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Rules proposal passes on 28-4 vote
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The NFL owners voted to change an element in the overtime rule, giving a possession to the team that loses the coin toss at the start of OT if the team that wins the coin toss scores a field goal with its first possession.The proposal passed 28-4. As it is written, the rules change applies just for the postseason, but the owners also decided to discuss adopting the changes for the regular season at their next meeting, in May in Dallas.Wojciechowski: Poor ShowingWojciechowski The NFL owners had the right idea with the new overtime rule, but they sure did execute it poorly. StoryThe Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings, Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals voted against the proposal.The competition committee recommended the change in a vote of 6-2, and commissioner Roger Goodell supported the plan. He was able to secure enough votes to get the proposal passed on Tuesday, a day before the expected Wednesday vote.The reason for the change is the increased accuracy of kickers since 1994, when the NFL moved kickoffs from the 35 to the 30 yard line, which created better field position for the teams that won the coin toss and received the kickoffs.Statistics examined by the committee showed that, beginning in 1994, teams that win the coin toss have won overtime games 59.8 percent of the time. Those statistics showed that since 1994, the team that won the overtime coin toss won the game 34.4 percent of the time on the first possession.McKay said one of the selling points was it maintained the sudden-death aspect of overtime.This is not a one-year experiment. The vote is a permanent change to the overtime rule, which was established in 1974 to minimize the number of games ending in ties.McKay didn't rule out the possibility that the change would be implemented in time for the 2010 regular season, but he doubted the discussion would result in such quick movement.Minnesota lost last season's NFC Championship Game in overtime to New Orleans. The Saints won the toss, drove downfield and kicked a field goal to win.McKay and Polian both said the Vikings-Saints game had little role in passage of the rule change.Polian said overtime rules already are different during the season, when games end in ties after a 15-minute OT, and the playoffs, when a winner must be determined.McKay and Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher, the other competition committee co-chairman, said coaches quickly began favoring the change once they learned the details. It became such a hot issue that the owners' vote was taken one day earlier than expected.One of those coaches, Marvin Lewis of the Bengals, is on the committee. Hours before his team voted no, Lewis expressed approval for the alteration."There's a lot of elements that come into play," Lewis said. "For all the proposals we've discussed, this is, I think, the most complete one."McKay said it was critical in making the rule change that "no phase of the game" was "adversely affected."Sean Taylor Jersey |
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发表于 2010-5-10 15:34
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