Momentum exists to change NFL overtime rule, but 24 votes ‘not easy to get’

Competition Commission Chairman Rich McKay said Friday that there is “a lot of momentum” to change the NFL’s overtime rules, but it’s unclear whether enough owners will agree on a specific proposal when they meet next week at their annual meetings in Palm Beach. State of Florida.

At the moment, two proposals are under consideration. The Indianapolis Colts and Philadelphia Eagles suggested making it mandatory for each team to have extra time before moving on to sudden death. Meanwhile, the Tennessee Titans proposed an amendment that would implement mandatory possession for each team unless the team with first possession scores a touchdown and converts a successful two-point attempt.

Neither proposal was endorsed by the competition commission, but Mackay said that was because the clubs covered the nature of the discussion well. However, in a conference call, McKay warned reporters that it would be difficult to get the necessary votes 24 owners to change the rule.

“I think my history on this base tells me it’s not easy to get 24 votes,” McKay said. “But I think the statistics fully justify examining whether the overtime rules need to be further modified.”

The current rule allows a team to win a first possession of overtime if it scores a touchdown, a result that dominated the debate in January after the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round of the playoffs. The chiefs won by tossing the coin and choosing to take delivery. They scored a touchdown on their first drive, eventually leaving quarterback bills Josh Allen And attacking him on the side line and unable to influence the outcome of the match.

Since the current requirement for touching possession to open the 2012 regular season was put in place, the coin lottery winning teams have won 50 percent of the time, according to league data. That number has risen slightly to 54% since the league cut overtime from a maximum of 15 minutes to 10 minutes in 2017, but there has been a huge jump in the post-season.

Since the current format has been implemented, seven of the 12 overtime games have been won in the opening game, and 10 of those 12 have been won by the team that won the coin toss.

McKay said he’s heard from some teams that prefer making the change only for play-off matches.

“If there is an appetite [for change]”You want to be consistent,” NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent said earlier this month. “You don’t want to have one set of rules for the regular season and one for the play-offs, but that’s just me.”

The overtime proposals make up two of the three base proposals that owners will consider next week. The other is to make a permanent, one-year adjustment to the setup area when kick-off returns, designed to increase the likelihood of side kicks recovering.

It’s “the lowest number of proposals I’ve seen in a while,” McKay said. “And that’s a good thing. I think the match is in a really good place.”

In other news:

• The NFL has spent several months analyzing the high injury rate on kicks, which Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sales said earlier this year should be addressed “immediately.”

McKay said the league will likely have new training recommendations in 2022, but any rule-related change won’t come before 2023. He added that they would consider a modified NFL kick, which doesn’t allow the Gunners to line up outside the numbers and prevents them from cooperating doubles until after the kick, To see if it affects infection rates. The USFL season begins next month.

• Wayne McKee, the longtime NFL official who has been helping to lead the coaching department since 2017, died suddenly overnight while in Florida while preparing for next week’s meetings. He was 62 years old.