Tuesday, March 23, 2010

NFL: New OT rules adopted for playoffs

Like I said below, I'm not really opposed to a modification of the OT rules. But what was adopted this week... it's awful. Greg Bedard at JSOnline breaks down some cases.

The new rules are not simple. It's not "first to 6 wins". It's a hideous tangle of cases based on the new (to me, anyway) concept of "opportunity to possess". To get the full flavor of the complexity of the new rules, be sure to read down into the cases involving blocked punts, and which side of the line of scrimmage the ball is touched.

More complex rules means it will be harder for the officials to remember all the different cases. It seems inevitable that mistakes will be made—which means more controversy, and more complaining. I really wonder what it was that made the owners think this was a good idea.