Should The NFL Overtime Rules Be Changed?

I, for one, don't like the constant rule changes that the NFL institutes every year. In many cases, enough is enough. Few of the new rules actually improve the experience for the average NFL fan (not to mention us RABID fans). And in this particular debate, the views and arguments for and against the current overtime format were all very well stated and made sense.

Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long contended that the rule needs to be changed, giving both teams at least ONE opportunity to score, regardless of outcome. Michael Strahan and Jimmie Johnson argued that the rule should stay as it is.

The debate basically came down to that one issue: opportunity; the naysayers using the logic that Peyton Manning had 60 minutes to win the game, and giving him a shot to match Russell Wilson in OT wasn't necessary since he failed to win it in regulation.

The opposition saying that he DID deserve that opportunity. What Howie and Terry failed to argue, was that Wilson also had 60 minutes to win the game in regulation and, along with the Seattle defense, failed to close out the Broncos in that time as well.

So the debate comes back to that idea of opportunity. Kurt Menefee, the host of Fox NFL Sunday, "declared" Johnson and Strahan, the naysayers, the winners of the debate- IN HIS OPINION. I, and the vast majority of those fans polled, do not share that very, subjective decision. We agree that the opposition deserves equal opportunity to score in overtime.

Strahan argues that the Broncos' defense should have "stepped-up" to stop the Seahawks; but he failed to apply the same logic to the 'Hawks defense in regulation, who allowed the lead to slip away in the first place. So, his is not a valid argument against changing the rule.

He was correct that football is a team game, but didn't realize that he was only applying his logic to one side of the equation. This issue is not about one quarterback, it is about a team that fought hard, just as hard as the opposition, to get that extra chance to win the game, only to have it stolen away by a coin toss.

The game of professional football should not be decided by a simple flip of a coin. That takes the element of competition and talent out of the game altogether. It's not right. And regardless of how any of us views a particular player, or the game itself, we have to keep the integrity of that competition intact.

Roger Goodell: follow the wisdom of college football and put fairness into the overtime period... make it as improtant as regulation for BOTH teams.