip then your defense has to do it yeah I mean it's not like you lose a flip and then you don't get to play defense go out and play defense and get the ball back and and I agree with that totally but me and John Madden were definitely in the minority as it always appeared that most people were not fans of sudden death but despite all the scrutiny the NFL didn't care they held their ground for several decades and we wouldn't see another change in the overtime rules until 2010 so 36 years later on March 23 2010 the NFL announced that they were finally amending their overtime rules but only for the playoffs the rule change came as a direct result of the 2009 NFC title game between the Vikings and the Saints Brett Favre and the Vikings never got to touch the ball in overtime as the saints went on to win 23-20 so what were the new rules well if you got the ball first a touchdown would win the game but a field goal no longer would if you only kicked a field goal on the opening drive then the opposing team would have a chance to either tie the game with a field goal or score a touchdown to win the game if the game was still tied after both teams touched the ball once then sudden death would commence this new format pleased a lot of fans as they were happy to see that a field goal on the first drive would no longer win the game but like I said these rule changes were only made for the playoffs regular season games still used the sudden death format that was until 2012. on March 28 2012 the NFL announced that regular season games would now use the postseason overtime rules the only difference obviously being that regular season games would end in a tie after one overtime and playoff games would keep going until there was a winner these Remain the overtime rules all the way through this past year the 2021 NFL season during the 12 years where these were the overtime rules there were 12 playoff games that went to overtime and seven of them were decided on the first possession meaning one team didn't get to touch the ball this game is one of the most famous examples the Broncos have been in three overtime games this year they want them all got Thomas at the fifth they stick around [Applause] they went on the first play of overtime the new rules you gotta score six on the first possession to close it out so even though the NFL changed the rules to make it more likely that both teams would have a chance to touch the ball that's not really what happened in the playoffs 58 of the time the losing team still never got a chance to touch the ball naturally this led to Fan uproar and a demand to change the rules yet again and then the 2021 Chief spills playoff game it's been called the greatest playoff game in NFL history it went back and forth and back and forth with Patrick Mahomes leading a miracle comeback with just 13 seconds left and over time the Chiefs won on their first drive leaving the bills empty-handed with no chance to touch the ball in the following days the debate raged on about whether or not the NFL should tweak the overtime rules again this time to ensure that both teams are guaranteed a chance to touch the ball and this time for whatever reason the NFL listened and just a few months later they would announce that they were again changing the overtime rules the new rules are only for the playoffs and the only changes that it guarantees both teams will touch the ball at least once if a team surrenders a touchdown on the opening drive they will still have a a chance for a rebuttal if the game is still tied after both teams touch the ball then sudden death commences just like the old format if the new rules are received well then you can expect them to eventually be implemented in the regular season this was an unusual move from the NFL a league that once went 36 years without changing the rules has now adjusted the rules three times in just the last 12 years and that is the history of NFL overtime rules I gotta say I am not a fan of the new rule change I thought there was nothing wrong with the format that was already in place giving up a touchdown on the first drive of overtime is enough to lose in my opinion now I understood why people thought giving up just a field goal wasn't fair but I think a touchdown is very reasonable like John Madden said earlier it's not like you don't get to play defense just go out there and get a stop now yes the Chiefs Phil's playoff game was so incredible that you would have liked to have seen the bills have another shot on offense but that game was an outlier most playoff games are not going to be like that so why make a rule change for something that is a complete anomaly in the big picture all this rule change is doing is rewarding the loser the bill is lost and instead of going back to the drawing board the NFL decided to reward them and say it's not your fault some would say this is bigger than football and was actually a societal problem but that's a whole other topic but now I want to hear from all of you what are your thoughts on the new rule change do you like it if not what do you think the overtime rule should be are you one of the many that says the NFL should just swallow their pride and adopt the college overtime system that is certainly one of the more popular takes fire away in the comment section that's gonna do it for the video Everybody if you haven't already please hit subscribe please follow me on Twitter follow me on Twitch and please consider supporting me on patreon all the links will be in the description until next time I'm Robin Robbie and thanks for watching [Music] foreign [Music]