The NFL experienced a rare occurrence on Sunday. The Carolina Panthers and the Cincinnati Bengals ended their contest in regulation. Only 19 other professional football games since 1974 have ended in a tie. The result sparked some controversy; many commentators seem to feel that the overtime rules need to be either overhauled or abolished completely. The debate over the often anti-climactic finish rages on after Sunday's 37-37 big cat battle.
For only the twentieth time in forty years, an NFL game ended in a tie. The middling Panthers squared off against the overachieving Bengals in a surprisingly high-scoring affair. The jungle cat battle ended not with a bang, however, but with a whimper.
Rookie Kelvin Benjamin expressed his astonishment at the anti-climactic conclusion to the game (via Grantland):
"'I was like, what? I was confused. They had to explain what was going on... [It was] a crazy flow of emotions... I'm not sure anyone really knew what to do...'
"Tie games have that tendency to discombobulate. ProFootballTalk argued this week that the NFL needs to get rid of ties."
NFL Golden Boy Peyton Manning (Sports on Earth) recently had something to say about the current overtime rules, which hopefully means the rules will be changed next week (we kid, we joke). According to Manning, the rule as it stands is pretty incomprehensible (via Bleacher Report):
"They changed the rules a little bit, but it doesn't really change if you go down and get a touchdown. It puts a premium on the coin toss. Called tails at the beginning of the game, went with it again in overtime. It was heads, and proved to be a significant call."
The rule goes like this: both teams are allowed at least one possession, unless the receiving team at the start of OT scores a touchdown (via NFL.com). That's pretty dumb. It's like taking the worst parts of several different strategies- a half measure, as Ross Tucker of Sports on Earth puts it.
Either make it sudden death or let each team have one possession. It's really that simple. Unless you ask everybody else out there on the internet (scary).
What do you think?
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