Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has an idea to solve the NFL’s rare tie problem – a field goal-kicking competition. Yes, he is serious.
Because I can only assume Russell Wilson was not paying any attention to any of the field goal kicking fun going on during Sunday night’s game against the Arizona Cardinals, in which both teams missed chip-shot game-winning field goals in the final minutes of overtime, Wilson suggested the NFL should bring an element of soccer to the NFL by instituting a penalty kick strategy.
“Let’s say we’re the away team. We win the coin toss, we get the ball on the 35-yard line going in. You kick one field goal,” Wilson said. “You can’t do anything else but a field goal. You make the field goal, the game’s over. If you miss the field goal, the game’s over and the other team wins.
“I just think that if you play that long, you’re putting your lives on the line. You should find a way to win. I don’t like ending in a tie.”
No. This is a horrible idea. And spare me the hyperbole about putting your lives on the line when discussing a tie-game situation in the NFL. You want to find a way to win? How about getting your team in the end zone just once and start from there?
If the NFL wants to avoid a tie game in the future, they could easily look at the college game and how overtime is settled there. Each team gets one possession per overtime session starting at the 25-yard line until a winner has been determined. Teams must go for two points starting in the third overtime.
Want to make it more challenging at the next level? Start each possession at the 35-yard line, or the 40, or even right at midfield if you desire. Either way, the elimination of a tie game is easily attainable if the NFL ever chooses to modify overtime.
[ESPN]
