By Jay Busbee
Good morning. It's time to discuss an issue that consumes our nation, an issue that divides us, an issue that pits us against one another, makes us suspicious of our friends and loved ones.
That's right. I'm talking about NFL overtime.
Put simply: NFL overtime is a mess. When you've got different sets of rules for regular season and playoffs or when you have to put the rules onscreen before every overtime, just to explain yet again to the viewers at home what the hell's happening you've got a flawed system.
Let's raise a glass to the Baltimore Ravens, then, who might just save us all from the perpetual "wait, how does this work now?" foolishness that hangs over current overtime rules. The Ravens are reportedly planning to introduce an overtime overhaul, a plan with the catchy name of "Spot and Choose."
Spot and Choose. What does it mean? In short: one team picks where the ball's spotted, and the other team gets to decide if it wants to play offense or defense. The coin flip would only determine which role each team plays "Spot" or "Choose."
Team A will pick a SPOT on the field say, the offense's 35-yard line. Team B would then get to CHOOSE whether to play offense and try to drive 65 yards for a touchdown OR play defense and hold Team A from driving those 65 yards.
Team A can't just pick the defense's 1-yard line, because then Team B would just flip the script and say, thank you very much, we're on offense now with a short field. But if Team A decides to try to crunch Team B deep in the offense's own territory, Team B can just say, no thank you, you take the ball on the offense's 10-yard line. And if Team A selects the 50-yard line, that's the equivalent of a returner getting the ball out to midfield, which most teams would be just fine with.
Is it always better to have the ball first, regardless of where you are on the field? Not necessarily. It's almost like blackjack, where you have to decide whether to stand or hit on 16. What's the break-point on the field where it's more advantageous for Team B to select defense? There's some speculation that it's as far back as the offense's 13-yard line. Any farther back than that, and it's worthwhile to surrender the ball in order to pin Team A up against the end zone.
This turns overtime's inciting element a coin flip from a matter of random chance into a matter of strategy. One generally winning approach to poker is to always force your opponent to make an uncomfortable decision, and Spot and Choose does exactly that, every single overtime.
Think of the chances for second-guessing. One dumb coaching move you know [fill in your preferred clueless coach here] is going to be the first to botch this and you'll have a solid three days of white-hot sports-talk content.
So what happens after one team takes possession? The Ravens will reportedly be offering two proposals: one's sudden death, the first team to score wins, with 10 minutes of game clock. The other would keep the game going as normal for seven minutes and 30 seconds, no sudden-death component. (Bill Belichick reportedly favors this option, which means there's some element of it none of the rest of us are seeing.)
Bottom line, though, Spot and Choose opens up a whole new world of strategy. Who's going to gamble? Who's going to play it safe? Who's going to overreach, and who's going to be too tentative? Spot and Choose is simple and brilliant shoot, I'd like to see games start this way and the NFL ought to implement it for overtime in 2021.
Good morning. It's time to discuss an issue that consumes our nation, an issue that divides us, an issue that pits us against one another, makes us suspicious of our friends and loved ones.
That's right. I'm talking about NFL overtime.
Put simply: NFL overtime is a mess. When you've got different sets of rules for regular season and playoffs or when you have to put the rules onscreen before every overtime, just to explain yet again to the viewers at home what the hell's happening you've got a flawed system.
Let's raise a glass to the Baltimore Ravens, then, who might just save us all from the perpetual "wait, how does this work now?" foolishness that hangs over current overtime rules. The Ravens are reportedly planning to introduce an overtime overhaul, a plan with the catchy name of "Spot and Choose."
Spot and Choose. What does it mean? In short: one team picks where the ball's spotted, and the other team gets to decide if it wants to play offense or defense. The coin flip would only determine which role each team plays "Spot" or "Choose."
Team A will pick a SPOT on the field say, the offense's 35-yard line. Team B would then get to CHOOSE whether to play offense and try to drive 65 yards for a touchdown OR play defense and hold Team A from driving those 65 yards.
Team A can't just pick the defense's 1-yard line, because then Team B would just flip the script and say, thank you very much, we're on offense now with a short field. But if Team A decides to try to crunch Team B deep in the offense's own territory, Team B can just say, no thank you, you take the ball on the offense's 10-yard line. And if Team A selects the 50-yard line, that's the equivalent of a returner getting the ball out to midfield, which most teams would be just fine with.
Is it always better to have the ball first, regardless of where you are on the field? Not necessarily. It's almost like blackjack, where you have to decide whether to stand or hit on 16. What's the break-point on the field where it's more advantageous for Team B to select defense? There's some speculation that it's as far back as the offense's 13-yard line. Any farther back than that, and it's worthwhile to surrender the ball in order to pin Team A up against the end zone.
This turns overtime's inciting element a coin flip from a matter of random chance into a matter of strategy. One generally winning approach to poker is to always force your opponent to make an uncomfortable decision, and Spot and Choose does exactly that, every single overtime.
Think of the chances for second-guessing. One dumb coaching move you know [fill in your preferred clueless coach here] is going to be the first to botch this and you'll have a solid three days of white-hot sports-talk content.
So what happens after one team takes possession? The Ravens will reportedly be offering two proposals: one's sudden death, the first team to score wins, with 10 minutes of game clock. The other would keep the game going as normal for seven minutes and 30 seconds, no sudden-death component. (Bill Belichick reportedly favors this option, which means there's some element of it none of the rest of us are seeing.)
Bottom line, though, Spot and Choose opens up a whole new world of strategy. Who's going to gamble? Who's going to play it safe? Who's going to overreach, and who's going to be too tentative? Spot and Choose is simple and brilliant shoot, I'd like to see games start this way and the NFL ought to implement it for overtime in 2021.
The person that is not willing to fight and die, if need be, for his country has no right to life.
James Earl Rudder '32
January 31, 1945
James Earl Rudder '32
January 31, 1945
