Comments on: Saints' win brings overtime rule back into focus

By: deemic

deemic — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:53:18 +0000

Actually the entire country knows that they the Saints backed in because of poor officiating. Biggest fraud in Superbowl history. Not much to hang your hat on. Still the Aints as in Aint Legitimate. Guess you’ll take it however you can but don’t expect the rest of the country to be happy for a team that couldn’t win on their own merit.

By: SniprKlr

SniprKlr — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 22:07:43 +0000

Slegeir,
That isn’t why they lost.. Though I also found that amusing, it really had nothing to do with why they lost.. It almost appears that they were told to lose and to make it look good after the refs failed to make enough bad calls to put the Saints in the lead.
The refs were just as bad as the vikings dropping the ball all game, or as bad as the Saints inability to contend with the Viking Defense. Take your pick.

By: SniprKlr

SniprKlr — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 22:03:42 +0000

Fist off. I agree that these refs should be fired. It was bad enough to even suggest that this game was rigged or the refs were paid. The Vikings should have won that game! Very poor refereeing! This brings us back to how the Yankees were put into the world series by the power of the referee! This nonsense needs to stop!
Next. I believe that they should dump overtime all together and have a kick-off challenge where each kicker has to kick field goals at an ever increasing range! Kind of like a shoot-off in hockey!

By: slegeir

slegeir — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:26:59 +0000

I warned when the season began that he would throw an interception to end the Vikings chances to go to the Super Bowl. Please come back and do it again. PRICELESS !!!

By: SteelTigers

SteelTigers — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:08:51 +0000

1. This article stinks – no change is needed to overtime 2. The referees should be fired for making horrendous calls 3. When a ref makes a bad call it should be challenged and then left up to the public to vote on because I can see from my living room 100 miles away that a) there was no pass interference, b) peirre thomas was on the 1 yard line and did not cross the goal, c)low hit on Brett is clearly a penalty aka “Brady rule” d) etc etc . This was the worst officiated game in the playoffs

By: Luanasf

Luanasf — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:11:01 +0000

I agree the NFL needs to review the overtime rule. A playoff game is too big for a coin flip. Each offense should have possession of the ball. No field goals allowed.
Watching Pro football for 40 years, Viking, Saints worst game I’ve ever seen. Vikings out-played the Saints in spite of their mistakes. Then there was the “third” team the Vikes had to contend with, the officials!
This will be the first superbowl I won’t be watching.
As for the Pro Bowl, I suspect the NFL wants to make a new contract with Hawaii, but first Hawaii has to feel the tourism loss. And the week before the Superbowl? I won’t be watching that either.

By: bombsaway777

bombsaway777 — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:59:49 +0000

Wow you gotta love the fans who think the idea for a rule change is a matter of an excuse or whining about the outcome.Who ever has played sports knows theres not one player in that locker room complaining about the rules. Everyone knows it was the Vikings who gave away the game.And who cares about Brett Farve.All anyone is saying is there may be a better way to do it and there probably is.Personally I like sudden death but I cant stand jagoffs who always claim the whining or making excuses card everytime a rule or officiation is in question.

By: MoralProtagonist

MoralProtagonist — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:18:35 +0000

This year, of 13 overtime games, the team winning the coin toss won 7 and the team not winning the coin toss won 6. Fairly even, but, of the 7 times the coin toss winning team won the game, they did so on their first drive 5 times. Thus, it does seem the rule is somewhat slanted toward the team winning the coin toss. Here’s the rule I would have since it gives both teams a shot in OT while still valuing defense- the second team gets a chance if the team winning the coin toss only scores a field goal on its first possession. If the the second team ties with its own field goal, the game goes on as sudden death, if the second team scores a TD, the game is over. That would make for some interesting decisions on that first drive.

By: JaySilman

JaySilman — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:49:21 +0000

Let’s borrow an idea that is used in Hockey and Soccer: At the start of overtime, the kickers of each team will be kicking field goals starting from 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, etc. yards out from the goal posts. The kickers will have five opportunities to kick a field goal from the distances mentioned above. The team that has a better success rate will be declared the victor of the game. If the two kickers are tied at the end of five tries, then a sixth, seventh , etc. try will be attempted at 45, 50, etc. yards until one team makes the field goal at the respective disance and the other team does not. The kicks can be attempted simultaneously – at least for the first five attempts – at the respective goal posts.

By: Dar

Dar — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:27:08 +0000

The Saints played dirty! The officials condoned it!
That said, change the overtime rule to run one add’l 10 minute quarter, then if needed, one possession each team.

By: reformed

reformed — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:39:34 +0000

This propsed rule change is just more silly assed nonsense. As it exists now both teams have a “crack” at the ball. One crack is called offense, the other crack is called defense. For those of you who are candy assed, fairy, liberal, turd smokers, there are things called interceptions, fumbles, playing defense so the opponent goes three and out, penalties, etc. that allow for both teams a chance to prevail. Again, go look up stats, history, etc to see that a ball that is hiked, put in play is “live” and available to anyone on the field. Quit your bitchin and play football. When you lose it is on your shoulders, no one else. Most of us learn this early in life. Whats next??? Preference for skin color????

By: reformed

reformed — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:20:12 +0000

By: regguy

regguy — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:19:53 +0000

This has nothing to do with the overtime rules.
Favre made a monumental error in that last pass. He could have easily gained 8 to 10 yards on the ground, even banged up, and their field goal kicker is good. Chances are the game would have been over in regulation.
The Vikings just turned the ball over too much. They should have won the game going away – but turnovers will do that to you everytime.
The bigger question is who will Florio pick for the Superbowl. He has week after week, predicted the Colts and/or Saints to lose. What to do, what to do………………….

By: Tomthebombtracy

Tomthebombtracy — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:59:23 +0000

In the ’58 Colts-Giants NFL Championship game the Colts drove 80 yards after the Giants went three and out………In the Favre/Packers OT champ it was effectively two posessions because of the INT…..In this one at least the Vikes had a chance to win in regulation and blew it.
The crap will come when someone drives for the tying score in regulation…..wins the coin toss……and then wins on the first touch of the ball. I think the outcry for Sunday’s game was a bit muted because the Vikes coulda won in regulation.
But that worst case scenario is waiting to happen…..then, there’ll be a change.

By: AZFinfan

AZFinfan — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:53:43 +0000

Why not just add another quarter [albeit 10 minutes instead of 15] and continue play? Whoever has possession at the end of the 4th quarter switches sides of the field and continues possession into the “5th” quarter, just like all the other quarters. At the end of the “5th” quarter, whoever has the most points wins! This isn’t rocket science.

By: ToddC

ToddC — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:58:14 +0000

This really has nothing to do with being a Vikings fan or a Saints fan. For the record, I’m a Drew Brees fan.
This has bugged me for years – two great teams, battling their hearts out for a couple hours, and then a coin toss determines the winner of the game most of the time. That’s just silly.
In 37 out of 124 overtime games, the team to loose the coin toss never touches the ball. That’s about 1/3rd of the time. That’s just silly.
The rule should be changed to give both teams a shot at the ball.

By: shazard01

shazard01 — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:49:33 +0000

How about this, use the coin flip and if a team makes it over the 50 yard line it’s 4 down territory NO FG’s….

By: shazard01

shazard01 — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:22:26 +0000

The rule is fine, Minny had their chances and so did NO. Minny was able to call to coin toss and lost. I mean that’s how the game is started. Minny fumbled right before the half from the 4 yard line. And for those complaining about when he was hit high and low…look at the reply the offensive tackle release and help that player who hit him low along and that’s why it wasn’t called.

By: Jack 25624

Jack 25624 — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:01:52 +0000

This is not new, people have been complaining about the OT rules in the NFL for years. Its usually gets brought up by the team that loses in OT on the first possesion.

By: maroci

maroci — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:41:53 +0000

*** “I’ve got an ever better idea. Each team gets the ball once. If the game is still knotted after each team has had the ball once, then you have sudden death.” ****
Sigh. That’s not a better idea. That’s another way of saying EXACTLY THE SAME THING.

By: Jack0122

Jack0122 — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:23:42 +0000

Okay, no more coin tosses. Just finish the game where it left off — with the Saints in possession of the ball after Brett Favre threw an INT.
Sorry Vike fans — suck it up!

By: BILL2021

BILL2021 — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:20:10 +0000

Has a team ever “won” a coin-toss for overtime and decided to play defense??????????????
This issue is not about how bad the Vikings [or any team] played in regulation time.

By: footballnut

footballnut — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:07:54 +0000

I used to be on board with the OT rules changing to match something similar to the NCAA, until I stopped being lazy and checked the stats…sans yesterday the teams getting the ball first in OT were 7-6 this season.
Not very compelling to change the rules.

By: Lukacs

Lukacs — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:05:19 +0000

How about: a touchdown or safety anytime ends the game. On a field goal, the other team gets final possession, and must score TD. That would put some excitement back into the “foregone conclusion” once a team with a decent kicker reaches the red zone.

By: tooamazon

tooamazon — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:49:07 +0000

Ride or Die SAINTS fan here and I say the following: 1st Bret Favre only “had” to try and make something happen because of they were sent back and out of their field goal kicker’s “comfortable” range because there were 12 on the field (my goodness) 2nd there was a total of 60 minutes played before overtime and the Vikings fumbled damn near all game long, 3rd Favre has experience with play offs and superbowls, no one on the SAINTS does. I bring this up to say this, all of you “haters” wanting to change rules and blah blah blah, know that if it were not or the first time success jitters of my team the SAINTS we would have tore the Vikings a new one. Deny it if you want, fumbles, interceptions that will always lead to defeat. Yes, there was poor officiating but on both sides and all through out the season and it will continue into next season. I suggest that if you cannot accept that referees are human and humans are not perfect, you just stick to playing the Madden video game, but watch out, your finger might slip and hit the wrong button which may cause you to throw an interception that leads to the opponents’ victory, ha!

By: Eagles2SB

Eagles2SB — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:45:27 +0000

Many are stating play defense, but understand that with the current rules, offenses play differently. During the course of a game, teams do not play just to kick a FG, they settle for FGs when they cannot score a touchdown.
In overtime, for the most part, the offenses are not playing for a touchdown, they are playing to get in range for a FG. Granted, the kicker still needs to make the FG to win, but the offense is not taking the risk of calling plays to score a touchdown.

By: Rip

Rip — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:44:04 +0000

Good grief, you Vikes fans should ask the Packers for a little cheese to go with that whine. The refs didn’t lose the game for you, the Saints D took the ball away from you time and time and time again. You aren’t the best team in the NFC, you lost to the best team in the NFC. There is a reason that the team that gives up the ball loses 95+% of the time – good teams don’t turn the ball over, and over, and over, and over. Deal with it. The refs made bad calls throughout regulation that were heavily in favor of the Vikings, at least two of which came after stops on 3rd down and resulted in 14 points.
As far as changing the OT rules, fine, with the caveat that your defense is not allowed to intercept a pass or pick up a loose ball. I mean, you surely can’t think it’s fair that the defense be allowed to score, right?
Ridiculous.

By: ncsteeler

ncsteeler — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:42:41 +0000

A simple fix:
If you kick a FG the other team gets a shot – if they fail to score or get TD, game over. If you get a TD on first possesion, game over. If you turn the ball over (or punt) without scoring and your opponent drives for a score (TD or FG), game over.
Most of the objections to the current rule involve teams taking the KO and driving 30 yards or so and kicking a long FG to win.
This would add some strategy and force the winner of the coin flip to still try to score a TD once they got into the red zone.

By: worzo

worzo — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:28:18 +0000

Here is the perfect solution to overtime. No kicking. Receiving team gets the ball on the 20 then no more punts and no field goals. Only a touchdown or safety win.

By: MikeCLV

MikeCLV — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:27:07 +0000

The overtime rule is fine as it is. Like many before have said, STOP THEM!!!!! I do have one suggestion for a rule change that could be for overtime or even during regular time…. You must be at least at the 25 yard line to kick a field goal…. Other