Biggest NFL Week 12 Overreactions

The OT rules need to change

There’s nothing quite as unsatisfying in sports as a tie. There’s no conclusion, no finality to it. Plus it sticks out all ugly-looking on your record for the rest of the season. Ties suck, plain and simple. Green Bay and Minnesota played to a 26-26 tie on Sunday after each team scored field goals in OT but neither connected once it was officially “sudden death”. Seconds tick off the clock and the game is over, 26-26 tie. How awful. Cue the public outrage. “There should be no ties!” “The NFL needs to change the rules to avoid ties!” The NFL did change the rules for OT recently. The rules changed to give each team possession of the ball in OT, unless the first team that possesses it scores a touchdown. Since the rule change starting with the 2012 season there have been 33 games gone to overtime and only 2 have ended in ties. There hasn’t been a season with two tie games since 1997. It doesn’t happen that often. I realize the tie leaves a lot to be desired and we live in a society where if we don’t like something, we complain about it until it’s changed but that doesn’t mean that tie games in the NFL are an epidemic in dire need of correction. Let’s tackle that insane rule book first for changes. Does anyone really know what constitutes roughing the passer or pass interference? Maybe there are more important things the NFL could change first before overreacting to a tie game where each team played worse than the series before in every painful minute of that overtime.